Page 32 of Ivory Ashes

Mikhail is still standing at the top of the stairs. He’s staring at the place where, a second ago, Dante was fidgeting next to me. If it’s possible, he looks stunned.

“Listen, Mikhail, I don’t know what you want, but I just want to?—”

“My son.” His gaze shifts to mine. Hardens into steel. “That’s my son.”

Yes. Of course it is.

“No.” I shake my head. “He’s mine. We just want to leave. Whatever is happening here, I don’t want any part in it.”

I’ve gotten good at hiding over the years. At giving people tiny snippets of me, but never the whole. Even with my own father, I had to hide. What I wanted—who I loved—was never good enough for him. I’m a pro at shapeshifting into who I need to be in any given situation.

But with Mikhail, there is no hiding.

He stares at me, peeling me apart layer by layer until I’m flayed open in front of him. “He is why you lied about your name. He is why you disappeared.”

“You are why I disappeared,” I snap. “You told me to run while I had the chance. You told me I shouldn’t let myself be anyone’s pawn.”

“That’s before I knew you were pregnant with my son!” He’s in front of me in a second, pinning me against the door, roaring in my face.

I want to go inside, but I don’t want Dante to see this. I’ve hidden him from this world for five years. I’m not going to throw him into the middle of it now.

“Lower your voice. My kid is in there,” I hiss.

Mikhail dips his head. We’re in the same position we were back in Mr. Fredrickson’s office, but this time, I’m ready to fight. I’ll do anything to shield my son from this.

“Are you trying to protect him from me, Viviana?” His voice is low and even, but there’s a dangerous edge to it. Trofim had to yell and scream to show me how big and scary he was. Mikhail simply needs to exist. He breathes and I quiver, simple as that.

“This has nothing to do with you,” I lie. “I’m protecting him from that entire world—yours and mine.”

“That’s right. You have a foothold here, too. Does your son know his mom is a mafia princess?” Mikhail starts to smirk, but a thought occurs to him. “Your father… He knows about your son.”

It isn’t a question, but I seal my lips together anyway.

Mikhail laughs bitterly. “I knew there was something strange about the way he supported me becoming pakhan. I mean, I fucked over your little arrangement with Trofim. Agostino should have hated me. Turns out, he had a good reason to want me in charge. A baby is even better than a marriage when it comes to alliances.”

“My son isn’t some bartering chip.” I jab him in the chest. “Stay the hell away from him.”

Mikhail snatches my wrist and pins it over my head. It thuds against the door, and I hear Dante inside. The show he’s watching pauses.

“Mama?”

Mikhail’s breath is hot on my neck. I look into his cold eyes and try to keep my voice even as I talk through the door. “Sorry, bud. That was me. I’ll be inside in a second.”

Dante’s show starts back up and Mikhail leans in closer. “He’s mine, Viviana. Admit it.”

I shake my head.

He traces my jawline with his thumb. I feel like I’m being circled by a predator. “Don’t lie,” he drawls. “I’m sure you’ve noticed the resemblance.”

Only every day for the last five years.

I shrug. “I don’t see it. Maybe it’s because the sight of Dante doesn’t make me want to punch him in the face.”

Mikhail leans away and sighs. “If you aren’t going to cooperate, I don’t have much choice. You know how these things are. I can’t have my offspring running around the streets unaccounted for. If you won’t give up what I need to know, I’ll get it myself.”

“How?”

He starts to push me to the side, reaching for the doorknob. “I’ll take the kid and get a paternity test done. It’ll only take a couple hours. I’ll bring him back when I’m done… probably.”

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