Page 160 of Ivory Ashes

“Killing a man to protect your child is honorable! What Viviana did under that kind of stress—while pregnant, no less—is badass. If you weren’t the one she lied to, you’d see it, too.”

Anatoly even sounds like Viviana now, almost word for word. I hear her voice echoing in my head. If you could forget about your wounded pride for half a fucking second, you’d see that!

“The only thing I’d see is that you’ve taken a strong interest in my wife,” I spit.

Anatoly glares back at me, refusing to take the bait. “Dante and Viviana are family. I’ll always defend my family—even from themselves.”

A slow clap from the doorway draws all of our attention.

My father is standing on the threshold, a smirk on his face as he applauds Anatoly. “That’s very sweet. Unfortunately, while you’re sitting in here ‘defending your family,’ the Novikov Bratva is being dragged through the mud out there.” He turns to me. “I assume you know about the latest attack.”

I don’t. Raoul’s subtle glance in my direction is enough for me to know that my second is handling it.

“We are more than capable of defending ourselves,” I tell him icily.

“I know that,” he says. “But if you take the deal I just secured, you won’t have to.”

I want to slam my office door closed and tell my father it’s a closed meeting. He had decades to lead the Bratva the way he saw fit. All of that culminated in him poised to serve it up to Trofim on a silver spoon.

Unfortunately for him, I don’t trust his judgment.

Unfortunately for me, I’m not in a position to turn down ideas right now.

I wave him in wearily. “Explain yourself.”

He closes the door behind him and saunters towards my desk, stopping in front of Anatoly. My half-brother, to his credit, refrains from shoving our father out of the way. Instead, he stands up and shifts into the corner. Even a few feet away, he’s a looming presence. He practically casts a shadow over Otets, who stretches his neck as long as it will go.

I know for a fact that Iakov Novikov hates that his bastard son stands a foot taller than he does.

“I was able to get a message to the Greeks. Helen’s father is willing to stop this war in its tracks… if you marry Helen as promised.”

“He’s already married,” Raoul interjects dourly.

The only thing my father hates more than Anatoly towering over him is Raoul being my second. He offered Raoul to me as a slave; I put him in a leadership position. If today wasn’t already fucked beyond belief, his double helping of annoyance would bring me a lot of joy.

My father ignores Raoul and focuses on me. “You’re married to Viviana now, but that could change. Especially if you do what honor demands. Everyone here seems to care a lot about ‘honor,’ after all.”

“Not that you know anything about it,” Anatoly mutters.

Our father snaps his attention to Anatoly. “I know that my son was murdered and I deserve retribution.” He turns slowly back to me. “I deserve to kill her.”

“Fuck no!” Anatoly growls.

“Trofim was already in exile. That lessens the severity of what she did,” Raoul posits. It’s rare for him to interfere in a conversation with my father. If he’s doing it now, that means something.

“He wasn’t just in exile,” Anatoly argues. “Trofim was sent away for being a sadistic, worthless fuck. Mikhail sent him away and would have happily let him die in squalor. The only reason we’re having this conversation now is because Viviana did the world a favor.”

“That’s my son you’re talking about!” my father bellows.

“And you’re talking about killing my sister,” Anatoly fires back. “Viviana is more my family than Trofim ever was, so fuck you. You’re not killing her.”

I wave a hand at Nat. “Relax.”

He spins towards me, eyes wide. “You can’t be considering this. All so you can marry Helen and have access to a few ports? Take them some other way, Mikhail. You don’t need to do this.”

“This isn’t for Helen. I don’t care about Helen,” I explain. “It’s about Dante.”

“Don’t lie to yourself and me. Dante needs his mom and you know that!”

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