Page 116 of Ivory Oath

“At least I’d know how he feels about it all,” I mutter. Then I shake my head. “I’m sorry. Mikhail is being tortured for all we know and I’m thinking about myself.”

“He’s at the police station, not Guantanamo.” Anatoly slides my plate closer, giving me a firm look until I grab a cracker and nibble on the edge. “Mikhail can handle himself.”

“What does Daddy need to handle?”

I didn’t hear the small footsteps padding down the stairs, but I turn around and find Dante standing in the doorway. His sweats are rolled twice at the ankle because they’re a size too big and he’s holding a stuffed pterodactyl under his arm.

He’s so small and his dad is being detained by the FBI and all of that plus pregnancy hormones makes me want to curl into a ball and weep.

Thankfully, Anatoly jumps up before I can fall apart.

“Nothing, kiddo!” Anatoly snatches the pterodactyl out of his hand and pretends to fly it around Dante’s head, booping the end of his nose with it. “Did your movie get over?”

Dante shakes his head. “No. I’m hungry.”

“Amazing. A problem I can solve!” Anatoly scoops Dante onto his shoulders and marches him towards the kitchen. Then he stops and turns around. “It’s okay if he has a bowl of cereal for dinner, right?”

I swipe the tears out of my eyes and stand up. “How about I solve this problem?” It’ll be nice to have something useful to do.

Dante is much less excited at the prospect of seared chicken and roasted carrots, which means I’m doing my job as his mother.

Right now, getting Dante a well-rounded meal and not falling apart is the only thing I know how to do.

The rest of it is a complete and total disaster.

48

MIKHAIL

It’s late, but the mansion is lit up like a lighthouse at the end of the drive. “They’re waiting up for you,” Raoul warns.

We haven’t said a word to each other the entire drive. Anatoly never would have let me sit and brood like this, but Raoul knows when to stay quiet.

“You shouldn’t have told them I was being released tonight.”

“If you think that was an option, then you have no idea what you’re about to walk into.” He shifts the car into park and kills the engine. “Viviana has barely slept. Every call Anatoly or I have taken, she’s been pressed to the other side of the phone, listening in. She’s worried about you.”

“You should have told her I can take care of myself,” I growl.

Raoul sighs, so I know he told her precisely that. Multiple times, I’m sure. None of it would have made a difference for Viviana.

I love you, too. She screamed it just as the FBI agent slammed the car door closed. She couldn’t see me through the dark window tint, but I could see her. She crumbled against the doorframe like she’d never see me again. She was terrified… for me.

It’s a new feeling.

“I’ve endured worse interrogations than that,” I add.

The agents interrogating me knew I wasn’t going to crack the moment they walked into the room. It was like a game of chicken, seeing who could wait the other out. Since I’m free, I guess that means I won.

Won the battle, at least. The devil only knows if the war will continue.

“I know that, but I didn’t think mentioning all the times you’ve been tortured would make her feel any better.”

“No, probably not.” I drag a hand down my face. “We should have had a warning this was coming. What the fuck happened, Raoul?”

“I’ve been trying to figure that out. No one in my usual network knew a thing. Whoever cooked this up, it was kept way under wraps.”

“Or your informants are lying to you.”

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