Page 121 of Ivory Oath

But my mouth goes dry.

How am I supposed to tell my son I’m abandoning him in a bombproof building full of strangers?

He’ll be safe there.

This is the right choice.

Mikhail reaches over and pats Dante’s knee. His large hand swallows most of Dante’s leg. “You’ll be moving there. You’re going to have your own room.”

“Where are you moving?” he asks, his eyes still locked on mine.

“We aren’t moving,” Mikhail explains. “Your mama and I are staying here.”

He’ll be safe there.

He’ll be alone.

This is the right choice.

He needs me.

I clench my fists tightly in my lap, trying to keep it together. I promised Mikhail I could do this, but that was before I had to stare into my six-year-old’s teary-eyed face. That was before a mother’s worst nightmare was sitting in front of me with a wobbly chin and questions I can’t answer.

“I’m going alone?” Dante’s voice breaks and this might actually be torture.

“You’ll have a blast.” Mikhail tries to sound upbeat, but there’s nothing upbeat about what we’re doing here. “The school isn’t for adults. It’s for kids. You’ll make friends and learn so much.”

Dante stands up and the sight of his too-long pants hanging over his socked feet does me in. A sob wrenches out of me.

He grabs my hand. “I’ll be good, Mama. I won’t be naughty.”

“This isn’t—” I swallow down another sob. Tears fill my eyes and I have to blink them back furiously just to be able to see Dante. “You’re a good boy.”

“Then why don’t you want me anymore?” His voice is watery and my heart cracks in half.

“Dante, that’s not—” Mikhail sighs and I can’t listen to him explain this. I can’t sit here and pretend I’m not dying inside.

I fumble towards the door, crying so hard I can’t see.

This is the right choice.

Even if nothing about it feels right at all.

50

MIKHAIL

The plan, as far as Viviana knew, was to wake up early, have breakfast, and drive to Dante’s new school together.

Which is why Dante and I left before sunrise.

I never planned to lie to her about this. She wanted to be there to help Dante settle in and I told her we could make that happen. Then she burst into tears while ordering him curtains.

Leaving him in a dorm room, no matter how nice it is, is going to break her. So I took a page out of her book and lied to spare her feelings.

It’s early enough in the morning that Dante dozes on the drive there. The guard at the gate checks my ID and notes my license plate number before letting us onto the property. Another guard stationed by the front doors takes our names and prints a visitor’s badge for me after we park and get out. Then we walk through a metal detector.

The director gave me a full tour of the building when I enrolled Dante. It’s the only place in the city that might be even more secure than the mansion. The bonus is that this building isn’t under attack from two different crime families. Dante will blend in here.

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