Page 36 of Ivory Oath

“And we’ll make a new one,” I say with a calm I don’t feel.

As sideways as this has all gone, I wouldn’t mind ending this whole ordeal with a new pact. Preferably one that includes the ability to move my products at every Drakos-owned port.

“The time for a new agreement is over, Mikhail. We sat across that negotiating table and you told me what you wanted: access to my ports. I told you what I wanted: a husband for my daughter. That’s my deal. It’s the only deal you’re going to get from me.”

“I can’t accept it. I’m married to someone else.”

“Then she’ll die,” he says flatly.

I snatch my phone off the table like I might be able to lunge through the phone and grab the Greek don by the throat. “Think carefully about what comes out of your mouth next, Christos. Don’t say anything you’ll regret.”

“The only thing I regret is thinking I could trust a man who could publicly disrespect his own family to get to the top. You don’t know the meaning of the word ‘honor.’ And now, you’re going to lose your Bratva and your pitiful excuse for a family.”

“Don’t do this, Christos. I’ll kill you. I’ll slaughter you all if you come for my wife and child.”

I wonder if I sound as tired as I feel. A week ago, I was ready to do whatever it took to avoid a war with the Greeks—to keep my plan on the rails. All of it mattered so much… until the second I heard Viviana was in danger.

Now, I know what matters, and it isn’t Christos. It isn’t Helen.

I need to make things right with Viviana, no matter what it takes.

Christos laughs. “I look forward to seeing you try.”

Once the line goes dead, Anatoly sighs and leans back on the sofa. “Wow. L’s all around today, huh?”

“We’re at war. You do realize that, don’t you?”

“It’s not like we didn’t see this coming.”

He’s not wrong. I didn’t really expect Christos to accept my apology and sketch out the parameters for a new deal over the phone, no matter how nice that would be.

Still, it’s annoying. I’d like for at least one thing in my life to be going the way I hoped.

“What’s the plan?” Anatoly asks for the second time.

“The plan is for you to give me a better idea than flowers and chocolates. This may be my first apology, but I’m anything but stereotypical.”

Anatoly grins and claps me on the back. “Fuck yeah, brother. Let’s get you your woman.”

15

VIVIANA

I’m still half-asleep, but my heart is racing.

Someone is in here with me.

The room is dark and I’m too terrified to move, but I know someone is in this room. Mikhail’s room, I remind myself. In Mikhail’s house. I’m safe here.

I repeat the words to myself, but I don’t even know if that’s true. I’m not sure I’m safe anywhere anymore.

I stare up at the ceiling, afraid to breathe in case the person realizes I’m awake and lunges for me. Maybe if I pretend I’m asleep, they’ll leave.

A floorboard near the bed creaks just as a figure appears over the mound of blankets around my head, looking down at me.

“Holy shit!” I gasp, both in utter terror and deep, palpable relief. “You scared me.”

“I wasn’t trying to,” Mikhail replies simply.

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