Page 47 of Ivory Oath

“When this blows up in your face, Viviana…” He smiles, but his eyes are narrowed to slits. “… remember I tried to warn you.”

He brushes past me and walks into the hallway, leaving the way I presume he came without another word.

21

MIKHAIL

Viviana is quiet in the passenger seat. She’s been quiet since the second she told me Agostino was in my house and I told her at once to pack a bag.

Probably because I didn’t tell her so much as I violently roared at her to pack her things while I demanded Anatoly and Raoul check the cameras and secure the mansion.

Agostino was in my house.

He was with my wife.

And I had no fucking idea.

My hands tighten on the steering wheel again. I’ve been white-knuckling it most of this trip. No matter how hard I try, I can’t unsee the last time someone broke into my home. It didn’t end well for my family.

The thought that I could lose Viviana and Dante in the same way is maddening.

“How much farther?” Viviana asks softly.

I force myself to loosen my grip. “Half an hour.”

The road is narrow and surrounded by trees on either side and has been for the last twenty minutes. I didn’t buy a safehouse in the woods for it to be easy to find.

“Do you think this is necessary?”

“He was inside the house,” I grit out. “He was in our bedroom, Viviana.”

You could have died, I want to add. But I don’t want to scare her. Not when I can tell she’s already terrified enough. She was still shaking when she told me her father had come to see her.

Her hand is steady now as she reaches out to touch my elbow. Her fingers are gentle. They settle some violent, stormy part of me. I feel like I can breathe a little easier.

“I know. Believe me, I was there.” She holds me a little tighter and I get the sense I’m not the only one who needs the comfort. “It was terrifying. I just mean… You have guards at the mansion. Can’t they just increase security and make sure this doesn’t happen again?”

“We are going to increase security and this will never happen again. That’s what they’re doing right now. But until I know it’s safe, you and Dante aren’t staying there.”

Part of me wonders if we shouldn’t stay out in the woods permanently. It was Agostino breaking into my house this time, but Christos isn’t going to be satisfied with burning down Cerberus. I left his daughter at the altar. I ruined his hopes for her future. He won’t stop until he’s ruined mine, which means Viviana and Dante are likely targets.

It’s why I need to keep them safe and strike out at him first.

Viviana is staring straight ahead, her full lower lip pinched between her teeth. I can see the anxiety etched in her face.

I release the wheel and turn my hand over, twining my fingers through hers. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Viviana.”

She blinks and the cloud of fear dissipates. “I know. I trust you.”

I reach over, laying both of our hands over her stomach. “The stress isn’t good for the baby.”

“Are we talking about that now?” she asks softly. “I didn’t want to bring it up again with so much going on.”

I’ve thought a lot about how I reacted. I never even told her how happy I was. How happy I am.

“I was scared. For you and the baby. I just—” I blow out a breath. “I hate that I put you and our child in danger when I sent you away.”

“You didn’t know.” She frowns. “Which I guess is kind of why you were mad, so maybe I shouldn’t bring that up again.”

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