Page 95 of Bratva Butcher

“Now.”

“Nikolai, stay back a moment.”

“Oooo, someone’s in troubleeee,” Lukyan sang mockingly. At my glare, he snapped his mouth shut and pointed to the door. “I’ll just—”

“Leave? Good idea,” I grunted, still annoyed with his little comment about Autumn from earlier.

He shot out the door quicksmart. Aleksandr and Drea said their goodbyes next. Aleksandr gave me a slight bow of the head, something he was no longer required to do now thathewasPakhan, but I suspected he was so used to it that it had become second nature to him.

Drea looked awkwardly between the two of us like she wasn’t sure what to do. She started to lower herself into a curtsy.

Humor trickled through me. I grabbed her arm, stopping her. “Just goodbye is fine,” I chuckled softly, unable to help myself.

She smiled. “Goodbye.”

"Proshchay, doch,'" Goodbye, daughter.

Aleksandr gasped.

“What?” Her gaze whipped back and forth. “What is it?”

“I’ll let Aleksandr tell you. Now, give us the room, please.”

Aleksandr swallowed thickly before bowing his head again, this time a lot lower than the first, and then he took Drea’s hand and pulled her out of the room despite her slight protest.

“That was nice of you,” Nikolai commented after the door shut. “I know it would have meant a lot to Aleksandr to hear you call her that. To know you accept her and approve of her.”

“It’s true.” I signalled for him to take a seat. “She’s my daughter now, and she’ll be treated as such. So will Tatiana.”

He bowed his head in thanks."Spasibo, Otets." Thank you, Father.He sat down, a certain tenseness to his body that told me he was wary of why I asked him to remain behind. “If you’ve kept me back to try and convince me to stay—”

“I wouldn’t do that,” I said softly.

He nodded, satisfied, and urged me to continue on.

I took a deep breath, wondering where on Earth to begin. Nervousness was not something I felt often, but right then, it skated across my skin, worming its way into my gut. I feared his response, that he would be angry with me once he knew the truth.

“I’m really happy for you and Tatiana.”

He smiled, bright and beaming. I’d never seen him so happy.

I hated to ruin that.

“There’s a conversation we need to have. One I fear we both have been avoiding for a while.”

His whole body went rigid, going stiff as a board. “You know,” he breathed, somehow figuring it out from just that one sentence alone. “How-how do you know? Did Aleksandr tell you?” he asked, a slight accusatory tilt to his words.

I shook my head. “No. Of course not. Though, I am glad you finally confided in someone.”

“Then, how?”

I moved the other armchair until it was directly across from him, and then I sat down. “How much do you remember?” I whispered softly. “From…that night?”

He looked away, clearly not wanting to talk about it. Not wanting to remember.

I didn’t blame him.

I placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Weneedto talk about it, son.”

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