Page 135 of Lethal Legacy

“So you’ve been to the software facility before,” I say. “You know the deal—you can hang out in the tech center while I talk to Pavel. I’ll send him in to you when we’re done.”

“Uh-huh.” He gives me a sideways look. “But I’m not allowed down in the server center, right?”

I glance at him, rather taken aback.

“I’m not an idiot, Roman.” He meets my eyes steadily. “I could hack into the Spanish government’s mainframe when I was twelve. I know you’ve got a whole thing going on underneath the facility.”

“Huh.” I’m not entirely sure what to say to that.

“Papa used to take us there all the time when we were little,” Mickey goes on. He’s watching me carefully, as if weighing how much he can say. I keep my eyes on the road and let him talk. “When Mama first left, before all the nannies.”

All the nannies.I try not to wince.I should have fucking been there.But I’d been too busy back then, too focused, to consider offering my help in looking after the kids. Anyway, I’d always stayed away from Mikhail’s domestic life, except for birthdays and Christmas. I didn’t want to get involved. To be relied on.

“I guess Papa thought we were too young to understand what we were seeing,” Mickey is saying. “Ofelia didn’t get it. She wasn’t really interested, anyway. And Masha was just a baby.”

“But you did understand?” I glance at him.

“Not at first. It wasn’t until last year, on the yacht, that I started to get curious.”

“The yacht?” That gets my attention. “Why was that?” I try to keep my voice casual.

“It was something Uncle Nicky said to Mama. He thought we were all asleep, but I was still awake, gaming on my computer. I wasn’t trying to listen,” he says, slightly defensively. “But they were talking right outside my room.”

“It’s okay.” I smile reassuringly at him. “You’re not in trouble. What was it you heard?”

“Uncle Nicky was complaining that you don’t include him in everything, and Mama asked what he meant, because you’d given him that nightclub. Pillars. Anyway,” he goes on, “Nicky said that he should ‘have a piece’ of the software facility. Mama asked what was so special about the facility, and Uncle Nicky said that you don’t dig up acres of mountain behind a high-security fence if you’re just making software.” He shrugs. “Then just recently, Luce mentioned something about it. I know what a server center is, and I started to think back to when we visited with Papa. I figured it out, I guess. Also, the facility producesreallyboring software. Like, kid’s stuff.” His contempt is so like that of my tech heads that it almost makes me laugh.

Except for the fact that what he’s saying is dangerous enough to put me on high alert.

“Did you mention any of that to Nikolai?” Despite my best efforts, I can hear the tension in my voice.

“Of course not!” Mickey’s indignation is too raw to be fake. “I’d never tell anyone about what you and Papa do. Did,” he corrects himself quietly, and I feel a pang of sadness. It should be Mikhail sitting here, talking to his son, teaching him about the family business.

But Mikhail isn’t here. You are. And MercuraisMickey’s family business.

I didn’t intend to start involving Mickey, or any of the kids, in Mercura, or any of our businesses. They’re just kids. But suddenly I realize how naive that is. They’re already involved. They’ve lost their father, and their grandfather is in jail. They spend their lives surrounded by security, and in the knowledge that they’re in danger.

“I’ve looked it all up online,” Mickey says, as if to confirm my thoughts. “I know why Deda Yuri went to jail. I know what they say about Hale Property, that it’s just a front for our other businesses.” His casual use of the wordouris strangely touching. “And I know that you... well, I know that the men who killed Papa aren’t alive anymore.”

I shift uncomfortably in my seat. “Mickey, I—”

“I’m glad those men are dead.” Startled, I look at him properly. His face is set and hard, oddly mature for the boy he still is. “I know it isn’t right to feel that way,” he says quietly. “But they killed Papa. At least now they can’t hurt Ofelia or Masha.”

There’s no bravado in his tone. He’s not trying to impress me or act tough. He means every word.

I’ve always known Mickey is fiercely intelligent. His report cards are off the chart, and Pavel has mentioned more than once that his abilities are above average. A year ago one of his teachers actually suggested that Mickey was wasting his time in her classes, and that his abilities in math and science already outstripped her own.

But until now, I never realized that he’s strong, too.

Mickey isn’t a child playing on computers. He’s a young man who has lost his father and never really had a mother. And he’s a brother who is determined to keep his sisters safe.

He might be only just fourteen, but I can already see the man he’s going to become. A man his father would have been truly proud of.

No thanks to me.

I’m just sorry I didn’t see it earlier.

“Mickey.” I pull the car into the Mercura parking garage and switch it off, turning to face him. “I’m sorry you’ve had to work all this out on your own. And there’s nothing wrong with feeling glad those men are dead. You’re right,” I say steadily, speaking to him as I would to any man. “They can’t hurt you anymore. Sometimes we have to deal with enemies that way. I don’t like it, and I know you don’t. But that is the life we lead. Sometimes, it’s necessary.”

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