Page 68 of Luka

That feels pointed.

“Mate?” Mila chuckles. “Come on, Mama. This isn’t animal kingdom.”

“My son’sworld is not for the faint of heart, you know,” Aly says to me. “He needs a woman who will be able to handle herself.”

Luka pushes his plate away as well and leans forward, his defensive eyes trained on his mother. “Lukais sitting right here and is perfectly capable of making his own decisions.”

“I can handle myself just fine,” I say, my voice firm. “I wouldn’t be here if I was afraid of Luka’s world. He’s important to me. He meansthe worldto me.” Luka turns to me, surprise shining in his blue irises, but I only glance at him before straightening my spine and facing his mother.

She laughs, her lips curling into a cruel smile. “If you had any clue who my son was, you wouldrun, little girl. He is an Alekseev. Look that up, and when you do, remember what I’mtelling you now. I would take my last breath before I ever let him marry someone like you.”

“Well, Mother, if you’d like help taking it, Mila is right there.” Luka gestures toward Mila who pins him with a glare, but underneath it, I spot the shame pinkening her cheeks.

She really did kill her father.

“I think we’ve let things get a little too heated,” Vitaly starts. Luka jerks his head toward him like he’s about to unleash an avalanche of ice-cold rage.

“Could youpossiblybe any more fake?”

Vitaly blinks like he’s confused. “What?”

Luka scoffs and flings his hand at Aly. “You invited us all here so you could watch the viper take strikes at us. Don’t fucking talk about things getting heated. Just eat your lamb and enjoy the show.”

Vitaly lays his forearms on the table and shakes his head. “That isnottrue. We’re family. I’m just trying to?—”

“Don’t,” Luka snaps so viciously, I flinch. “I will burn every bridge you try to build, so save yourself the energy.”

“You’re angry, son. I understand,” Aly says, her voice having no inflection. It’s unsettling. I try to picture this woman reading a bedtime story or hugging a crying toddler, but I can’t see it. “Your whole life, I’ve spoiled you, but I can’t give you what you want this time… A wife is meant to stand firmly at her husband’s side, and this woman could never give that to you.”

Luka leans toward her, his hands gripping the table. “Did you just say you’vespoiledme?” He shakes his head. “Are you on a different fuckingplanet? Stop talking about me like I’m your prized possession. I am aguard. My life means nothing to the Bratva, and Jesus, Aly, face it, our last name hasn’t meant a goddamn thing since we left Russia, so stop throwing it at people. It’s embarrassing.” He points at Vitaly without lookingat him. “Mila gave you what you wanted. Butt the fuck out of my life.”

Now, to my amazement, one side of her lips quirk. Seconds tick by, and although I can feel Luka’s anger, he’s perfectly still.

He mimics her. I didn’t realize it until now, but his coldness, his hardness … it comes from this woman.

And it’s an act. A front. Who he was upstairs, that’s him. That’s Luka. This is the man who trusts no one, who lashes at those around him out of fear of being struck first. I’m starting to understand why.

“You’ve always been jealous,” Aly says, her voice a nail cutting glass. She taps her pink-painted nails together and shakes her head at him. “Ever since you were a small boy. First of Leo, and now of Vitaly… Do you know why he’s sitting there, silent and still, like aman, Luka?” Aly asks, pointing at Vitaly as her lips curl with a sneer.

“Because he isn’t the person you’re targeting?”

“Because his family didn’t make the same mistakes as yours. He was strengthened with pain instead of coddled and weakened.”

“Yeah, pretty sure it was the nine years in prison that did that, Mother.”

She stops tapping her nails to clench a fist as she speaks. “And I wish,with everything that I have, that it could’ve been your fate instead. Maybe then, you’d be the man I tried to raise you to be.”

Luka falls back against his chair and huffs, throwing his napkin onto his plate. “Well if getting gangbanged by Russian prison guards is what it takes to win your approval, I can’t say I’m sorry I fall short.”

“Luka,” Mila snaps in her husband’s honor, but Vitaly shakes his head at her and raises his hand.

Luka stands, his chair shoving backward with a force that nearly tips it over. I hurry to stand with him and follow him as he storms from the room. I expect to follow him upstairs, but a sense of dread washes over me when he passes the staircase and heads for the exit instead.

I stop dead in my tracks. It’s a few moments before Luka slows and turns.

“I can’t stay here anymore, Peach,” he says, his voice strangely even. He’s still wearing his shield. When I don’t move, he sighs and comes toward me.

“Look, if you want to stay, I’m sure you can, but I’m goingfuckingcrazy here. It’s been a week. I did my part. Those guys might not even be looking for you anymore, I don’t know, but?—”

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