Page 86 of Captive Vows
“I am thankful that he was eager to be a hero too, but my son needs to think before acting on an impulse.”
“Son?” I furrowed my brow. “This is yourson?”
He nodded as Allen came into the study. “Allen, could you watch Misha for a moment?”
“Sure. Misha, have you had a cookie yet today?” Allen steered him away, clearly satisfied that nothing untoward was happening now that the maid was gone.
“You have a son?”
“I do,” Alexsei said. “He’s five and full of energy.” Likely guessing that I’d ask, he added, “My wife was killed a few years ago. I’ve raised him on my own.”
“Oh. Wow.” I blinked, surprised. Not only that this Mafia man seemed so normal about being a single father, but that hecould claim to be alone in raising Misha. Alexsei was always with the others. I was sure Ivan and Emil helped with the boy, too.
“Puts a different perspective on our ‘family’ now, doesn’t it?” He smiled slightly.
“Um.” I wasn’t sure what to say. That boy looked so normal. Like any other five-year-old. Not a robotic slave or trained soldier. “I’m sorry for your loss. About your wife, I mean.” I was aware that Luka had lost his first wife decades ago, but he didn’t seem eager to ever bring her up. Emil had told me about her when I’d asked once, merely curious.
“Thanks. Time heals all wounds, but it’s taking a while to move past the grief.”
I winced, immediately thinking that his wife had to have died because of his association in the family. This wife would’ve been a target. Like I will be if I stay for good.
Wait.
No.
That bias wasn’t adding up.
My mother had been killed in a drive-by, and that drive-by likely happened near home because of my dad’s connection to criminals.
I was damned if I did and damned if I didn’t.
Sobered by the realization that I was a target in my “former” life before I’d been kidnapped as much as I was currently a target to be in the Dubinin Family, I had to admit my odds of survival were a hell of a lot higher here.
“We’re still a family,” Alexsei said gently. “Not just lawless heathens.”
“Heathens?” I laughed lightly at his choice of words.
“I’ve noticed how scared you are to bring someone into the Dubinin Family, but if it would help you to see how balanced and loved and protectedmyson is, you only have to ask.”
It really did change my views. A lot. Just knowing a normal-looking and sweet boy was here at all morphed me from worrying my baby would be conditioned into a monster.
But it still seemed too late.
The danger would always lurk too close.
“Anyway,” I said, unwilling to admit my fears were magically erased, just like that, “I appreciate your, um, standing up to that maid.”
“I guess I was in the right place at the right time, huh?”
I nodded.
“If you ever need help keeping the house staff in line and don’t want to tell Luka, then you can always count on Allen. Or me.” He smiled slowly. “Even Misha when he visits here.”
“Thanks.”
“You doing okay?” he asked, seeming reluctant to leave me.
I shrugged. “More or less.” It was less. I was less than okay, actually, but he was one of the few to ask me that.
