Page 78 of Tied to Hope
He nodded, tears coming to his eyes. “Why lie? That little boy doesn’t deserve this.”
Brie kissed his cheek gently. “Neither do you.”
Rytsar sucked in his breath. “That child has been neglected by his father for two years. I will not let Vlad continue to disown him.”
Brie was moved that Rytsar’s overriding thought was for the child despite the toll this revelation had taken on him personally.
Sir cautioned him. “At this point, we don’t know Vlad’s level of involvement.”
Rytsar glared at him. “Well, we know that his sperm was involved!”
“Hear me out. If Sasha waited this long to tell you, there’s a strong possibility Vlad was kept in the dark as well.”
Rytsar snarled. “I suppose that might explain why I wasn’t approached sooner if both of them are gunning for my inheritance.”
“It might,” Sir agreed. “I’m certain there is more to this deception than we know.”
“Still…Vlad is a married man with children of his own. He should be taking care of his own household, not making bastard children with one of my subs.”
“While I agree his morals are lacking, we should not automatically assume he was involved in the deception.”
Brie knew it would be less of a blow for Rytsar if Vlad were unaware of the child. However, it would thrust Vlad into the same position that Rytsar had been in. As upsetting as it was for the men, Brie knew the child would suffer the most and she felt sorry for him.
Rytsar nodded in response to Sir, but he looked less than convinced. “As for Sasha…she will regret this in ways she can’t imagine.”
Once they arrived at the mansion, Rytsar directed them to the gallery room, saying, “The historical society created replicas of as many paintings as they could after the fire.”
Brie walked around the large room lined with paintings of the Durov family dating back four hundred years. There was no mistaking Rytsar was part of their family because so many of the men shared his features.
She noticed a picture of a woman set apart from the others on the farthest wall and walked up to it. Rytsar stood next to her as she studied it. Brie was drawn to the woman’s kind smile and soulful eyes. “Is that your mother?”
Rytsar nodded. “I had the painter create it based on my memory of her. It is a good likeness.”
“She’s beautiful.”
“Yes, she was.”
Brie noted that there was no painting of his father on the wall, and she found that oddly comforting. The man did not deserve to be remembered.
Rytsar turned to Sir. “I think it’s the perfect place to confront Vlad, don’t you?” He added with an angry laugh, “This way he can make his confession in front of the entire family.”
Maxim walked into the room and announced, “Vlad has arrived.”
“Send him to me.”
Rytsar directed them to stand beside him. He clenched his jaw as he stared at the door, waiting.
While the doctor had spoken in English at Rytsar’s request during the office appointment, Brie knew that would not be the case with his brother. Based on what Rytsar had shared, Vlad had no use for foreigners or the English language.”
“Do not worry,radost moya. My brother does not use big words. You should have no problem understanding what he says.”
As soon as Vlad entered the room, Brie was struck by how much he looked like Rytsar.
When Vlad saw Sir, he scowled. “What is the meaning of this, Anton? You claimed it was a matter of life or death.”
“I said lives depended on it,” Rytsar corrected him coldly.
Vlad eyed Sir suspiciously while completely ignoring Brie.
