Page 107 of Dark Promise (Suvorov Bratva 1)

I point to the lavender jar. She knows by now it’s what I want, but she always makes a point to ask. It makes me feel good to still have a choice in something.

And maybe that’s why she does it.

One brewed teapot later has us sitting at the breakfast nook. The pregnancy test sits between us, ominous in its little white and pink box.

Am I ready for this?

“He wasn’t always like this,” she says, plucking at one of the buttons on her blouse. “Pavel—he was such a sensitive and vivacious boy.”

I chortle. “That’s hard to imagine. All I see is a hardened criminal.”

“You see a hardened criminal. I see the boy that used to stain his fingers with charcoal when he was drawing in the garden.”

“You mean the garden on the roof?” I glance up at the ceiling. I’ve been up there maybe once or twice. “He grew up here?”

She nods. “Pavel was going to become the future, so Sergey put a stop to many things that he knew would erode the reputation of a respectable Pakhan.”

“Wait, he woulddraw? What would he draw?”

She smiles, a memory stealing her attention. “Landscapes. People. Buildings. He was so skilled.”

I asked him about hobbies just the other day, I recall.Why didn’t he mention that?

“Pakhans don’t create,” Viktoria continues, her eyes clearing of any memory that might have been there. “They destroy.”

“How the hell can they create families if all they do is destroy stuff?”

She shrugs. “A woman’s lot in life is difficult because she must be the bridge between these two worlds—she must serve two families. That of creation and that of destruction. Sometimes those two things oppose one another so deeply, especially when the marriage is for an alliance.”

“How do you know this?” I stare into my teacup. “I mean, I guess you’ve been with this family for a while, right?”

“I was married off for an alliance within the Bratva.”

My eyes widen. “You were forced to marry?”

“Forcedis such a strong word,” she ponders out loud. “But it didn’t matter. I fell in love with my Anton after that.”

Affection oozes from her smile. I can see the love there, the years of devotion evident in that simple expression.

I’m envious of her ability to wear a grin like that.

Suddenly, the smile disappears. “But it was hard. I lived in fear of my husband for years. I cowered away from him.”

“What? Did he hurt you?”

She taps the table quietly. “He was a scary man.”

“So, what changed? What made you love him?”

“A child.”

The phrase shocks my system. I never saw Viktoria as anything more than a strict old woman with a mean pinch and a meaner glare. When I say as much, she just laughs.

I shake my head. “What’s so funny?”

“You think you’re the only one who’s ever gone through this?” She gestures to the penthouse. “You sillykrolik.”

I roll my eyes and smile sheepishly. “So, what happened to your child? Where is he?”

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