Page 72 of Wicked Knight 2

“He was my oldest son. Killed a few months before you arrived. I thought I would never recover.” He clicked his tongue. “And, then you showed up.”

“You had to know this would end at some point.” I stared at the roaring fire, puffing out red and yellow sparks as the wood surrendered to the flames. “I was never going to be Pakhan.”

“No. Ivan would not have allowed it.”

“Why the charade?”

“I wanted to give my son a wakeup call.” He shrugged as if the reason for the farce wasn’t important. “You see how he is. He has no vision for the future. Everything for him is the now. He makes dumb mistakes. With you by his side, I believe he could do great things.”

“So you lied and kept me here to babysit your kid.” I scoffed.

“No.” He swallowed. “No, Maxim. I kept you here because I need you.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“I’m dying.” He laughed. “I guess I didn’t lie about two things. The doctors, they’re useless. They say one thing and then it’s another thing. All they want is money. I decided not to play their game.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m going to end it before my kidney does me in. I see what the disease can do to a man. That won’t be me.” He leaned forward. “I owe you nine lives. Take mine. Let my son live.”

“No.” I shot to my feet. “You want to do right by me? This isn’t the way. I’ve worked beside you for a long time. This plan isn’t you. Hell, it’s not even a plan.”

“Call it a request.” He put up two fingers. “There’s a second part to it. You’re one of them. But you’re also part of us. Without your help, Ivan will get the crew killed within the year. What we need is a truce or maybe a contract with the Society.”

“You’re willing to make a deal with the devil? The Italians can’t be trusted. You taught me that.” I braced my hands on my hips. “You think they’ll listen to me? My entire family was slaughtered, and they didn’t raise a finger. They don’t give a shit about me.”

“But the pretty doctor does. She’s the key. She will do whatever you ask.” He shook a finger at me. The dead-set determination in his eyes made him look younger than his seventy-six years. “She was an experiment that turned out to work exceptionally well.”

“She escaped.”

“Because she thinks she can have more. You, without the Brotherhood.” He smiled.

Papa’s brain was a beautiful Machiavellian mess. The worst part was that he wasn’t entirely wrong. His insane plan wasn’t as crazy as it sounded. If his end goal was his crew’s longevity, using me to broker a peace deal was the right course of action. He was literally prepared to wash away his sins with his own blood.

“She knew me from before.” I wanted him to know that. I wanted him to know that if we were having this conversation, it wasn’t because of his grand experiment. “Did you know that?”

“No. That became apparent later. A happy coincidence. The bride you stole was already yours.” He nodded, biting his lower lip. A thing he did whenever he was satisfied with something. He’d waited a whole year to cash in. “Even if she hadn’t been. I think with time, you would’ve won her over. Ask her. She will do as you say.”

“What makes you think I want to help you? You’re not actually family.” I glanced down at my fisted hands. Yeah, that part right there was the truth that hurt the most. Without the Brotherhood, I was nothing. I had nothing. “This isn’t my crew.”

“Are you sure?” He pointed at my chest. “Look in there. Tell me you won’t do anything you can to save them. The minute I’m gone, if you’re not here, the Chicago Pakhan will move in and pick apart our family.”

“We’re not strong enough to fight back,” I said mostly to myself. “But the Society could crush them like bugs. We might even be able to expand.”

“That’s it.” He clapped once. “You got it. Your lady doctor will make that happen. All you have to do is ask.”

“What if I want to leave?”

“You don’t have to.” He rose to his feet and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Stay with us. As they say, Ivan can be the head. But you’ll be the brain. You can run things your way. He will agree, especially now that he understands that I’m willing to entertain an alternative solution. An Italian as their Pakhan. You decide, son.”

“My choice?” I smirked.

“I think Belinda and Ivan have proven they can keep a secret.”

A life with the Brotherhood was a future that right now felt impossible to let go of. There was only one problem with that. Donata would never agree to stay with me. This night was a new level of fucked up if I was considering kidnapping my wife again. A whole day without her was excruciatingly painful. I refused to spend the rest of my life without her.

“Don’t make me take by force what’s already mine.”I’d said those words to her on our wedding night. She was mine. Her beautiful face had appeared so vividly in my mind, that I didn’t recognize the real Donata when she entered the room.

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