Page 58 of Destroyer

All in all, it's not a terrible plan, but nothing has been said about the Russians running the area between the two areas.

“This has already been arranged then?” Knox questions stoically. “Did you run any of this by Nico first?”

“The boy is family. He will toe the line.” Andrei replies.

“Just like your daughter did.”

“My daughter was sick.”

“Nico is sick.”

“Has he been professionally reviewed?”

“No. We're still struggling with house training him.”

“House training? What does this mean?”

Andrai looks to Edward for help translating.

"Why couldn't you just leave this alone," Edward groans.

"We will deal with this like gentleman. I am sure a happy compromise can be reached." Balen tuts at him and turns back to Knox for the explanation.

“I'm not sure what you don't understand.” I give him the answer. “Your Grandson was raised on the streets. He came here and lived off scraps.”

"He’s been living with Gavriil.” Edward calls to me, his tone begging me to agree with him.

My eyes lock with Knox. This is not a good position to be in. Edward would kill to get in bed with the Romanian cartel. Knox's life is only slightly more valuable in this situation than me and Porter. Edward has convinced this guy that his grandson is normal.

"You have discovered by now, that my daughter came here to your country with her bastard son six years ago." Balen looks directly at me as he speaks, assuming I am the only one not to have heard this story.

"We are aware."

"I cut her off and threw her out, but all she had to do was apologise and she could come back. I made it impossible for her leaving the country." Balen explains his role, putting the blame on Nico's mum.

"Nico lived as a homeless street child because his mother was too stubborn to apologise?" Porter frowns from the doorway.

“Porter? What are you doing here?” Knox rises up and hurries over to him.

“Just needed to tell you the cat got out.”

My poker face slips into a smile as I process the utter devastation that fills me. Nico has gone.

“Ah, you must be Porter. Come in, boy.” Balen seems to know all about Porter. “Nico's mother was quite the character.”

"And you made a child live like that because you were too stubborn to back down?" Porter snaps.

"Who are you? What do you know of how these things are?" Balen turns on the boy as Knox guides him to the sofa where they sit together.

"He doesn’t," Knox defends. "He doesn’t understand how it is in a family like ours."

I nod in agreement. It is a stupid system where no one can ever appear weak, which includes admitting they were wrong. Nico suffered for that for the first twelve years of his life. I understand how it works. Balen would have made sure she was safe. He would have staged donors of money and food, access to clothes and shelter, but it would all have been done discreetly. It wouldn't help the mental health of the child caught up in all of this.

"When she left the country, she knew the cost." Balen shrugs.

The cost was her life. She forfeited her life to get her son to safety, she gave him to us, and we neglected him.

"What was the deal?" Knox snaps at his dad. "She told you who she was and instead of helping her, you decided to make a deal with Balen?"

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