34. Mikhail

Raoul and Anatoly are huddled together in the entryway. When I walk into the room, they split apart, looking guilty.

"Viviana just left," Anatoly explains. "If you wanted to catch a ride to work, you missed it."

"I'm working from home today."

And maybe every day this week. This month. However long it takes until I don't feel every inch of distance between myself and Viviana. When I stop thinking about closing that distance, maybe then I'll head back into the office.

"Does that mean we're going back to deal with the father and sons?" Raoul asks.

Anatoly perks up. "The idiots who stole from us? I wanna come!"

"You need to stay here with Dante."

"It's been so long since I killed someone. Weeks," he complains. "Our reputation is becoming a problem. People are too afraid to cross us now."

"That's a good thing," Raoul points out.

"Not for me." Anatoly kicks his shoe petulantly against the seam between marble slabs.

"You can come next time," I tell him. "Right now, you need to stay with Dante. Viviana is a flight risk, but she won't leave without her son. I want you to keep him close."

"This is all because I'm better with kids than Raoul. Charisma is my curse," Anatoly sighs dramatically.

Raoul ignores him, focusing on me. "You think Viviana is going to make a run for it?"

I shrug like I don't care. Like it doesn't matter to me either way. "She wants to. She asked me if she and Dante could move back into her shitty apartment."

"And you said…?" Anatoly prods.

"No, obviously. She can't take my son away from me."

Anatoly rolls his eyes, looking towards Raoul. "Glad he decided to take our advice and go easy on her."

Raoul is deep in thought, which usually means he's about to say something I don't want to hear. Thankfully, my phone rings before he can. I pick it up without checking to see who is calling, grateful for the distraction.

"Hello?"

"Why am I hearing that you've been waltzing around town with some blonde bitch?" my father barks.

So much for a distraction.

"Nice to hear from you, too, Otets. How have you been?"

"I'd be better if you weren't throwing away your future for some no-name bimbo."

My hackles rise at the way he's talking about Viviana. If he knew who she was, he wouldn't be complaining. He's the one who set her up with Trofim in the first place. The Giordanos would be a "good match" for our status, in his eyes.

Even still, the way he's talking about my wife makes me want to cut out his tongue.

"It's no longer any of your business who I'm seen with."

"The only reason you have any business is because I built it and handed it to you."

"I took it," I remind him.

"So that means I should sit idly by and let you run it into the ground?" He pulls away from the phone to cough violently. When he comes back, his voice is hoarse. "You are thirty-five, Mikhail. It's time to think about what comes next. You need to sire a legitimate heir, which isn't going to happen if you're out sticking your dick in everything with two legs. Believe me, that's how things get complicated fast."

Anatoly can't hear what our father is saying, but I can tell by the strain in his face that he knows who I'm talking to.

"This isn't complicated," I tell him. "The woman is no one."

If my father looks into Viviana, he'll figure out who she is in an instant. He'll realize I already have an heir with the daughter of Agostino Giordano and all hell will rain down. Helen Drakos and her father won't take kindly to the insult, that's for sure.

"If she's no one, then keep her in your fucking bed," he snarls. "There are eyes everywhere, Mikhail. If this gets back to Helen, our plans could go under fast."

"My plans," I correct. "Unifying with the Greeks was my idea."

He sighs. "Then you should care more than anyone about seeing it through."

The line beeps in my ear as it disconnects. I curse under my breath and pocket my phone.

"I assume our dear father knows about your house guests?" asks Nat.

"Just one of them," I say. "But he doesn't know about Dante or that it's Viviana. I want it to stay that way."

Raoul frowns. "For how long? You can't keep them a secret forever."

"Until I know who killed Trofim and can make sure they aren't coming for Viviana or Dante next. That's how long."

Until I can get this ache in my chest under control.

Until looking at Viviana and not touching her doesn't make me feel like I'm crawling out of my own skin.

"If you want her to want to stay," Raoul advises, "maybe you shouldn't use her kid to blackmail her into it."

Anatoly winces in agreement. "It's not a great way to get close to her."

"Then it's a good thing I'm not trying to get close to her."

They both go unusually quiet. I feel them staring at me without even needing to check. They don't believe a word out of my mouth.

"Viviana is here because of Dante," I explain in an unconvincing monotone. "The only reason we're married is so she doesn't end up dead. I figured you, out of all people, would understand that, Anatoly."

He flinches at the cruel, casual mention of what happened to his mother. I shouldn't have thrown it in his face, but then again, they shouldn't have backed me into a corner.

Before I can say anything else, Raoul steps between us, almost like he's shielding Anatoly from me. "You've been through hell, Mikhail. We both know that and we understand it. But treating Viviana like shit isn't going to undo the past."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I lie.

Raoul lowers his voice. "It won't bring them back. Nothing can undo the past. Believe me, I've tried."

My molars grind together. "If you're still here paying penance, you're free, Raoul. I never forced you to stay."

"Which is exactly why I have," he fires back. "My family sent me here like I might be able to make up for the ones you lost. I knew I could never take their places, but I vowed to be loyal to you and try to undo the pain my family caused yours. I'll be loyal to you until the day I die, Mikhail—but it still won't bring them back."

"Playing house with Viviana won't bring them back, either!" I roar. My words echo off the marble floor and the high ceilings. I drag a hand through my hair, instantly regretting the outburst. "Fuck."

"I'll say so," Anatoly mumbles. "This shit is heavy, brother. You don't have to carry all of it alone."

Raoul claps a hand on my shoulder. "We won't let you. I can't change the past, but I can push you towards the future you deserve."

"A quick death and a Viking's funeral?"

Nat laughs, but Raoul just shakes his head. "I can push you to open up that black heart of yours, Mikhail. No matter how much it pisses you off."