Edwinawasn’tsurewhatshe’d expected, but it wasn’t this frail old man who looked as if a strong wind might send him aloft.He sat on an upright chair, the arrogant tilt of his head and the distaste digging into his features suggesting he still considered himself the family boss.
He surveyed her intently, his brown eyes narrowed and alert.Another thing shocked her even though Mikhail had told her.This man held not a drop of shifter blood.Not even a hint.
“What do you want?”the old man demanded.
Okay, so no small talk.Worked for her.
“Your friend Smirnoff kidnapped Mikhail,” Edwina said.
The man surveyed her with distaste.“Who are you?”
“Mikhail’s wife,” Edwina said.“Smirnoff intends to force Mikhail to do his bidding.”
The old man cackled.“The boy is stubborn.Takes after his mother.I told my son he was a fool to marry someone from another part of the country—no matter how beautiful and fascinating.He didn’t listen.Look at the mess now.”He didn’t wait for Edwina to comment.“At least he is with Konstantine and in his proper place.The boy will thank me once he is in charge.”
Edwina doubted that, and another thought occurred.Crap.She hoped that whatever they’d drugged Mikhail with wouldn’t impede his tiger or worse.On the plus side—it took a lot to flatten a shifter.He’d likely awaken more quickly than a human.
“Mikhail doesn’t want to run the Smirnoff empire.He has one of his own,” Edwina said.“Is he at the estate out in the country?”
“You won’t get close enough to rescue him.If Mikhail is smart, he’ll accept his fate.He’ll marry a woman of his station who can aid him in his duties.”He sniffed, his nostrils flaring.“A woman with more class than you.”
“Wow, that burns,” Edwina said.Mikhail might decide many things, but she’d have something to say if he tried to ditch her.He was her mate, and she’d claimed him.Mikhail would marry another woman over her dead body.
“You refuse to help us,” Edwina said.
“Mikhail is in his rightful place.”The old man sneered.“He is the heir to the empire.Get out and return to the hole you crawled out of.If you go now, you’ll stay alive.”
“You threatening me, old man?”she asked.
“Leave before I call security,” he snapped.“Mikhail was mad to chain himself to someone like you.”
Words tickled the tip of her tongue, but she reined them in.The old man didn’t want to hear anything she told him, would never approve of her.Fine, she’d rescue Mikhail without his help.
“Let’s go,” she said to Ivan and Gregory.
They piled into the vehicle and drove away from the house.
“Mikhail told me his grandfather was a human, but I expected a hint of scent from him spending time with shifters,” she said.“Some sort of awareness.Why didn’t you explain how dangerous he is to Mikhail?He’d use his grandson in an instant.”
“It was a test,” Ivan said with a heavy heart.
“What sort of test?”Edwina’s tone was snotty, and she didn’t care.They were past secrets and distrust.She was a shifter with as much to lose as Mikhail, Ivan, and Gregory.
Ivan sighed.“Mikhail’s father was a human, and his mother a full-bred shifter.They were mates and tried living without each other.It didn’t work.Alexi knew his father would try to take advantage of the shifters, and he promised his wife he’d keep her secret.Mikhail’s grandfather disapproved of the marriage and ignored his son until Mikhail’s birth.Around that time, Mikhail’s grandfather became too ill to manage business affairs from his bed.He was furious when he learned Alexi had turned his back on his Bratva roots.Alexi made no secret of wanting out.It caused hard feelings within the family, but Alexi stuck to his decision, and his wife supported him.”
“What happened when Mikhail started shifting?How did they keep the secret from the old man?He doesn’t strike me as stupid.”
“Mikhail isn’t dense, either.Alexi and Sasha trained him from an early age.He understood he must guard his tongue while in his grandfather’s company.His family on Sasha’s side helped to train and mold him into the man he is today.”
Mikhail had confided little about his mother’s family, but he had mentioned a grandmother.“The grandmother who helped arrange for Mikhail and me to meet—she is definitely a shifter?”
“Yes,” Ivan said.“Most of Mikhail’s workforce are shifters or others.We have a few humans, but they have worked for the company for a long time and keep our secrets.”
A plan formed in Edwina’s mind—probably the only way to grab Mikhail.She didn’t expand on her idea but twisted and turned it in her mind and poked at it for weaknesses.“Should we worry about the drug they gave him playing havoc with his shifter?”
“Yeah,” Gregory said.“At least they don’t want to kill him.”
“Yet,” Ivan said with a grimace.
