Clinging to the old ways got him killed. Betting on the wrong man got him killed. Both can be true at the same time.
My gut twists at the sight of his body. At the thought of all the years between us. Fyodor always did what he thought was right, and that’s the worst insult of all in this. It is betrayal, in its purest form. Fyodor betrayed me. My son betrayed him.
It is also an answer to a test I have been running for a long time. Ever since Vitaly went rogue when he found out I was not planning for him to succeed me. I didn’t have someone else in mind at the time, but I knew he was not the man for the job. He overheard an argument with Fyodor on the matter, and ever since then, he has been a madman.
No. That’s not true. He was a madman long before that night.
Mina is steady. Her hands are small fists at her sides. I do not want this to be the first lesson she learns about my work. But I do not get to choose the order of her lessons.
“We will continue,” I say, quiet and even. “You and I will go back to the room and finish what we started. The guests will finish their plates. The band will play. You will not leave my side unless I ask you to. We will dance if we must.”
She looks from me to Fyodor and back. “Even though we know Vitaly is here somewhere?”
“If we do not, he knows we know he’s here. He will know his plan has gone sideways, and he will act irrationally. He must think we will fall into his trap eventually.”
“And when we don’t?”
I nod once. “We will go on our honeymoon. With him out there, knowing he missed his shot at us.”
She lowers her voice. “But he will try again.”
“He will.” I do not soften it. “I cannot kill a shadow, Mina. But I can kill a man. Tonight he tried a cup. Next he will try a roof or something else he thinks is clever. I will meet him there.”
Her mouth opens and closes. “Your calmness is for show, isn’t it?”
“It is for protection. If I break in front of them, I pay for it. We all do. Authority and power are stories we tell each other, and little more than that. So, I will not break, and neither will you.”
She steps closer. She is not afraid of me or the body on the floor. “I won’t. You don’t need to worry about that. What about your men?”
“I need to see who locks down and who runs his mouth. If we see any of the families leaving early or acting oddly, we need to know who spoke up.” I glare at Fyodor one last time. I taste bile. “Fyodor chose my father’s tradition over my judgment. He thought Vitaly was owed my title upon my death. He brought my son into my house and helped him set a trap for my wife on our wedding day. There is only one end for that. Fyodor got what was coming to him.”
She shudders. “That is exactly what your son said. I heard him say it. ‘You’ll get what’s coming to you.’ Then the sound. Then the fall.”
I do not want her to see me the same way she sees Vitaly. Not even for a breath. But on this point, the truth is the truth. I meet her eyes and do not look away. “I never want to have anything in common with my son, but on this score, he is not wrong. He saved me a bullet, because I would have done the same thing once I found out.”
Killing Fyodor myself would have hurt worse than finding his body here now. In that respect, Vitaly did me a favor.
A wretched favor.
Footsteps approach. Two of my men step in without glancing at the body. They carry the folded shroud from the estate kit and a black bag. They do not talk. It’s not the first time they’ve processed a dead body in this house. It won’t be the last.
I turn back to Mina. “We have five minutes before someone important decides to be offended that we aren’t there to entertain him.” I keep my voice soft. “Here is what we do. We walk back. You keep your hand on my arm. You smile and nod and look like a woman who is happy to be admired. If I stop, you stop. If I go left, you go left. You get me?”
“Yes,” she says. Her chin is high. She is holding it together remarkably well for a woman in her position. “What about the boys?”
“They return to the nursery. Two men are at that door. One woman who works for me is with them who knows how to hold a gun and a baby.”
She breathes once. Twice. She nods. “Alright.”
We step into the hall. Marcus takes the stroller and pushes it to the nursery with one of the men. Tanner holds the line at the far end. Traveling the halls of my home, knowing Vitaly could be here, is unsettling. I have the best security, and he managed to get past all of them.
Fyodor must have helped him get in somehow. That hole in security will be filled one way or another.
“I am scared,” Mina mutters. “I’m also relieved you’re not pretending this didn’t happen or trying to keep me from the truth. Thank you for that.”
“I will always tell you the truth, Mina. And fear keeps you alive. Listen to that instinct.”
“How do we know he isn’t just going to burst into the garden and mow everyone down with a machine gun?”
