But I can't let her go. Can't send her back to a world where I can't protect her, where my enemies might reach her anyway and I wouldn't know until it was too late.
"I will do whatever I have to," I say slowly, "to take care of my family."
"Your family?" Radimir's eyebrow rises. "The girl has been here a few weeks and now she's family?"
"She's under my protection. That makes her family."
"The elders won't see it that way."
"Then the elders can come tell me that themselves."
We stare at each other, uncle and nephew, locked in a power struggle that's been brewing since my father's death. Radimir wanted the pakhan position then, thought his age and experience entitled him to lead. He's never forgiven me for taking what he believes is his birthright.
"Actually, that's why I'm here. The elders have called a meeting. In New York. Tomorrow."
My stomach drops. "What kind of meeting?"
"The kind where they discuss leadership transitions." His smile doesn't reach his eyes. "They want to hear your explanation for why Richard Quinn and his daughter are still alive when our laws clearly dictate otherwise."
This is worse than I thought. If the elders are calling me to New York to justify my decisions, they're already considering whether to remove me from power. It’s not like I get fired and given a severance package.
I’ll be killed. Men that are loyal to me will be killed.
"I'll go," I say. "But I'm bringing Alexei."
"The elders specified you come alone."
"I don't take orders from the elders. I am the pakhan."
"For now," Radimir says quietly.
The threat is clear. Cooperate, or face the consequences. And those consequences likely include not just the loss of my position, but quite possibly my life.
"We leave tomorrow morning," Radimir continues. "Early. I've already made arrangements."
After he leaves, I stand at the window he occupied earlier.
I'm ready to lose everything to keep them safe. My position, my power, even my life if it comes to that. But I'm not naive enough to think the elders will let me walk away quietly. If they remove me as pakhan, they'll likely remove me permanently.
Which means Hannah and Mila will be left unprotected, vulnerable to whoever takes my place.
Unless I can convince the elders that my way is the right way. That patience and strategy serve our interests better than immediate, brutal enforcement of rules that might be based on false evidence.
It's a thin argument, and I know it. But it's all I have.
I call Alexei, explaining the situation in careful terms.
"Be careful in New York," he warns. "If the elders are turning against you, Radimir might try to eliminate you while you're away from your power base."
"I know."
"Want me to come with you anyway?"
The offer is tempting, but I need him here more than I need him watching my back in New York. "Stay with them. If something happens to me, get them out. Both of them. Don't let Radimir or Bogdan or anyone else touch them."
"Dante—"
"Promise me."
