I exhale slowly, hating myself for it. She didn’t deserve being treated that way. No matter how angry or exhausted I am, I can’t fucking let my darkness seep out of me like that. Not when I risk laying it out on her.
As I listen to whatever the Romanian is saying to the others, I’m growing impatient to return home. To make things right with her.
This whole situation with the Irish, the Italians, and the shooter is starting to piss me the fuck off. It always feels like I’m close to wrapping things up, then something new pops up. There’s always a new fire to put out before I can finally take what I’ve earned. And I’m getting sick of waiting.
Maybe I don’t care about becomingPakhananymore. Not if it means crawling for scraps of respect from a father who’s never wanted me to win. Or lying to the world about hating the woman I love.
But I’m not walking away.Ibuilt this fucking empire. And if I burn for it, it won’t be for him… or for Mikhail… or for the woman who raised me like she wanted me dead the moment she stepped into our home.
It’ll be for me. For Victoria.
For the future we can have together if I stop pretending, and just take what’s already mine.
I look up from my phone, the decision nailing itself into my flesh and bones.
I tell the others, “Set it up. Tonight. I’ll pay whoever does it one percent more.”
Just then, the door opens to my left, and my father comes in, drawing all the attention to him.
What the fuck is he doing here?
“We won’t be doing anything like that,” he announces. “You must excuse my son, gentlemen. He’s been rather… distracted lately.”
I follow him with my gaze as he walks deeper into the room. Mikhail is right on his trail—a rare fucking sight—strolling in with a smirk on his face. Annoyance surges in me, and I’m this close to telling them both to fuck off.
Even though I’ve been the one running the business for the past couple of years, Father made sure to preserve his power through things like this. Blindsiding me is his specialty. And he can be very unpredictable because most of the time, he has no real strategy at all.
But this…this. To bring Mikhail with him is new to me. And it pisses me off.
“As you all know,” he says, “I’ve been thinking about retirement for a while now. I deliberately left Wolfgang in charge because I needed to know if he was the right person for the job. But as it turns out… he’s not.”
My jaw clenches on its own accord. Everyone listens, but no one dares look me in the eye. Yet, my father does. I hold his stare unflinching, and he holds mine.
“I won’t go into detail. We don’t need to bring personal matters into this. But I came here to make an announcement. To tell you all that from now on… Mikhail Rykov will be yourPakhan.”
Every atom in my fucking body comes to a halt. I stop breathing, and it takes every bit of sanity I have left to keep my calm. I imagine flipping over the tables. Smashing the chairs into the windows, into his head.
How. Could. He?
After everything I’ve done for this family, after everything I’ve endured for him. For us.
I watch as every man in the room gets up to shake hands with my brother. Everyone but me. I pay close attention to him as he goes through the motions, surprised to see his smirk gone. His brows are furrowed, and for a moment, his eyes slide over to mine. If I didn’t know him better, I’d say he was blindsided too, but I’m not buying his sheepish act.
No fucking way he didn’t have a role in all this. It’s what he always wanted, isn’t it?
I didn’t see this coming—and I’ve got no one but myself to blame for that. Not because I let Victoria in… but because I didn’t end this charade with my father sooner. Because I didn’t put my foot down when I had the chance.
As if on cue, my phone vibrates and I peer down, a text splayed out on the screen from an unknown number. And with every word I read, my shields—the ones I put down for the first fucking time in my life last night—go up again.
One. By. One.
Unknown:I told Ekaterina about the shooter. I think she told your father… He knows you lied to him. I’m so sorry, Wolf. Please… just be ready.
VICTORIA
I walk through the dark, empty halls of the house, aimless and on edge.
He’s not home yet, and I don’t even know if he got my message. I keep the new phone in my hand, constantly checking for a sign of any kind. But there’s only silence. And it’s pressing down on me like a mountain I can’t take off my chest.
