But for the first time, I can start to understand him a little.
It must have been hard to take my place in the family, knowing every day that I was being raised to hate my own blood in a house just a handful of miles away.
“I wouldn’t dare go so far as to give credit to the man who raised you,” Svetlana says with dry humor. “But perhaps it wasn’t the worst thing in the world that Don Augusta took you. As horrible as that day was, it did break the cycle. You have the opportunity for a fresh start, Miko. The kind of man you are will be determined by how you move forward from here—now that you know the truth of it all.”
The words of wisdom settle heavily on my shoulders, and suddenly, I understand why Anika trusts Svetlana so completely.
This old woman isn’t just maternal and kind. She’s wise in a way few people can achieve in one lifetime.
And she’s not afraid to speak the truth—even if she knows it will piss me off.
“You’re not senile at all, are you?” I ask, looking deep into her clouded gray gaze.
Svetlana tips her head back to release another cackle and pats my cheek. “If you listen to the doctors, they’ll do their best to convince you otherwise. But I wouldn’t mind if you told my Anika as much on occasion.”
I smile. “I think I can manage that.”
“So, tell me,Kasatik, what are you going to do now?” she asks, eyes twinkling.
“I’m going to call a family meeting,” I say. Then I gently grasp Svetlana’s arthritic hands and press a kiss to the backs of her knuckles. “Thank you.”
It doesn’t take long to have the family gathered in the sitting room of the Novikov compound—my three brothers and Anika all watching me carefully from their chairs as I pace before them.
I thought about asking Svetlana to join us. But these are my brothers, and as much as I want to call her family, the old woman is still a stranger to me.
There will be time to change that, but right now, I need to do this on my own terms.
“You’re going to walk a hole through that floor,” Gio observes.
My steps falter, and I glance toward Anika, most anxious to know what she’s going to make of what I’ve learned.
Will she be appalled with me for killing my own brother? Will she hate me for being related to her abuser?
“Seriously, Miko, spit it out,” Raf presses.
“We’ve heard rumors about a lost Novikov heir,” I start. “That the Bratva would stand behind this man if they could find him.” I turn my eyes directly on Anika now, and after a long silence, she lifts her gaze to tentatively meet mine. “So, I spoke to the one person I thought might know the truth behind it.”
“Svetlana,” Anika breathes.
I nod, looking back toward my brothers. “She’s Pyotr’s great-grandmother, a woman who’s been the matron of this house for the vast majority of nearly a hundred years.”
“And?” Gio asks, his eyebrows lifting.
“The rumors are true. Pyotr had a brother,” I rasp, my stomach knotting.
“Well, let’s go find the bastard and kill him before the Russians have a chance to unify,” Raf insists, slapping his knees and starting to rise from his seat beside Sandro.
“You’re looking at him,” I say flatly and wait for the truth to sink in.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Raf asks, frowning as he drops back into his seat.
“Over thirty years ago, Don Augusta took Pyotr’s brother, the rightful Novikov heir, in order to punish the Novikovs for infringing on his territory. And to ensure they never tried something like that again, he chose to raise that boy as one of his own.I’mthe Novikov heir. He kept me in plain sight so my family would know he always had the upper hand.”
“Damn, Miko,” Gio breathes, his eyes soft with horrified sympathy.
I can tell from his expression that he believes me, as does Sandro, but Raf looks more skeptical as he assesses the story from every angle.
Anika is quiet, looking a bit more pale than usual, and I hope we can have a discussion about it later, in private.
