Heat climbs up my neck, and I stop to face Sora, anxiety tightening around my throat. “I haven’t seen that side of him yet, except for the day he killed Pyotr.”
Sora looks relieved as she releases a breath and smiles, but I’m not ready to let it go just yet.
“He really threw a knife at you?”
“Oh, well yes, but it was only the one time, and he didn’thitme with it,” she tries to backpedal, and when she sees the expression on my face, she rushes to explain herself. “Honestly, I didn’t get to know Miko that well before Leo and I had to go into hiding, and he seems much happier in his new life than he was during the time I spent under the same roof as him.”
Her words sound dangerously close to the kind of excuses I used to make for Pyotr, and it leaves a sour taste in my mouth. But I just nod and turn to keep on walking.
Still, the guard I’d slowly started to let down around Miko feels like it’s coming up again.
Was I naive to think this happiness could last?
23
MIKO
“The reception was a disaster,” I admit, catching Leo up to speed on what’s happened since he left.
“Yeah, but the wedding itself went off without a hitch,” Gio points out.
“And we learned a lot, even if we never made it past cocktail hour,” Raf adds.
“That’s true. And god, you should have seen Anika in her wedding dress—before those idiot Russians ruined it.” Just the thought of it makes me ache to hunt her down and take her back to bed. If there was something as an earth angel, she would be it.
“She could have given Sora a run for her money,” Sandro says as he reclines on the tufted leather couch.
Leo snorts. “Don’t make me laugh. Though I have to admit, you did well, brother.” He claps me on the shoulder, his signature smirk full of pride. “I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks.” I can’t help my own smile when I think about the woman I get to share a bed with every night.
Not so long ago, the thought of marriage had been the farthest thing from my mind.
But now, I couldn’t dream of my life without Anika.
She’s a stabilizing force I never knew I needed.
“I’m sorry I missed your big day,” Leo says, his expression sobering. “Sincerely.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. I’d rather you be alive and Sora be safe. I knew it would be too risky.”
He nods, his shoulders lifting as if relieved of a heavy weight. “I hope you guys know how much it means to me—what you’re doing. You easily could have held me accountable for picking up the pieces since it’s my wife’s family who brought us to this state. It doesn’t feel right to dip when it was my responsibility to take over after the Don.”
The Don.It’s how Leo’s always referred to our father. I know he and Don Augusta never really got along. Not that the Don was a particularly warm or affectionate father figure. But he did shape us into the men we’ve become, and I owe him everything when it comes right down to it. Without him, I wouldn’t have had a family, a home, a future.
“Please,” Raf snorts. “We all knew how little you wanted the title. Which one of us was going to try and stop you?”
Leo chuckles. “Fair point.”
When it comes down to it, I might be the only one whocouldstop Leo from doing what he wants. I’m the only one who’s ever been able to manage him.
That’s just not who I am.
I’m not interested in forcing my brother’s inheritance on him.
Even if I wasn’t about to let our enemies walk after what they’ve done.
“We do miss you, though, brother,” Gio adds. He’s always been the nice brother, the empathetic one.
