I can’t help but wince at the brutal reminder. “You know that and you’re still considering releasing him?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because there’s still a chance that I can convince him to fight beside me instead of against me. You’re the one who said I needed him.”
“And if you fail?”
“I die.”
“Gavriil!” I exclaim. “I just stayed awake all night trying to figure out how to tell you so that youdon’tdie.”
“I won’t allow him the chance. I know Dominik will try to take over asPakhan.He may give the Bratva a chance at surviving the war if he managed to kill me. But he can’t go to war and keep you safe, so he’ll have to make a choice.”
I groan at the thought of Dom facing another impossible decision.
When I try to sit up, to turn around and talk to him, Gavriil drags me back down to the mattress. “Stay with me a little longer...”
Rolling over to face him, I clasp his face between my palms. “You can’t kill Dominik.”
“It’s going to be him or me one of these days,printsessa.”
“No,” I say. “No, Gavriil! That’s unacceptable. You two have to work things out.”
He groans and then his lips cover mine. “I do love it when you scream my name.”
“Gavriil,” I whisper, placing my palm on his chest to keep him from trying to distract me. “I know that you would literally do anything for Dominik. He told me…about your father.”
“What about our father?” he asks with a frown and a crease between his brows.
“He told me what you did, how you saved his life. Is that where the scars on your abdomen came from? Why you have nightmares?”
Gavriil’s bearded jaw ticks underneath my fingers. “He should not have told you any of that.”
I stroke my fingers through his neatly shaved beard, trying to ease the tension. “I’m glad he told me.” I always thought there was more to Gavriil, and finding out what he did for Dom provedit. “I hate that I was the one who came between you two. But you’ve been taking advantage of Dom’s loyalty for years. Why?”
“I’m hisPakhan,” he says simply.
I shake my head. “It’s more than that. Were you…are you jealous of him?”
“Of course,” he grits out.
“Why?” I ask.
“You know why.” His finger traces the curve of my lips while he says, “My brother is a good man,” he replies. “I’m not. He’s loved and respected by our men while I’m…”
“Feared,” I finish for him.
“Yes.”
“And whose fault is that, Gavriil?”
“Mine,” he answers quietly.
Pressing my lips to his, I tell him, “You could be loved and respected too, you know.”
He pulls away. “No. I can’t. As soon as I show any sign of weakness asPakhan, it’s over. I’ll lose everything.”
