Nicolai stands, moving to the window that overlooks the financial district. The same view we’ve shared through countless conversations over the years, planning futures that will never come to pass.
“How long have you been planning this?” he asks without turning around.
“Weeks. Maybe months, depending on how you count the beginning.”
“Since you realized Father’s true intentions?”
“Since I realized I had a choice to make between surviving his intentions and living my own life.”
“And Rafael? Is he part of this choice?”
“Rafael is the reason I have the strength to make this choice. But the choice itself... that’s mine.”
“You love him.”
It’s not a question, but I answer anyway. “Yes.”
“More than family.”
“Differently than family. In a way that makes me want to become better than what this family has made me.”
Nicolai turns from the window to face me, and I see something in his expression I’ve never seen before—not disappointment or anger, but a kind of weary acceptance.
“You know I can’t be part of this,” he says quietly. “Whatever you’re planning, whatever justice you think you’re serving—I can’t actively participate in harming Father or Alexei.”
“I know. I’m not asking you to.”
“But you’re asking me to do nothing while it happens.”
“I’m asking you to survive it. To be there afterward to help rebuild whatever’s left.”
“And if there’s nothing left to rebuild?”
“Then we build something new. Something better.”
“We?”
“You, me, Misha, Zoya. The parts of this family that can be saved.”
“Under your leadership.”
The implication hangs heavy between us. Because that’s what this is really about—not just eliminating threats, but claiming the power to reshape everything in their absence.
“Under better leadership than what we have now,” I correct.
Nicolai nods slowly, as if accepting an inevitable conclusion he’s been avoiding. “When?”
“Soon. Possibly tomorrow, maybe the day after.”
“And you’re certain this is the only way?”
“I’m certain that doing nothing guarantees we all die eventually. Father’s plans will destroy both families, and everyone caught between them.”
“Including you.”
“Especially me.”
We stand there in silence for several minutes, brother and sister, contemplating the end of the only world we’ve ever known. The end of the family that shaped us, protected us, and ultimately failed us.
