“Now I want to be my own person. I want to make choices based on what I think is right, not what’s expected of me.” I turnto look at him. “I want to build something better than what he’s built.”
“Even if it means taking his place?”
“Especially if it means taking his place.” The certainty in my voice surprises me. “I’ve been trained for leadership my entire life, Rafa. I know every aspect of our operations, every strength and weakness, every relationship and rivalry. I could run that organization better than he does.”
“More efficiently?”
“More intelligently. More strategically. With actual long-term vision instead of just reactionary violence.” I pause. “More humanely, too.”
“And if taking his place requires... accelerating his retirement?”
We’re dancing around the word again. Murder. The elimination of my own father to secure my inheritance and protect the man I love.
“Then I’ll live with that,” I say quietly. “Because the alternative is watching him destroy everything and everyone I care about in service of pride and outdated thinking.”
Rafa studies my face with careful attention. “You’re sure?”
“I’m sure that he’s going to get us all killed if something doesn’t change. I’m sure that Alexei will follow him into whatever hell he’s planning. I’m sure that you and I don’t have a future if this continues escalating.” I reach for his hand. “I’m sure that sometimes love requires making terrible choices.”
“And you can live with terrible choices?”
“I’m a Petrov. We’re raised on terrible choices.” I squeeze his fingers. “The question is whether you can live with what I’m about to become.”
“What’s that?”
“Someone willing to claim power through violence. Someone who can order the death of her own father if necessary. Someonewho can smile at family dinner while planning a coup.” I meet his eyes. “Someone a lot more like you than either of us expected.”
“I can live with that,” he says without hesitation. “Can you?”
“I guess we’ll find out.”
We sit in the growing light, hands linked, contemplating the crown of thorns we’re about to place on my head. Leadership bought with blood. Peace secured through war. Love preserved through betrayal.
“When?” I ask.
“Soon. Vito wants to move quickly, before your father realizes how much we know.”
“Good. Waiting just gives him more time to eliminate variables he considers problematic.”
“Like us.”
“Like us.” I lean over to kiss him softly. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For giving me the chance to choose this. For not just making the decision for me, even though you could have.”
“I would never?—”
“You could have. Vito would have accepted your recommendation either way. You could have told him I was too much of a security risk, too emotionally compromised, too loyal to my birth family.” I trace his cheekbone with my fingertip. “Instead, you argued for my value. My potential. My right to survive and lead.”
“Because I love you.”
“I know. And I love you back. Enough to become someone who can stand beside you in this world instead of just surviving in it.”
“Even if it means blood on your hands?”
“Even then.”
