I stepped back, and her eyes widened with confusion, then fear as she saw my expression.
“Alexei? What—”
“When were you going to tell me?” My voice came out low, deadly calm. The kind of calm that preceded violence.
She went pale. “Tell you what?”
“Don’t.” I pulled the letter from my jacket and held it up. Her face drained of all color. “Don’t lie to me again, Mila. Not now. Not about this.”
“Where did you—” Her voice broke. “How did you—”
“We pulled it off a body at the warehouse.” I watched her flinch, watched guilt and fear war across her features. “A Russian body. One of your father’s men, apparently. He died delivering this to you.”
“No.” The word came out as a whisper. “No, I didn’t—I never asked him to…””
“But you knew.” I stepped toward her, and she stepped back. Good. She should be afraid. “You knew he was alive. You knew he was contacting you. How many letters, Mila? How many times has he reached out?”
Her hands were shaking now, tears streaming down her face. “Twice. Just twice, I swear—”
“And you told me ‘nothing!’” The words came out as a roar. The sound echoed through the foyer, and I saw guards scatter, giving us privacy. “You looked me in the eyes and lied while I was trying to keep you safe, while people were dying, while your father was apparently coordinating with the fucking Italians—”
“He’s not!” She screamed back, her own voice breaking. “He’s trying to protect me from them, he said—”
“He said? You believe him?” I laughed, harsh and bitter. “He’s a dead man who faked his death and abandoned you. And now he’s crawled out of whatever hole he’s been hiding in, and you just—what? Trust him? Choose him over the family trying to keep you alive?”
“He’s my father!”
“He’s a liability!” I grabbed her shoulders, not hard enough to hurt but firm enough that she couldn’t escape. “Don’t you understand? Every connection to him makes you a target. Makes everyone in this house a target. And you hid it from me.”
“Because I knew you’d kill him!” She was sobbing now, her whole body shaking. “I knew you’d hunt him down and—”
“And I will,” I said flatly, with absolute certainty. “The moment I find him, I will put a bullet between his eyes. And you need to decide right now, Mila—are you going to stand in my way?”
She stared at me like I’d struck her. “Are you fucking insane? How can you ask me that?”
“How could you keep fucking lying to me?” I shot back.
“I’m pregnant with your child.” The words exploded out of her as she sobbed. “And I’m still terrified of you.”
Silence.
I stepped back like she’d just shot me. But even then, with my chest cracked open, my possessiveness didn’t falter.
“Then I’ll make you terrified of losing me instead,” I said quietly.
She looked up, confusion flickering through the tears.
“You’re afraid of what I’ll do,” I continued, stepping closer. This time she didn’t back away. “Afraid of the monster I am, the violence I’m capable of. Fine. Be afraid. But be equally afraid of a world where I’m not there to protect you. Where ourchild grows up without me. Where you’re alone and vulnerable, and every enemy I’ve ever made comes for you.”
I cupped her face gently, forcing her to meet my eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered against my chest. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know what to do—”
“I know.” I kissed the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her. “But the lying stops now. Right now. You tell me everything, Mila. Every letter, every contact, every detail. Or I swear to God, I will lock you in this house until the baby comes, and you’ll never see sunlight again.”
She shuddered but nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay.”
