Like nothing here matters.
My gaze locks onto him.
The others notice.
“What?” Konstantin asks, following my line of sight. Then he freezes. “Is that who I think it is?”
“Yup,” Dimitri says under his breath. “That’s Lukyan. When the hell did he get back?”
I shrug slightly, still watching him approach. “A few months ago. He’s been at my estate since he arrived.”
That gets their attention.
All of it.
They snap toward me like I just confessed to a crime.
“And you kept it from us?” Mike demands, genuine outrage breaking through his usual calm. “Lukyan has been gone for decades.”
“He asked me to,” I reply simply. “Didn’t give me a reason. I didn’t ask.”
Mike stares at me like he wants to argue.
I hold his gaze.
“But he’s family,” I add, quieter now. “I’ll keep his secret for as long as he wants me to.”
A beat.
“You all would do the same,” I say.
Silence settles between us for half a second.
Then the tension breaks.
Because they know I’m right.
We might not all share blood, but the name binds us tighter than most families.
Rusnak means something.
And loyalty isn’t optional.
Lukyan finally reaches us.
His eyes sweep over us once, taking everything in without giving anything away.
“Hello, brothers.”
We’re not affectionate.
We don’t do emotional reunions.
We don’t do…this.
So I’m caught off guard when Dimitri is the first to step forward and pull him into a rough embrace.
Konstantin follows. Then even Mike.
