Page 77 of Daddy's Reluctant Queen

He trails off. He doesn’t have to finish the sentence, though. I’ve been at the business end of his cold rage more than once since I’ve been here. In a way, I guess I can relate.

“And now, here you are,” Ignat says, sipping his coffee. “A prisoner of war wearing his robe.”

I glance down at the robe self-consciously. I guess he’s right. A blind man could actually see what’s happening between us.

“When the twins do make their move,” Ignat says, “he will do anything to see Luka safe. Including sacrifice himself if he thinksit’s the only way. Luka’s life is paramount. He would readily give all this up for him.”

I believe that. I’ve been on the business end of the way he cares, too. “The brotherhood would go on,” I say to him. “I mean… Pakhans come and go?—”

“He built Arkhangelskaya up to what it has become. Every brick that has led us all to glory has been because of him. If he steps down without naming an appropriate successor, it will be the end of us.”

“There’s no one else? No one?—”

“Not at this time, no. I suppose I would be the next logical choice, but between you and me, being Pakhan has never been my goal. I would, of course, accept if he wanted me to do it, but the one thing we both know is that I am a poor choice.”

His candor is surprising. I don’t think I’ve ever met any Bratva who would openly admit to not being fit to rule.

“If it comes to it,” he says, “and if you think you have any sway over him, you must bring him back from the ledge. If he makes that kind of sacrifice, we’re all doomed.”

“You’re closer to him than me,” I say. “You can’t think that he’d ever listen to anything I say.”

“What I know is that the last time I saw him move the way he has with anyone, it was with Angela. You have more power than you think you do when it comes to him, Sofia. Keep that in mind for these next few days.”

He pushes his half cup of coffee to one side and pushes himself up to standing. I stand with him, my arms out to help him. “If you don’t mind, I really should be getting back to bed.”

“Let me help you.” And I do. I wrap his arm around my shoulder and we walk together out of the kitchen.

I take him back to the room he was resting in, the whole time thinking about what he’s said. The very thing I was contemplating this morning. Where am I in Titus’s heart? If I mean that much to him…

I never expected to be in this place. I never expected to feel like this about my father’s killer. When did all that change? At what point did I stop looking at him as a means to seek the revenge I’m owed to start looking at him as a man I could love?

Ignat settled, I walk back to his room and open it slowly.

He’s awake, standing and looking out the window, a picture frame in his hands. As I step in, I realize that the photo is of a baby in a crib. Even from here I can see his big, blue eyes. Full of innocence and ignorance of the cruel world that awaits him.

Ignat was right. Titus loves him above all. I believe he would give all this up if it meant getting him back.

Dammit. I never expected Titus to be a better man than any that I’ve ever known. Not within a Bratva.

I back out of the room silently and make my way down the hall to my room. If this had happened within the first few weeks of my being here, this would be the perfect time to get my revenge. Hell, I could probably just walk away while he’s distracted and let the Archangels kill themselves.

Everything’s changed, though. And I can’t let Titus throw it all away. When the time comes, I’m going to show him another way.

26

TITUS

Being with Sofia last night was like drinking from the fountain of life. I woke up this morning with purpose on my mind.

I only have a few photos of Luka when he was a baby and only one of them I keep in a frame in my closet. When he first came to me, he was a few months shy of a year. The features he has now, nearly the spitting image of his mother, had already started forming. The day that I learned of his existence, my mind was black with rage and despair from his mother’s death. I couldn’t imagine a world where I could be a father and I didn’t want this child to have to suffer because his father couldn’t love him.

And then I held him in my arms for the first time and absolutely everything changed. I would move mountains to keep him safe and… well, up until recently, I had done just that. The failure that I feel runs through me like poison. And it seems that the antidote was being in Sofia’s arms.

She wasn’t in bed with me when I woke up this morning. I have to guess that she went to her own room. Wherever she went, shetook my robe with her. I’ll have to get it from her room after breakfast.

I’m sitting outside, eating under a cool blue morning sky. She’s probably having breakfast in her room the way she always does. I should have invited her to eat with me so we can talk about last night.

I said things to her that I haven’t said since Angela. What’s worse is that I felt things that I haven’t felt since her, either. I’ve been walking around all this time, intent on letting those feelings die with Angela. I needed to avenge her death and in order to do that, I had to think singularly. There has been no time to find love.