Page 151 of The Bratva King

“You don’t get to decide what I need again,” she says with that fierceness I’ve come to love and, more importantly, respect.

“I won’t.”

“Especially when it comes to Luke.”

“I promise.”

“I mean it, Nikolai. I can’t be left in the dark when it comes to Luke or his safety. I don’t care how much you think you’re protecting us. You tell me. Every time.”

“I will, Gabby. You and Luke are my entire world now. I would never do anything to jeopardize your trust again.”

“I want to come home.” She steps back fully this time, allowing me to step into the room.

I pull her into me and hold her as close as I can. I kiss the top of her head, then her forehead, before crushing my mouth to hers, like my life depends on it.

I will never let her go again.

I release her with another kiss to her forehead and go straight to Luke, scooping him up in my arms.

He stirs when I lift him from the bed. “Nik?”

“I’m here.”

“Good.”

I start to carry him to my SUV. He makes a small sound, shifts, tucks his face against my shoulder, and goes still again. He has a death grip on the stegosaurus. Gabby walks beside me with her purse and the tablet and doesn’t say a word until we’re in the car.

“Nik?”

“Yes?”

“How did you know where we were?”

“I knew you’d run. I had men following you. And the iPad.”

She shakes her head. “I should have known.”

“I won’t,” I say. “I won’t track you.”

She sighs. “I don’t want to be tracked, Nik. I can’t live like that.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I just… I care.”

“I know.”

I carry Luke to his bedroom, and we tuck him in. I tilt my head toward my room. She goes in and sits on the edge of the mattress. I sit beside her and take a minute to collect my thoughts.

"I took something from you," I say. "Not on purpose. I decided what you needed to know instead of asking. That's what my father did to my mother. I told myself I'd never…" I stop. "I won’t do that again."

“I have to be involved in decisions,” she says. “I lived twenty years of my life never getting a say in what I wore, where I went, or who I dated. I trust you, but I need that.”

I nod and look down at the floor.

“Her name was Tatiana,” I say. “My mother.”

Gabby falls still.

“She was gentle. Soft in a way that my father hated.” I look at my hands. At the ink across my knuckles. My mother’s name hidden in the scroll artwork that you can only see if you know what you’re looking for. “He wanted sons who were like him. Sergei came close enough. Maksim charmed his way through it. I was different. Things that were easy for them were not easy for me.”