Page 131 of Secret Heir

“It’s safe, Daniel,” I tell him gently, trying to keep the desperation out of my voice. “Dr. Petrov checked it himself. No one’s going to hurt you here.”

“That’s what you said before,” he says accusingly, and it cuts right through me. “You said I was safe at Dyadya Kolya’s house. You said nobody could hurt me there. And someone tried to kill me.”

I have no answer for that. We promised him safety and we failed.

So now I taste all his food first and wait five minutes to prove it’s safe. Only then will Daniel touch it.

He refuses to sleep alone. He needs both of us in the room within reach. If one of us leaves—even just to use the bathroom—he has panic attacks.

“Papa, don’t go!” He’s crying, grabbing at Maksim’s shirt with white-knuckled fists. “Please don’t leave me! What if you don’t come back?”

“I’m just going to the bathroom, solnyshko,” Maksim says soothingly. “I’ll be right back. I promise.”

But Daniel isn’t convinced. “What if you don’t come back? What if something happens while you’re gone? What if someone—” He can’t finish the sentence and dissolves into sobs.

“I’ll come back. I always come back.” Maksim kneels beside the bed, wincing at the pain in his ribs. “Count to sixty and I’ll be here. Can you do that?”

Sometimes it works. Sometimes Daniel can count and calm himself. Sometimes it doesn’t, and we have to bring him with us because leaving him alone—even with nurses present and guards outside—sends him into hysterics.

I watch my son’s fear and feel rage unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.

Someone did this to him. Someone looked at my beautiful, innocent, seven-year-old child and decided to poison him and make him suffer. They tried to take him from me.

And that someone is still out there. Still free. Still breathing.

It’s not right. I want blood. I want to watch Alexander Morozov die slowly and painfully. I want to make him feel every moment of terror that Daniel has felt. Every second of choking on poison while his small body convulsed.

I want him to suffer the way my son has suffered.

And I want to be there when it happens.

One week after Daniel wakes up, Maksim and I are alone in our quarters at the compound. Daniel is finally sleeping in the next room, but he’s heavily medicated with something Dr. Petrov assured us is safe for children. We’ve set up monitors so we can hear if he wakes. There are guards posted outside his door. Nikolai himself checked the security protocols.

But I’m still scared out of my mind and I’m constantly listening for sounds from the monitor. I’m ready to run to him at the first sign of distress.

“You don’t have to testify in front of council, once we’ve found Alexander,” Maksim tells me, his expression pinched in worry. “I can find a way to leave you out of it.”

We’re sitting on the couch in the sitting area. It’s a beautiful room with hardwood floors and expensive furniture that I barely notice. Both of us are exhausted as we’ve been running on adrenaline and fear. We’re too wired to sleep even though we desperately need rest.

“I want to testify,” I say coldly. “I want to look him in the eye and tell everyone what he did. I want the whole council to hear how he poisoned my son and tried to murder you.”

Maksim takes my hand and brings it to his lips. “I want you there when he dies. You’ve earned that right.”

“I want to watch him die.” The words taste like venom in my mouth. “I want to see the life leave his eyes so I know he can’t hurt us anymore.”

I see approval in Maksim’s gray eyes. Maybe even pride. “You’ve changed.”

“He tried to murder my child,” I say fiercely as the hand not in Maksim’s clenches into fists, my nails digging into my palms. “I’m done being scared. I’m done running and being the victim. I want him dead, and I want to be there when it happens.”

“You will be.” He pulls me closer, his arm around my shoulders. “I promise you that. We’re going to end this together.”

I lean into him, breathing in his scent that I’ve come to associate with safety. “I used to think violence was wrong and revenge was pointless. I really thought being the bigger person mattered.”

“And now?” I can hear Maksim’s voice vibrate against me.

I shake my head. “Now I understand why people kill and seek revenge.” My voice breaks slightly. “Because when someone threatens hurt your baby and tries to take away everything you love—there’s no being the bigger person. There’s just protecting what’s yours no matter what it takes.”

“Yes.” He presses a kiss to my hair. “Exactly.”