Page 32 of Dark King Daddy

He inclined his head to Lev, then Mikhail.

I checked his jacket with my eyes. The cut was clean. Nothing distorted the line.

“You leave when service is complete,” I told him.

“Of course, Daniil.”

Lev gave me a look that said I was repeating myself.

I ignored it.

The two fathers entered. Leonid followed with a tray holding tea and glasses. The electronic latch closed behind them.

Anton’s phone rang.

He checked the screen. “Roman. It may be Sergei.”

He moved toward the Samovar Room for privacy.

Arkady and Nikita had already gone to review the decoy-route assignments with our men downstairs.

That left Ksenia and me in the corridor.

Alone was not the right word. Guards stood at both ends. Cameras watched us.

But it felt as though we were alone. The whole evening it had felt as though it was just her and me.

She looked toward the Birch Room door, then at me.

“Thank you,” she said.

“For what?”

“For Sergei.”

“Pah. It was nothing. I was closest.”

“That’s what he said you would say.”

My attention sharpened. “You discussed me with him?”

“I asked who found him.”

“And he described the garage.”

“He described you carrying him out while the timer counted down.”

“He could not walk.”

“The building was about to explode.”

I said nothing.

She stepped closer. Not touching. Close enough that I could see the small pulse at the base of her throat.

“You make every choice sound like an accident,” she said.

“What would you have had me do? Leave him?”