Page 72 of Inked in Devotion

“King Industries has a pharmaceutical research company that develops antipsychotic drugs,” Ivan said. “They own the psychiatric hospital, disguising it as a wellness center. That’s where Theo is keeping Jeremiah. That’s where Esther stayed most of the time, too.”

“The Astorian?” Lucy asked.

“How did you know that?” Kirill asked.

“It was in Ivan’s files on the Kings,” she told him.

“I don’t want to hear about Jeremiah,” Kirill said. “Tell me why they’re interested in Kolya.”

“This was decades ago,” Ivan muttered. “There was an iteration of the antipsychotic drug that had the opposite effect. It enhanced aggression. Investors in the defense industry were interested in the research. Grigori had the ambition to become pakhan, so he told Duncan about the Vozhokari and the myth about blue-eyed Petrovs carrying a rare DNA. Accelerated blood clotting, low emotional reactivity under extreme stress, and a high pain tolerance.”

“That could be me,” Kirill mused.

Lucy laughed; I chuckled. “Your wife is your kryptonite, comrade.”

“You almost fainted from blood loss,” Lucy reminded him.

“Maybe because it was you who shot me,” Kirill replied.

“Was anything done with that research?” I asked. Because sneaky Grigori managed to get my DNA to frame me for the Mistress Strangler.

“Wait,” Lucy said. “Would Sebastian be in danger from the Vozhokari? His eyes. They’re like yours, Kolya.”

“And he has the mark of a scythe on the back of his knee.” Mine was on my ankle. There was no telling where the birthmark would appear. Dimitri’s was on the back of his shoulder and the one belonging to my father was right smack in the center of the chest.

“Sebastian fits the myth,” I said. “That’s why I expect the bratva to protect my son.”

“Not even a question. We will,” Kirill said. “But Chloe needs convincing.”

“I don’t know how to tell her about the Vozhokari.”

“You should have come to me about them when they’d been harassing you,” Kirill shot back.

“Grigori is dead,” I said. “I figured that was over, but then Chloe and I hit the news and it caught the attention of my relatives in Russia.”

“So they couldn’t be the one who instigated the attack on Chloe’s apartment because it was after when your cousin called you,” Lucy said.

“Or they already knew,” Ivan said.

“I don’t see how.” I narrowed my eyes at Ivan. “Unless there’s something you’re not telling me.” The Vozhokari never worried me because they had no hold over me unless I took a wife or had a child.

“You think they’re not watching you?” Kirill’s father asked.

“They could have…once I was released from prison.” I stood and walked over to the window, where I could see the carriage house. This banishment was making me antsy. It felt unnatural to be separated from Chloe and Sebastian. Fuck. What if I couldn’t find a solution? Another thought occurred to me.

“Do you think Theo knows about the research?” Dread flared inside me. “What if he’s going to use Sebastian as an experiment?”

Ivan’s face went blank.

“You considered this?” I stalked toward him.

Lucy, who was standing, crossed my path. “Back off.”

I was going to shove her aside when Kirill shot up from his chair. “I’d think carefully before you lay a finger on my wife!”

Christ! I scrubbed a frustrated hand down my face. I would have sneered, but now that I had Chloe and Sebastian, I could understand his protectiveness.

But I didn’t really have them, did I?