Page 58 of Mafia King’s Dangerous Vow

“It’s pretty,” he says simply.

Most people ask: What does it mean? Who was it for? Aleksander doesn’t. He just takes a sip of coffee and lets his comment be what it is.

“Thank you,” I manage finally.

Aleksander patiently finishes half the eggs without a single complaint.

My father weaponizes patience. Every gesture, every question, every comment eventually reveals itself as leverage.

But Aleksander already has leverage.

And he still sits here eating runny eggs like hurting my feelings would cost him. The thought lodges under my ribs.

Every desperate solution my brain has cycled through since the wedding ends in the same place: my father has too much power, and Aleksander has more. I hate that those are the only terms the world seems to understand.

But sitting across from me is also the only man who has looked at my panic and answered it with logistics instead of manipulation. Security routes. Work schedules. Conservators. Solutions. Not promises. Real things.

It’s starting to look too much like trust. Maybe that’s why I blurt the next thing out.

“I spoke to my father this morning.”

Aleksander’s fork pauses, then continues with the kind of control that makes me wonder what I just stepped on.

“What did he say?”

I stare at my plate, kicking myself for mentioning the call. I cannot tell him about Mark yet. Not before I am sure he would be willing to help me.

“I almost screamed,” I say, trying to deflect.

Aleksander lets it sit there. “Would that have helped?”

“No.”

“Then don’t waste your voice.”

A derisive snort escapes me. The corner of his mouth almost moves before he looks back down at his plate and takes another bite of the terrible eggs.

“You don’t have to keep eating those.”

“I know.”

I shake my head before he can see too much. “You’re strange,” I mutter, ignoring that the morning feels almost normal.

“I’ve been called worse.”

His phone buzzes on the counter, bringing the other world back. But he doesn’t answer immediately. Instead, he looks back at me. “Thursday is confirmed. The Healy visit.”

“Maya told me.”

“I want Mikhail with you.”

“Do I get a vote?”

“Yes.”

That surprises me. Aleksander sets his fork down.

“If you don’t want Mikhail, I’ll assign someone else. But you need someone who can pass socially and still handle trouble if it comes. He can do both.”