Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 56572 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56572 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
I’ll be in the computer room when you wake up, beautiful.
A smile spreads my lips widely across my face, but when Drake answers the phone, the smile drops away, and I suddenly feel dead inside. Drake looks terrified, almost shell-shocked, like he’s on the verge of a breakdown.
“Drake?” I say, my voice breaking as I lean forward to get a better look at him. “Are you okay?”
“Dad went nuts earlier,” he says quietly. It’s his matter-of-fact tone that hurts me the most. “He was talking about this party, this pledge thing …” Drake shivers, then runs a hand through his hair in a world-weary way no ten-year-old should ever have to. “He said if it goes bad …”
“What?” I ask.
Drake shakes his head.
“Tell me.”
“He said it doesn’t matter if I’m the heir. He said …”
Drake lets out a sob and then tries to push it away, but he can’t. Soon, he’s fully crying, tearing a hole of guilt right through my middle. There’s nothing I can do except murmur words, which are supposed to be comforting. Finally, he gets himself under control, making heart-wrenching shuddering noises.
“I’m sorry,” he says.
“You don’t have to be,” I tell him, my voice cracking.
“What’s happening at this party? Why is it such a big deal?”
My new boyfriend is going to kill our dad.
“I’m not sure exactly,” I tell him, “but we’ll be together soon, Drake. Soon, you’ll never have to see Dad again.”
I observe him, wishing my phone screen was bigger, and the picture was higher quality so I could get every detail of my baby brother. “Good,” Drake says after a pause.
“You’d be okay with that?”
“Dad’s not a good person, is he?” Drake says, a note of unsure hope entering his voice toward the end as though he wishes to change this fact.
“No, he’s not.”
“I wish it were just us,” Drake says. “You and me and … and somebody to keep us safe until I’m big enough.”
“Then you’ll keep us safe, huh, champ?”
He frowns seriously as though my lighthearted tone is an insult. “I will,” he says seriously. “I gotta go. Dad’s saying we’re going to have a big dinner tonight. He wants me to wear a suit. I have to sit there and be the prince. If I were really the boss, everything would be better! Love you, sis.”
“I love you too—”
He ends the call. Right at the end, I think he’s about to burst into tears again. I try to call him back, but he rejects it and sends me a message. I’m good. Speak soon.
Sighing, I decide to take a quick shower. Afterward, I head to the computer room. Mikhail is sitting at his terminal, typing quickly with my headphones in. I walk over quietly, loving how intensely focused he looks and how his fingers speed across the keys. Then I notice the small bandage on his arm.
Reaching down gently, I touch his arm.
Suddenly, he’s on his feet. He spins to me with fury in his eyes, looking ready to kill whoever’s disturbed him. When he sees it’s me, the anger drains away. “Sorry,” he says quickly, touching my hand as his headphones clatter to the floor.
“It’s fine. I shouldn’t have snuck up on you. I was just wondering what happened to your arm?”
Mikhail sighs. “Dimitri asked me to make a blood promise before he told me something.”
“Promising what?” I ask.
“Not to repeat what he told me.”
I nod. “Okay. I understand. Dad’s men often made promises in the old way. You can’t say anything unless you want to be shamed in the Bratva for the rest of your life.”
He grinds his teeth from side to side. I wonder if he even knows he’s doing it. “That’s true, but it doesn’t make it any easier. You deserve to know everything.”
“Wait, this involves me?”
Mikhail bites down, clenching his fists. Every inch of him looks like he wants to tell me the truth. I can feel it burning from him, this desire to share everything with me.
“You can’t say,” I murmur a moment later.
“It’s like my throat closes up if I think about telling you. This Bratva crap runs deep.”
“It’s okay,” I say, but I can’t hide the bitterness from my voice. “I’m used to living in the dark.”
Turning away, I walk toward the door, the sound of Drake crying bouncing around my head, the sight of the tears scouring down his cheeks, and the agony in his voice. It’s just too much pain for somebody so young and vulnerable.
Mikhail grabs my hand and spins me toward him. “This will be over soon at the pledge. It’ll be done. Your dad will be done. Just give me until then.”
“I just got off a video call with Drake,” I tell him, snatching my hand away, even if it makes me feel like a real bitch. “He was crying his eyes out. He wouldn’t say what Dad threatened him with, but apparently, if the pledge goes bad, Drake will pay the price.”