44. Mat
MAT
Afon and I go straight from the hospital to a meeting with Lukas and Kir. Lukas wanted me to rest before we met to plan next steps, but Susan’s murder—because that’s what the fuck it was, even if no one on the right side of the law will ever acknowledge it as such—has accelerated things.
We don’t have time for me to enjoy some undeserved R I know that you know it. And you know that you know it.”
“And I know that you know that I know that I know it,” I grumble sarcastically. “Look, Kir, I appreciate the lecture— Well, actually, I don’t, but?—”
The elevator dings and the doors open. Kir drags me close to him, forehead to forehead, brother to brother, and fixes me with a hard-eyed glare that for once actually shuts me up.
“You can bullshit and bluster all you want, Matvei Satyrin, but I see you. And if I had to guess, I’d say this woman sees you, too.
The real you, with all your flaws and imperfections.
If she’s seen that and she’s still in, then you do whatever you have to do to keep her.
Even if…” He checks over his shoulder again as Afon watches impatiently from within the elevator.
Lukas is nowhere to be seen. “Even if it comes down to saying fuck the Bratva and taking her and running, you do it. Alright? I know you love me like a brother, and I love you the same way. But be honest with yourself about why you’re fighting this war, why you’re walking through fire.
Because if you lie about that, you’ll get her killed. ”
At last, he relinquishes his grasp on me and steps back. “Good luck, my friend. You’ll need it.”