35. Chapter 31
Chapter 31
Viktor
T he day before Aleksander’s celebration.
The day before the opera.
Greyson stands with his arms folded like an ancient statue in the centre of a lake, a vicious snarl etched into his features.
I lick my lips, pulling the flask from my jacket pocket and taking a swig of vodka to settle the tension in my chest. It numbs the thoughts buzzing through my mind. It numbs memories I don’t know how to escape from.
“What are your orders?” Asks Greyson.
Alek lights a cigarette and watches the smoke dance through the air.
“You’re sure that’s his plan?” Alek’s eyes flicker to mine.
“My sources are certain.” I grumble, slurring through the end of the sentence. Alek raises an eyebrow. “Hard sparring this morning.” The lie falls from my lips like second nature.
Worry skips through his face, then he nods.
“We should tell Nikolai.” Says Greyson.
We both snap our eyes to him. Greyson rarely ever takes clear stances. He’s always a final vote, a voice of reason. He helps guide us, but doesn’t like to step past his place.
I nod in agreement. “It isn’t right to keep it from him.”
Alek drags at the cigarette, his icy blue eyes narrowing. Rain patters against the window, scratching to get in.
“He’ll get himself killed if we tell him.”
“That’s his decision to make.” I snap.
Alek glances out at the rain and the willow tree swaying in the harsh wind.
“It’s my job to keep you all alive. To keep us safe. Sometimes that means hard decisions.” He won’t look at us, his eyes gluing onto that willow tree. “He deserves to know, but I won’t get him killed.”
“It’s not right.” I growl, the vodka spiking my blood with fire.
Alek meets the fire in my voice with a raging tsunami in his own. “It wasn’t right to lie to me. They never married. I didn’t force him into it to punish him. It was to keep us all safe! All it took was Don Leonardo finding the same inconsistencies as I did and we’d all pay in blood. What I’ve done has always been for us . Including fucking Nikolai.” Alek breathes in slowly and looks off, far away, into a dream. “I once stood by and let him suffer. He almost died and I could have saved him.”
“You did free him, sir.” Adds Greyson.
Alek shakes his head. “Only when it was safe. When it was too late. Now I can act. I can keep him safe. I owe him that.”
“He wouldn’t want this.” I shoot to my feet, unable to hold back my anger.
Alek spun on the spot to face me. “It’s not an easy decision to make.” He snarls.
I breathe in heavily, my self-control ebbing away.
“Was Boris an easy decision to make?”
Alek looks at me with the eyes of a starving wolf. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Silence expands, prickling across my skin until I can’t handle it.
“Keeping the truth from Nikolai isn’t a kindness.”
Alek stubs his cigarette into an ashtray, extinguishing the last embers of orange light.
“You can all hate me. I don’t care. I’m responsible, not you. Leading means making decisions you don’t want to make.”
“Leading means listening to counsel, too.” I growl.
Pressure digs into Alek’s shoulders, but he holds firm. “I’ve made my decision. Forget what your source told you. Forget all of it. Nikolai deserves peace.”
“Yes, Pakhan.” I don’t meet his eyes. I can’t.