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Well, and her father. And he will abso-fucking-lutely pay.

As my eyes burn with the tears I refuse to allow to fall, the tears I don’t deserve to release, I stare into her beautiful face. “Names,” I grunt out through my closing throat.

Her dark brows furrow.

“Who hurt you? Who all was involved? I want every single fucking name.”

“You can’t go there alone, B.”

Fuck. Hearing her nickname from so long ago, the nickname she’d adopted to protect us, makes my heart flutter. “I don’t plan on it. But they will all fucking pay with their blood for daring to so much as look at you, let alone hurt my girl.” And take away our child.

I have zero doubt her father had hoped the abuse would kill the child, but it wouldn’t have mattered, considering he’d ordered his men to kill his only daughter.

His only fucking child.

She inhales, the sound shaky, then licks her lips. “Mikhail. Eriks. Denis.”

“And this Viktor? He’s the one who saved your life?”

I’m running one hand up and down her back as I lift the other to cup her cheek.

“You can’t hurt him, or tell anyone what he did. Please,” she begs, grabbing my wrist with both hands.

I slowly wag my head side to side. “He’ll have a place after we burn every single thing your father built…if he wants.” Either way, I owe this Viktor dude everything. Anything he asks, it’s his.

She didn’t seem to know the woman when she told the story, but I suppose it could have been his wife, or even a sister.

But she’s earned favor from me, as well.

Cupping her face in both hands, I use my thumbs to swipe away the moisture there and press a soft kiss to her lips. “I’m so fucking sorry.”

No matter how hard I try, I can’t keep the emotion out of my voice, my words thick as I push them past the lump threatening to choke me.

When she leans forward and presses her lips to mine in a lingering kiss, I sigh and wrap my arms around her back, hugging her closer.

“Look at me,” she says when she pulls away.

I lift my lids and stare into her eyes, her face a little blurry with how close we are.

“I don’t and never have blamed you guys for what happened. I mean…how the hell could you think I would ever willingly walk away?” she says with one raised brow. “But my father and his sycophants are the only ones to blame for this. I think if the roles were reversed, I would have hated you, too. If I thought you’d walked away from me after promising me the world, I would have grieved and raged so hard. So no…I don’t really blame you guys for how you acted when you found me.”

“We’re still getting married. Well, you and Kato are and fuck yes, we’re making a full fucking public display of it.”

“He’ll come looking for me, Brix. He’ll try to –”

I cut off her words with my lips. She huffs against my mouth and shoves me back.

“I’m serious, Brixton.”

“Oh. We’re using full names, Everest Alina?”

Her smile is shocked as she stares into my eyes. “Hey! I didn’t use your middle name, Brixton Andrew Marshall.”

Madd and I aren’t Greek, but that never stopped Christos from bringing us into the fold and training us to be Kato’s seconds in command. Neither of us have family, both went through the foster care system bouncing from families and group homes before Christos took us in for his own reasons. And of course, those reasons weren’t exactly noble or charitable.

We were both prone to violence as kids and he trained us to use that shit to his advantage, and now to Kato’s advantage.

It felt as though the moment three young boys laid eyes on the dark-haired daughter of Christos’ rival…shit, even as a kid I’d known she was meant to be in our lives.