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His elbows drop to the edge of the table as he leans in, his tone growing darker. “You took my side against your father. That will always mean a lot to me. You understand?”

I shrug a single shoulder. “It wasn’t a difficult decision. You’re giving me too much credit. I’ve always hated him, and you know it.”

He flips his hands in the air. “We don’t get to choose our parents, unfortunately. We make do with what we have. But I promise I will always protect you three with my life.”

“I know that.”

I curl my fingers on my lap, not wanting to think about him gone. I love him like a brother. Imagining a world without him is painful.

“Now enough of this talk, yes?” The small smile returns to his face. “How about we go so I can show you the surprise? I think you’re going to like it.”

He pushes the chair back, getting to his feet just as Ludmilla, the head housekeeper, walks in to clean up after us, the sides of her eyes crinkling as she smiles.

I follow him, not able to venture a guess as to what he got me.

“We’re going to go for a little drive. Not far, maybe twenty minutes.”

“Okay…”

Completely puzzled, I follow him out to the foyer, exiting through the heavy door, where a car is already waiting for us. One of his drivers opens the SUV door, and we slip inside. Silence lingers between us until he finally breaks it.

“Has Roman reached out recently?”

The question sends my mind spiraling. I don’t want to think about my older brother or the cruel messages he sends just to wound me. I read them, let them cut deep, then delete them. Yet for some reason, I can’t bring myself to block him. Maybe some part of me feels like I deserve the punishment for betraying my own family.

But my father never deserved my loyalty. He doesn’t deserve Roman’s either. My brother has always been tangled in his web, swallowing his lies like oxygen and playing the obedient puppet.

Like believing it was my father, not Konstantin, who was the rightful heir to the Bratva.

After Sergey—Konstantin’s father—died, Dad convinced himself that leadership should have passed to him, ignoring the fact that Konstantin, as the eldest, was always meant to take the throne. When Natalia’s father, Nikolai, sided with Konstantin, my father’s resentment only deepened, twisting into something ugly.

I told Konstantin everything. Every poisonous word my father spread, every delusion he clung to. And when Konstantin offered us a place in his home shortly after Mom died, I didn’t hesitate. I chose our freedom. We were finally out of that hellhole.

If Roman still wants to stand by a man like our father, that’s on him.

Mom deserved better. We all did.

Roman’s last message flashes through my mind, sending an involuntary chill through me.

You think you’re safe with him? You’re not, Dinara. You never will be. When you least expect it, I’m gonna make you pay for betraying Papa, and that asshole won’t be able to do anything to stop me.

I shake off the cold fear creeping up my spine. He’d do it if he could. I wonder why he hasn’t tried yet. What their plan is. They definitely have a plan, and I know Konstantin knows more than he’s telling me.

“Dinara? Did you hear my question?”

“Oh, sorry.” I fling a loose strand of hair away from my face. “Uh, no, he hasn’t contacted me for a while.”

I realize I just lied, and if he doesn’t forgive me for that, then I’ll have to live with it. But I don’t want him to know. There’s already too much conflict between him and my father. I don’t want to add more fuel to the fire.

“If he does, make sure you let me know, yes?”

I nod. “Of course.”

“Very good.” He stares straight at me, a sharp and intense scrutiny, as if he can see straight into my soul. “I will never let anyone hurt you.”

The intention of his words makes me feel even safer.

We drive in silence for the rest of the way, reaching a set of black iron gates with a security booth to the left.