Page 110 of Brutal Reign

“Sofiya was kidnapped by a Russian politician who was working with Simon,” I explain. “Sofiya is valuable. She’s Roman’s sister-in-law, but she’s also married to the head of the Zhukov Bratva, Nikolai Zhukov, so taking her was leverage over all of us. She was held for less than a day before we rescued her. It was fucking terrible, but it’s how we learned the Black Company had reformed with Simon at the helm, alive and preparing to marry you.” The memory makes my veins run cold. I lock eyes with her so she understands the weight of what I’m telling her. “Do you get it now? There are victims on both sides when we go to war. Want to know why Maxim went after your father so hard? Because he sent assassins after his wife, Kira, at a wine auction in New York. The only reason she’s alive is luck and good security.”

Her face is a mask of devastation, but for her to accept me and my world completely, she needs to hear the truth, no matter how painful.

“Your father was playing the same game we all play, Hope. He just lost.” The words come out harsher than I intended, but she needs to hear this. I cross to her, holding her face in my hands. “But it can end here. With you and me, with all of us. The past doesn’t have to define the future.”

She looks up at me, tears threatening to spill. “How? How do I just pretend none of this happened?”

I don’t have a good answer for that, so I give her the only truth I have left. I reach into my pocket and pull out a small black velvet box. When I open it, the rare pink diamond catches the light. The massive center stone is surrounded by what looks like a constellation of smaller glinting white diamonds. I had it designed for Hope; the pink is the same shade of her lips when I’ve kissed them raw.

Her mouth forms a small O as she stares at it. “A ring?”

“The ribbon wasn’t quite right,” I tease, lifting her left hand gently. “This makes it clear to everyone exactly what you mean to me.”

“And what’s that?” she asks, searching my eyes.

“You’re my family. You and Kin belong to me.”

Her expression softens. I can still see devastation shining in her eyes, but I also see so much more: trust, acceptance, emotion I don’t know how to interpret. She lets me slide the ring onto her finger, claiming her in the most permanent way possible.

I never thought I’d risk my heart again. After Kamilla disappeared, I swore I’d never put another person in danger by loving them. But Hope has shattered every wall I built, every promise I made to myself.

“Not in a million fucking years did I imagine I’d slip a ring onto anyone’s finger. After I lost my family, my loyalty was tothe Syndicate and the Syndicate only. They became the family I chose. The first time I went against bratva orders was for you. But I’d make the same choice today. I’d choose you every time.”

Tears spill down her cheeks as she looks up at me, her voice breaking. “Pavel…” She reaches for me, pressing her face against my throat as if trying to draw strength from me. “You need to stop saying things like that, or I’m going to fall apart completely, and I need to get it together before this lunch.”

“I don’t fucking care,” I say, pulling her toward me for a kiss that’s desperate, soft, and full of everything we’re afraid to say out loud.

“Pavel! I got bread! Can we see the fish now?” Kin’s voice echoes up from downstairs.

Hope steps away from me, wiping beneath her eyes with a quiet chuckle. “We should go,” she says.

“Promise me you’ll go with an open mind, at least toward the women. They had nothing to do with any of this. For Kin too. I know he’ll like being with the other kids.”

She melts into me for just a moment, letting me support her weight. “I’ll try. For you, I’ll try.”

CHAPTER

THIRTY-NINE

HOPE

My stomach twistsinto a knot as we approach the sprawling house at the center of the compound. It’s even more impressive than Pavel’s home: a Mediterranean-inspired mansion with terracotta roof tiles, creamy stucco walls, and climbing vines adorning the façade. Not exactly the fortress of evil I’d pictured.

The walk across the grounds gives me plenty of time to get lost in my head. Half an hour ago, I was convinced I couldn’t sit at a table with these people. Now, I’m wearing Pavel’s ring and trying to process the weight of his words.

“This makes it clear to everyone exactly who you are to me.”

“My family. You and Kin belong to me.”

“I’d choose you every time.”

I swear, every day that passes, this man breaks down my defenses, and I’m starting to see everything through different eyes. The black and white world I used to live in has dissolved into shades of gray.

“Too tight, Mama,” Kin whispers, and I force myself to loosen my hold on his hand.

“Sorry, baby,” I murmur, smoothing his hair with my free hand. Despite Pavel’s assurances that today will go fine, my stomach is a riot of nerves.

Pavel places his hand on the small of my back, the heat of his palm burning through the material of my dress. “Breathe,” he reminds me.