Page 35 of Cruel Juliet

“It doesn’t matter.” My fingers tighten around the glass. “She gave me a child. That makes her mine.”

Finally, Misha barks out a laugh. “You’re stone-cold, Gubarev. I like that. You really believe you can win this war?”

“I don’t believe—Iknow.” My voice turns steely. “I’ve cut their ranks, gutted their leadership, and strung up their prince from rafters. If Nikolai really did come, then he’s walked into a trap he doesn’t yet see. That’s what I know.”

Silence stretches, thick with tension. I don’t appreciate Misha bringing up Sima again. But thepakhanin me knows that, in his shoes, I’d be asking the same exact questions.

I need this alliance. It’ll make me the most powerful player on the board. Strong enough that the Danilos will look like ants.

Misha runs a hand over his stubbled jaw. Then he nods. “Exclusivity, then. Twenty percent to you. Storage and smuggling under your roof. If your war doesn’t burn me, we make a lot of money together.”

“Good.” I refill both glasses and lift mine. “To business.”

He raises his own. “To alliances that don’t waste my time.”

We shake hands, and the deal is done.

15

PETYR

The engine hums under me as I cut through the streets.

I’m uneasy. I just cut a deal for billions, and yet Misha’s words won’t leave my head.

He said Nikolai Danilo is already here. The old man himself.

If he came, he came for his daughter. For the child she carries. To drag them back into his fold and spit in my face while he does it.

Like fuck am I ever gonna let him.

My grip on the wheel tightens until the leather creaks. I picture Nikolai reaching for her, and my chest locks up. The thought alone makes me want to rip the steering column apart.

If Nikolai wants to test me, let him. I’ll show exactly what kind of man his daughter married.

She’s mine whether she wants to be or not. She gave me a child. That tie doesn’t break, not for anyone. Certainly not for her shitty family.

I roll down the windows. Cold night air slips through, but it does nothing to clear my head.

I can still see her pressing my hand on her stomach, forcing me to feel our baby kick. That moment branded itself into me. It proved that what she carries is mine, and so is she.

By the time I pull through the gates and cut the engine, my jaw feels wired shut. The image of Nikolai Danilo reaching for Sima won’t leave my head. I picture his hand closing around her wrist, his voice claiming rights he doesn’t have. He treated her like shit, but he’d demand her back in a heartbeat.

Just like you did.

“Shut up.” I silence my conscience. “Everything I did, I did for her.”

I get out and head straight for the stairs. They creak beneath me. This house is well-kept, but the bones are old. You can’t sand down history, or sweep away the ghosts that live in the walls.

It was never meant to be mine. That reminder sometimes sneaks up on me. This was Dimitri’s house. His throne, his future with Kira. When I took the seat, it was by necessity, not design. This mansion just happened to be part of the deal.

I tell myself I earned it in blood, but it still feels borrowed. A place I’m occupying, not one I was meant to rule from.

But for how long am I occupying it? Dimitri is awake. One day, he could be whole again. Strong enough to stand where I stand.

I’ve wished for that more times than I can count.

But if he makes a full recovery… what then?