Page 157 of His Darkest Obsession

"Why?"

Mother lifts her chin, defiant even now. "Because someone needed to remember that the Bratva must come first."

"Not for this."

"Not for this?" She takes a step down from the porch towards me. "You think that I would allow the Volkovs to find this information before we did? Do you have any idea how much more pain they would've inflicted on us if they knew? On her?"

Anger rushes through me at what she's saying.

"Don't pretend like you give a shit about Indigo," I snap. "You've hated her from the moment you laid eyes on her."

Mother's lips curl into a thin smile.

"That's true," she acknowledges with a slight tilt of her head. "I don't like her. I never have."

"Then why?—"

"Because she is your wife, Tolya," she continues, her voice hardening on the word. "She represents the Bratva now. She carries our name, as you are so fond of telling us." Mother crosses her arms. "So I must act to protect her, whether I want to or not."

I take a step toward her, close enough that I can see the fine lines around her eyes. "You call exposing her past 'protection'?"

"I sent Vassily to find and hold onto the NDA," Mother counters, not backing down. "To ensure no one else could get their hands on it. And of course he would bring this information directly to you." Her eyes harden. "Have you ever considered that perhaps your brother was looking for your approval? That he was just trying to do his part for the bratva?"

"Liar." I shake my head, a bitter laugh escaping me. "If this was about protecting the bratva, you would've accepted Indigo from the beginning instead of trying to drive her away so I could marry Lola."

Mother's face hardens.

"Do you know what I saw the first time I laid eyes on that whore coming down the staircase?

"I told you not to call her that," I whisper, my voice dangerously quiet.

But Mother doesn't stop.

"I saw myself again, and I remembered the way that your father dishonored me for years," she whispers. "And now I'm watching you walk in his footsteps."

"I am not Father."

"No, you're worse." She spits. "At least your father understood the meaning of duty. Had you married Lola like you were supposed to, none of this would have happened! And now, you've snatched defeat from the jaws of victory." Her voice rises with each word. "Instead of having the mayor in your pocket, you've turned the entire city against you! To say nothing of incurring the wrath of the Volkovs!"

I stare at her, letting her words wash over me. When she finally stops to catch her breath, I speak calmly.

"I made my choice, Mother. I chose Indigo because I refuse to repeat the same loveless marriage that you and Father had."

The words land like a physical blow. Mother's face pales, and for a moment, I see something vulnerable flash in her eyes before it's buried beneath fresh anger.

"Loveless?" Mother barks. "Don't tell me that my marriage was loveless. I loved that man on the day I married him. I would've kept loving him to my grave, but he threwmeaway. Lola would've loved you, Tolya."

"But I wouldn't love her."

Mother's face twists into something ugly. "Because you love your whore?"

"I told you." My voice drops to a whisper. "Do not call her that again."

Mother dismisses my threat with a wave of her hand, her eyes boring into mine. "Answer my question, Tolya."

I pause, letting the question settle between us. Do I love Indigo?

I think about her stare at the barbershop, her trembling hands holding the razor to my throat, the deliberate carefulness as she slid the ring onto my finger, her face twisting in pleasure every time she comes together, the look of grim determination in that basement when I killed her parents' murderers, and the vulnerability in her eyes when she asked me to make love to her like she's my wife.