Page 34

Mikhail

I have not moved an inch from my position on the sofa, staring into space as I waited for Arielle to wake up from her rest. Question after question swarmed my head, demanding immediate answers.

The past twenty-four hours have been the most eventful twenty-four hours of my life. I found out I had a two-year-old son, and I had embarked on a rescue mission to save the mother of my child from her father, who happened to be a sworn enemy of my family and sustained an injury in the process. It was some action movie type of shit.

My eyes snapped to the bed following the rustling sheets to find Arielle gently massaging her forehead with her fingers, her eyes squinted in confusion. A moment passed before her eyes widened in panic, and she was out of bed in a flash, searching the nightstand and drawers for God knows what.

She was yet to notice me, and I sat in silence, toying with the idea of letting her go without a word about Jason being with me to make her suffer a quarter of the pain she put me through, but the questions in my head were not going to answer themselves.

“Going somewhere?” I asked, noticing her body tense at the sound of my voice. She didn’t turn to look at me and continued searching through the drawers.

“There’s someone who’s been waiting to see you.”

That finally got her attention, and she whirled around to face me.

“Thank you for saving me, Mikhail, but I currently do not have the time or luxury for cute meet-and-greets. Did you retrieve my bag from the building?” she queried, her eyes wild with panic.

So, that’s what she was looking for, a means to go home. I had just risked my life for her, and the moment she got on her feet, she was ready to leave without a word about our son.

I picked my phone from the table, holding it to my ears as it rang. “Bring him in,” I said the moment the call connected and returned the phone to the table, getting into a more comfortable position to witness the scene that was about to unfold.

She paused, sending me a quizzical look. “Bring who in?”

As if on cue, the bedroom door swung open and the curly mop of black hair sped into the room, tackling her into a hug and almost knocking her off her feet.

“Mama! Where have you been? I built the biggest castle with Uncle Mikhail,” Jason said, his eyes glinting with excitement.

I could see the tension leave her shoulders as she sank to her knees, bringing herself to the same height as him before pulling him into a tight hug.

A mix of anger and a feeling I couldn’t place washed over me as I watched the emotional reunion of mother and child from the perspective of an outsider. The kid thought I was his mother’s friend.

“Mummy is here, and she won’t be going anywhere, okay?” she said, her eyes glistening with tears as she peppered kisses all over him.

“Okay, Mama.” He smiled and turned to me. “Say hi to my mummy.”

My body went rigid following Jason’s request, and I noticed Arielle tense, too. She must’ve forgotten about my presence.

“Hello, Mama,” I taunted, mimicking Jason’s voice.

The little one had no idea what was going on and chuckled at my attempt to sound like him.

“Why don’t you introduce me to Jason? He appears to keep referring to me with a strange name. What was that again?” I tapped my jaw and squinted my eyes like I was in deep thought. “Ah yes, Uncle. Why is that, Mama?”

She tore her gaze from me and returned her attention to Jason, plastering a fake smile on her face. “Sweetie, where’s Auntie Anna?”

“Kitchen. She’s making soup.”

“Why don’t you go help her? I’ll be with you soon, okay?” she said, her voice shaky as she pressed a kiss into his hair and let go of him.

“See you!” he screamed and zoomed out of the room, taking every bit of warmth with him.

With Jason out of the way, I finally allowed the rage that was building inside of me to shine through. “I’m waiting, Arielle, and the explanation better make sense.”

She let out a low sigh and settled back into the bed. “What do you want to know?”

“When did you find out you were carrying my child? Was it before or after you left?” I asked, trying my best to keep my voice low.

“It doesn’t matter, Mikhail. It wouldn’t have changed—”

Red dots covered my vision, and I slammed my uninjured fist into the table in front of me, cutting her words short and causing her to jump in fear. I was tired of her stupid, vague answers, and if she gave me any more of those, I’d be forced to take matters into my own hands, and she’d be leaving this house without a son.

“You’ll give me a detailed answer to every fucking question I ask. Am I understood?”

She nodded repeatedly, her eyes wide with fear.

I repeated my question. “When?”

“Before I left. It was why I left.”

“Did you ever plan on telling me?”

“No.”

The answer was so fucked up I could only throw my head back in laughter. “Why am I not surprised? You listened to me talk about kids and families, and you kept my son away from me for years.”

“Mikhail, you know the situation was not exactly favorable for a child.”

“And whose fault was that, huh? Who made the situation unfavorable for a child?” I asked, pinning her with a hard glare.

“Even if things were different with me, your world is not the most child-friendly. There’s danger in every corner and—”

I scoffed. “Spare me the bullshit, Arielle. You knew about my world from the beginning. I never hid anything from you, and you know I would’ve let you raise this child however you wanted. Don’t try to shift the blame. This is not on me.”

She fell silent, looking everywhere but me. I had explored multiple ways I was going to handle the situation in my head while she was unconscious, but now that I had confronted the issue, I found myself unprepared for the emotions cursing through me.

There was the burning feeling of rage and the gut-wrenching squeeze in my chest that I’d already gotten accustomed to, but now, there was a hole expanding in my chest, and I had no idea what to do with it.

Heartbreak is one thing. The lies and betrayal were another, but hiding a child from me was something I never saw coming. I didn’t think she was capable of something so cruel.

“You’re the most selfish human I’ve ever met. What were you going to tell him when he grows up and asks for his father, huh? That I’m some deadbeat that knocked you up and kicked you to the curbs? You were going to let my son roam around for a lifetime without experiencing a father’s love.”

Her eyes flashed with rage at my words, and the tears came pouring down. “You think I wanted this? You think I loved moving to a new continent and living from hand to mouth like a fucking beggar? That I loved the nights I spent alone in fear and entering labor with no one by my side? Or the long nights of working double shifts to make sure there was food for my son? You think I loved busting my ass to provide for us?”

“You sure as hell weren’t opposed to it!”

We were currently engaging in a screaming contest, and I didn’t care if we shook the foundation of the building with our voices. I was a wounded man. Both physically and emotionally.

“What would you have me do? It wasn’t as if you’d be the most receptive if I told you the truth. Henry would’ve forced Jason out of me the moment he found out about him. I had no choice, for fucks sake!” she shot back, her chest heaving from the sobs she was holding in.

“I would never harm my child,” I replied in a firm tone.

“You wouldn’t, but what would have become of me? I’ve seen you handle people you call rats. I wasn’t going to take the chance.

She had a point, but that was the least of my concerns at the moment.

I allowed a brief moment of silence filled with heavy breaths and muffled sobs to pass between us before I finally spoke. “Here’s how it’s going to be. I’m returning to New York next week, and Jason is coming with me.”

She opened her mouth to object, but I silenced her with a cold glare. “You’ve had it your way for a long time. You don’t get a say in this.”

“What if there’s still a threat in New York? What if Henry has people that’ll avenge him?” she asked, her lips trembling with fear.

“That’ll be my problem. I already missed his first steps, his first words, and his first day in school. Heck, he thinks I’m your friend and calls me uncle. I’m not missing a minute of his life, and if you have objections, I’d like to see what the jury would think about a spy with a double identity raising a child.”

She clamped her lips shut, and every argument she might have had died in her mouth following my threat. She knew I’d easily win if we took legal steps.

“I owe Vivian and James an explanation about what happened, so New York won’t be a totally bad idea.” she finally said, accepting defeat.

“He will be staying in my house. You can do whatever you want, but he stays with me,” I added and she nodded wordlessly.

“You might also want to get a head start with proper introductions, I’ll punch a hole through the wall if I hear him call me uncle one more time.” I said, making his way out of the room.

I found Annalise standing wide-eyed in front of the door with a bowl of soup in hand. I was certain she heard everything that went down, and I brushed past her without a word. She was Arielle’s problem, not mine.