Page 150 of Thorns of Silence

She swallowed. “I’m not giving Skye away to keep any kind of peace. She’s my daughter.”

“You gave her away once,” Sasha snapped.

“Sasha, go easy,” Vasili warned. “We agreed we’d hear their reasoning.”

“Youagreed,” he gritted. “I want to kill them and take my kid home.”

“She didn’t put her up for adoption,” I chimed in, cutting off their bickering. Alexei didn’t seem to say much of anything. “And neither did I.” Silence followed, along with their confusion. “Phoenix never signed off on the adoption papers. Her grandmother took control of the situation and manipulated Phoenix when she was barely eighteen years old.”

“Why didn’t you claim your daughter sooner?” Vasili asked, turning to face me.

“Five years ago, I was kidnapped. I came out of it with amnesia. For a while, I didn’t remember shit. The memories slowly trickled in, but never these. Not until about a week ago.”

“Jesus Christ.”

Jesus Christ was right. There was no way for us all to walk away from this clusterfuck with a happy ending.

“Branka will be heartbroken,” Vasili remarked.

“You fucking think?” Sasha growled, glaring at all of us. “I don’t give a shit what their history is. Branka and I adopted Skye. Legally, she’s ours.”

I raised my gun, pointing it at him again just as he aimed his at me, but Nix stepped between us. Her head darted between me and Sasha, her hip just inches from mine. So close I could almost reach out and protect her from the danger that was a cornered Sasha.

She met his eyes head-on and straightened her shoulders. “Don’t do this. Please.”

“Give me Skye and I’ll let you both live,” Sasha said. He was fucking crazy if he thought he’d take my daughter from us. I just got our family back together, and I would rather die than let anyone take it from me.

Nix’s eyes met mine. “Can you translate for me?” she signed. Sasha’s ASL must have been poor at best. I nodded, and she turned her attention to Sasha.“I’m sorry for the way things worked out. I really am. I should have stood up to my grandma five years ago. I didn’t. I should have fought her before I left the hospital. I didn’t. But I am fighting now. There is only one thing I can offer you that can hopefully ease some of the pain.”

Sasha snickered. “What? You have another kid around that you can give us? We don’t want another kid. We want Skye.”

Skye reached out her little hand and touched Nix’s cheek. “If you want me to go, I can go with them. I don’t want you to be hurt, Mamma.”

Nix shook her head, her lips trembling and emotions clearly etched on her face.

“Fuck, this is bad,” Vasili hissed even though he couldn’t know what Skye had just communicated to her mother. “Sasha, you have to be reasonable.”

“Stand by me, damn it,” Sasha growled. “Fuck them. Skye has known Branka and me for far longer.”

“She’s bonded to Nix,” I argued. “To me. We’ll forever be grateful that you stepped up and took her in, but she belongs with us.If you want war, you’ll get it. You want death, you’ll get it. But my daughter isn’t going anywhere with you.”

“This will destroy Branka.” Something pained flashed in Sasha’ eyes, and I could almost see the last of his resolve leave his body.

“I can carry your baby for you and Branka.” Nix’s signed words slashed through the air. For a moment, or maybe a stretch of a moment, my mind blanked, refusing to grasp her meaning.

Then it rushed forward. “Now I’m definitely going to kill him,” I hissed, my finger itching to pull the trigger and blow up that fucker’s brain while the two of us glared at each other with hate.

“Try it, Italian,” Sasha challenged, already pointing his gun at me. “Nothing would give me more pleasure than to blow your brains all over this forest floor.”

“Stop it.” Nix waved her hand, demanding my attention while the rest of the Nikolaevs muttered curses in Russian too.

I met my wife’s gaze. “Fuck no! If you think I’ll let this Russian motherfu—”

Nix shook her head. “Not like that, Dante. Jesus. As a surrogate.” She turned back to Sasha. “Both of you calm down and think about it. I know you love Skye, but this child would be yours in every way. Yours and Branka’s.”

The sound of leaves rustling through the forest floor filled the silence. The breeze picked up and matched the tension as we all stared at each other. Nix’s plan was a good one as long as that blond motherfucker didn’t touch her.

“That could… work.” Sasha’s tone was full of hope and reluctance. “But I have one condition of my own.” I stiffened, waiting for him to continue. “We want to keep Skye in our lives. However that might look.”