Page 77 of Emerald Vices
“And?” I press. “You thought, if he made a good enough deal, I’d bite?”
The fire in her eyes dulls just a little. “Well…” She bites on her bottom lip and sighs as the fight goes whistling out of her. “I… I wasn’t really thinking straight. He mentioned Misha and I just got scared. After everything Misha has been through with that beast, I’m not about to let Nikolai come near him ever again.”
I frown. “What do you know about what he’s been through? Has he talked to you about his time with Nikolai?”
Her gaze flickers from side to side. “Uh…”
“We agreed,” I remind her icily. “In fact, I believe you were the one who told me we needed to be on the same page when it came to our children.”
“I agree,” she sighs. “But he should be the one to tell you.”
I pull back, letting her hand drop. “You’re right.” I flag down my Escalade. Leif drives it over to us.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking you back home. You’ve had enough excitement for one day.”
She pulls the brass knuckles from her hand almost reluctantly. “Are you coming, too?”
“Yes, I am. It’s time that we had a chat with our boy.”
31
ANDREY
“You’re going to be gentle with him, right?”
It’s hard to believe this is the same woman who punched a man wearing brass knuckles fifteen minutes ago. The shift from maternal violence to maternal concern is dizzying, but Natalia doesn’t seem to mind the altitude change.
Personally, I’m glad we left those brass knuckles behind.
“He deserves respect, Natalia. He’s not a child.”
“Is that what you were doing back there with Nikolai’s man? Respecting him?” she spits. “Misha isn’t working for Nikolai!”
“But he was once.”
“And you chose not to hold that against him when you agreed to take him in!”
Remi whines, looking between the two of us with a sour face. Natalia is so worked up that she doesn’t even notice.
“It may not seem like it,” she adds, “but Misha’s a sensitive kid.”
“That’s the problem, Natalia. You insist on seeing him as a kid. But he’s not. Not really. He’s smart as a fucking whip and he lived on Rostov property his entire life. There’s no telling what he’s seen and heard.”
Her fingers wring together like she’s trying to strangle some invisible person beneath her hands. “He was probably kept separate from all of that.”
“So why send him to us then?”
“Maybe he was expendable! That’s what you said.”
“Or maybe Nikolai thought he was the best person for the job.”
Her eyes flash. “If you so much as hurt one hair on that boy’s?—”
I grab the finger she’s jabbing at me and twist her hand back. She gasps with shock a second before I ease the pressure and touch my lips to her palm.
“Lastochka, I’m not accusing Misha of anything. I don’t consider him the enemy, and I don’t plan on interrogating him. But he hasn’t been totally honest with either one of us.”