Shaking my head, I finish putting a dress on and don’t bother with makeup. On my way outside, I search the local news articles for anything fishy. There’s no mention of Rolan being assassinated, so that means it didn’t happen yet.

His death would cause an uproar in the media since he gets involved in many notorious business ventures.

Katia stops in front of me, her eyes holding questions she’s not voicing aloud.

“I need to find Kyle. Have you seen him this morning?”

She shakes her head.

“I don’t care what you have to do as long as you find him. I’ll go ask Granduncle for backup.”

I’m marching to his office before she can reply.

Anastasia is waiting near it, her brows drawn together, and she’s wearing black slacks and a jacket. It’s so rare of her to wear anything but dresses. She smiles upon seeing me, but she must sense something is wrong because she jogs toward me.

“Is everything okay, Rai?”

“It will be.”

“Are we going to the company?”

“You go first, Ana. I’ll join once I finish my business here.”

She swallows, her throat working, and a strange gleam passes in her eyes.

“Is there something you want to say?”

“I…I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For everything. I love you, okay?”

“Love you, too, Ana.”

She wraps her arms around me and then retreats, not allowing me to see her face as she turns around and leaves.

I frown at the weirdness of what just happened and contemplate following her, but my mind is too occupied with everything Kyle to focus on anything else. Once this whole thing is over, I’ll talk to her.

My hand is on the doorknob when Vlad’s brooding presence stalks down the hall. I assume he’s going to Sergei, too, but he breezes straight past me.

God damn it. Being treated as if I don’t exist by Vlad, of all people, hurts more than I’d like to admit. I release the doorknob and stride behind him. “Wait.”

He halts and spins around, his expression blank. “Do you need anything, Mrs. Sokolov?”

“Yes, I need you to stop treating me like a stranger.”

“Should’ve thought of that before you teamed up with a stranger against your own brotherhood.”

“Kyle is not a stranger, Vlad. He’s my husband.” The truth behind those words hits me to the core.

“In that case.” He nods, about to leave.

“I’m pregnant.”

That stops him and his eyes narrow. “Another one for show?”

“No. It’s real this time.”

“Congratulations,” he grunts.

“I don’t need your half-assed congratulations, Vlad. I need you by my side so I can protect Dedushka’s bloodline.”

I’m going for a low blow by using his loyalty to my grandfather, but it’s the only way to convince his mule personality.

“How about Kyle?”

“Kyle will be there, too. I don’t expect you to be best friends, but try?”

He grunts, but says nothing.

“For me?” I soften my tone. “Are you going to leave me alone in the midst of the pack of wolves of the elite group?”

“Of course not.”

“Then stop sulking.”

“If that fucker Kyle hurts you, I’ll happily torture him all over again.”

“You might get the chance to do that as soon as I find him,” I mutter under my breath.

“What do you mean?”

“He’s off to kill Rolan and disappear.”

Vlad clicks his tongue. “That idiot always did things without coming back to the inner circle.”

“Let me go ask Sergei for backup, then we will sit down and formulate a plan.”

“You want me to go with you?”

“Thank you, but I can at least ask Sergei for things on my own.”

“I’ll be downstairs,” he says, and I nod.

After knocking on the office’s door, I open it and step inside. I pause when I find an unknown man sitting across from my granduncle.

“Rai. Come in.” Sergei motions at me to join him, so I close the door and do just that, bluntly watching the new man.

He appears to be in his mid to late forties. His large frame dwarfs his dark suit. His brown hair is styled back, and he’s sitting in a nonchalant position. It’s not so threatening as to attract attention, but it’s not slack either, like he’s ready to jump up any second. It’s so similar to…Kyle’s.

Tattoos cover the backs of his hands, and they don’t appear like the ones I recognize from the Bratva, the Triads, or the Yakuza.

He’s watching me as intently as I’m watching him, like we’re two predators before a fight over who owns a territory.

“This is Rai.” Sergei introduces me.

“So she’s the one Kyle married.” the stranger observes quietly. British accent. Wait, could he be…

“Are you…Kyle’s…”

“Godfather, yes. My official name is Ghost, but you can call me Julian.”

“You’re the one who told him he’s dangerous.” My voice rises. “Why would you say something like that to him? Don’t you know he lost his parents when he was freaking five? They were murdered in front of his eyes, and he was never able to receive love after that. That’s why he becomes overprotective—it’s because he doesn’t want to lose any more people. He says you raised him and knew him his entire life, so how could you make him believe he’s defective?”

“Because he is.” Julian remains calm, not a single muscle moving in his face. “He was defective from a young age, and he will never love normally or have fairytale characteristics. He’s obsessive, he’s driven, and he can become reckless sometimes. It’s who he is and it will never change.”

“Who told you I want to change him? I accept him the way he is.” My lips part at that confession, because it’s true. I do accept him the way he is. I even love those darker parts of him, the overprotectiveness, the possessiveness, how he makes me feel like I’m his world. I love everything about him, from his infuriating passive-aggressive attitude to how he provokes me and everything in between.

I love him.