Page 70 of Wreaking Havoc
“Get your hands off my demon,” Ivan snapped at the same time, rising to his feet.
Nix only grinned, as if Kai threatening to choke the life out of him was a joke. “But Kai,” he crooned. “We’re family.”
“We arenotfamily,” Kai growled. “And you will keep your distance from my mate.”
God. They were never going to get anywhere like this, were they?
Sascha tapped Kai on the arm. “Um, maybe the two of you should go into the other room for your reunion? I think Ivan and I need a moment.”
“Perfect!” And just like that, Nix was out of Kai’s hold, somehow already at the door to the inner office. “Kaisyir and I can catch up. We havemuchto discuss, don’t we?”
Sascha gave Kai a pleading look, and after a long moment, Kai released a heavy sigh, stomping to the inner door to join his demon friend.
Leaving Sascha with his brother.
The room seemed bigger—andmuch quieter—with Kai and Nix sequestered in the inner office.
Sascha took a deep breath and pulled out the chair across from Ivan’s desk. “Should we sit?”
Ivan didn’t answer, just sat in his own black leather chair, his eyes still on the door the two demons had left through.
Sascha watched him for a moment, unsure where to begin. The massive wooden desk seemed like an uncrossable ocean between them.
Or maybe that was just the emotional distance Ivan had spent a lifetime creating.
“You know I love you, right?” Sascha asked. The question succeeded in taking Ivan’s attention off the door. A muscle in his jaw twitched, and Sascha smiled sadly. “It’s okay if you can’t say it back. But I didn’t summon Kai to hurt you.”
“I’m aware,” Ivan conceded stiffly.
“Then why did you steal the Book and summon your own demon ten seconds after discovering him?”
Ivan ran a hand through his mussed hair. “I have a mole in my organization, a mob war on the horizon, a loose cannon of a middle brother, and an oblivious younger one.”
“I’m not oblivious.” At Ivan’s look, Sascha shrugged. “Okay, sometimes. But that’s the way you and Papa molded me. I have a business degree, you know. I could be an asset, if you’d let me.”
Ivan continued to stare at him impassively.
It was like pulling fucking teeth. Sascha sighed. “I know our family messed you up. Papa…being Papa. Mom leaving.”
Ivan’s gaze shifted away. “Our mother didn’t leave.”
At Sascha’s confused expression, Ivan let out a bitter laugh. “I thought Alexei would have told you by now. Our mother didn’t leave. Our father had her killed.”
“Wh-What?” It was like ice water rushed through Sascha’s core. He struggled to take a choked breath, all the air having left the room.
“She intended to leave,” Ivan explained coolly. “She was going to take you and Alexei with her.” Another bitter laugh. “Not me. I suppose she thought at eleven years old, I was already a lost cause. And while our father might have been willing to lethergo, he wasn’t willing to lose his sons. He ordered a hit.”
As Sascha tried to get some sort of oxygen through his closed throat, he thought maybe this was a necessary reminder: there were some types of pain Kai couldn’t protect him from. Some wounds that hit too quickly to block, struck too deep to heal with magic.
It took the better part of a minute, but Sascha finally got himself breathing relatively normally. He blinked watery eyes. Nothing in Ivan’s expression gave any indication whether he’d told Sascha to help or harm. “And Alexei knows this?” Sascha asked.
“I always assumed he did.” Ivan shrugged, like he didn’t care one way or another. “Maybe I assumed wrong.”
So they’d never discussed it. Ivan had been keeping the secret to himself all this time, holding it close. Sascha realized there was a third option why Ivan might have told him: not to help or to harm but to let some of the poison out.
He let himself process for a few long minutes, let the tears stream as they would while Ivan looked on.
“Okay,” Sascha said eventually, letting out a long breath. “Okay. So I guess the question is, How like our father are you going to be, Ivan?”
