Page 134 of Ghost Ribbon

“It’s Dimitri’s present to me.”

“He built you a garden.”

“Yes. Isn’t he so romantic?”

“He is.” We walked through the garden. Rei pointed out his favorite flowers, told me which ones Dimitri had planted first, which ones had almost died because Dimitri had watered them too much.

We found a bench at the back, near a small fountain that trickled quietly into a stone basin and we sat down. “I’m so happy.”

He was gazing up at the sky, his expression so open and so unguarded, then he turned to me and took my hands.

“Are you happy, Marco?” he asked.

“I am.” It wasn’t a lie. Yes, I was in pain. A lot. But I was happy because Alexei existed and he was the one beautiful thing my suffering had failed to take from me. I didn’t think I had ever been happier than I was with him by my side.

Rei studied my face for a long moment, and then he sighed.

His arms went around me and he hugged me.

“I hope you’ll always be happy,” he whispered against my hair.

I hugged back and I hoped he would always be happy too.

I hoped that his future would be long and full and everything mine was not going to be.

Chapter 32 - Alexei

Rei took Marco away and I felt panic.

God fucking damn it.

I was biting the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood. It was a habit I had developed recently, one I hadn’t had before.

Dimitri joined me near the wall. “Are you alright?” he asked.

I looked at him. My cousin. My blood. The heir to the Morozov empire. The man whose father I had killed a while ago.

Okay.

That was a thing that had happened.

In my defense - and I didn’t often bother with defenses because I didn’t care what most people thought of my actions - Ivan had been about to disown Dimitri. For dating Rei. He wanted to strip Dimitri of his position, remove him from the line of succession, and install me in his place.

So hell fucking no.

That was too much work. The Morozov empire was a machine that required constant feeding, constant attention, constant vigilance, and I had neither the patience nor the inclination to provide any of those things.

Right now I couldn’t care less about whatever mafia war was going on.

I was so stressed all the time that my body had started behaving in ways I didn’t recognize. My heart was in my throat every second of every day. I couldn’t sleep properly. I couldn’t eat properly. I couldn’t think about anything except the rhythm of Marco’s pulse under my fingers and the knowledge that the rhythm was getting weaker.

So forgive me for not wanting to take over an empire.

It was the fastest solution. Dimitri remained the heir. I remained the spare.

Worked out fine if you asked me.

Would do it again.