Page 179 of Ghost Ribbon

I understood.

God, I understood so well.

When the voices finally quieted, waiting for my response, I smiled.

It wasn’t a nice smile.

“You want to kill my cousin. Is that the proposal I’m hearing?”

One of the bastards shifted. “It is not personal, Dimitri. It is the right thing to do.”

I laughed. “Business. Funny words coming from men who have ordered the deaths of children to protect their territories. Funny words coming from men who have sold women and buried evidence under concrete. Suddenly you grow consciences when the blood is inconvenient?”

“Watch your tone.”

“No.” I stood up slowly. The chair scraped against the floor. Every eye followed me. “You watch yours. Alexei is family. And as long as I breathe, no one at this table - no one - puts a finger on him.”

The Petrova woman arched a brow. “You are not yet head of the family, boy. Your grandfather still holds the seat. The vote continues.”

I looked at my grandfather. “Is that true?” I asked. “Are you going to let them vote my cousin into a grave?”

“The attention is dangerous, Dimitri. You know this. Alexei has always been difficult to control. If we do not act, others will. And they will not be as… merciful.”

Merciful.

I almost laughed again.

Listen, I really didn’t want to kill my grandfather. I had a real connection to him, but the thing with him is that he cared for me because I was my mother’s son. He hated my father and all of his family. Alexei has no blood relations to my mother or anyone from my grandfather’s side of the family, so I know he doesn’t care about him.

“I will bury them next to the one hundred and forty-seven. And if any of you—” I pointed slowly around the table—“vote for his death tonight, I will consider it a declaration of war against the Morozov name.”

One of the older men scoffed. “Threats from a child who has not even claimed his inheritance.”

I moved before anyone could react.

My hand closed around the back of his neck and slammed his face into the polished wood hard enough to crack something. Blood spread across the grain. I leaned down close to his ear. “Call me a child again. I dare you.”

I released him. He slumped back, clutching his nose, blood pouring between his fingers.

I straightened my cuffs. “Alexei stays,” I said clearly. “He stays under my protection. If the cameras become a problem, we buy the footage. If the police become a problem, we buy the police. If other families become a problem…” I smiled again. “We remind them why the Morozovs have never needed to ask permission.”

My grandfather watched me for a long moment. Something like pride, or maybe fear, flickered behind his eyes.

“This is reckless.”

“This is family,” I corrected. “Something some of you seem to have forgotten how to value.”

I looked at each of them in turn. Making sure they saw the promise in my eyes.

“The vote is over. And if any of you move against him in the dark, I will not bother with meetings or votes. I will simply end your bloodlines. Thoroughly. The way you claim to prefer.”

I turned to my grandfather.

“I’m taking the seat,” I said. “Effective tonight. You’ve held it long enough. Thank you for keeping it warm.”

Chapter 44 - Alexei

One was compatible.