Page 59 of His Ruthless Vow

Nikolai shifts and scowls at Petrov. He doesn't like being reminded that his children have minds of their own, that they refuse to play the roles he wrote for them. But that man is going to have to get over it if he thinks we'll take his orders lying down anymore.

"Which brings us," Mr. Petrov says, and his eyes drift to Alana, to the baby in her arms, "to the matter of the child."

My father follows his gaze, and the gut-sick feeling washes over me as I see the plan they've lined up manifest right in front of my eyes.

"The boy is the heir to both bloodlines," my father supplies. "He binds us in a way no treaty could. Unite what we tore apart through blood."

"Exactly," Nikolai says, leaning forward now. He loses in this game, unless there's been some sort of scheming that's been going on behind our backs. And I won’t stand for this. My son will not be bought and sold like cattle.

"No," I growl, standing to face them all. "You will not use my son as your political tool." The council had some say in this and I'm removing that power right here and now. If it means I have to move my family to the farthest reaches of the earth, it's what I'll do.

Both men turn to look at me, surprise on their faces. They weren't expecting this. They thought they'd found the perfect solution, the answer that would solve everything without requiring them to actually change and stop being so damn greedy. In my son, they believe they have total authority over this city, a way to align both families and dominate every other organization in Moscow.

Together they are stronger, but not with my son as the leverage.

"He has no place in your succession," I say, feeling Alana's hand find mine as we stand together against them. "You're not using him as your leverage."

"Dimitri, you're being absurd. You're my heir, you⁠—"

"I'm not your heir. Alexei is. And if you push this, I will be nothing to you. I'll hand the child the Volskaya name and renounce yours. Every family in this city will know the Sokolov Pakhan has no sons." My heart hammers in my ears, and for a split second, I know I've gone too far. I'm speaking not only for myself but for my brother, without asking him how far he's willing to take this.

I think for a moment this whole thing will backfire, but then he stands with me, and Natalia too. Slowly, Alana rises to her feet and leans into my side, and I know they all back me.

"Well, what the hell do you even want, then?" my father snarls as his true self comes out.

"Peace," I tell them, and I set my jaw. I won't be bullied into this for any reason, and we will find the path forward, no matter the cost. Just not my son.

38

ALANA

It feels strange to stand in my father's house again, stranger still that Natalia has taken Misha to sit with my mother for the time being. Dimitri shakes hands with each member of the council as they exit my father's study after signing what has proven to be an almost legendary feat. A peace accord has been struck between the Volskayas and the Sokolovs, and this time, both families are fully on board.

"Can you believe this?" Dimitri asks as he nods in the general direction of our fathers, who stand talking near the window in my father’s study.

"Never in a million years," I tell him, turning to wrap my arms around his neck and rise up on tiptoes to kiss him softly. "You are incredible," I tell him, and I mean it. When I took that note from that boy in the salon that day and went outside to meet what I thought was a kind stranger wanting to flirt with me, I never foresaw any of this.

Today, almost one year later, the wedding we had to stop never happened, and the peace we yearned for is here. Our fathers have fashioned it in ink for now, but truly, in our city, it's paved with the blood of so many men who did violence to get here.

"I just can't believe they signed it. And now what?" My mind still marvels at how frustratingly difficult it's been but how easily it came together in the end. Regret tries to tug at my heart, that we could've stayed and ended this months ago, but perhaps the fighting would've continued, anyway.

Now, our streets are peaceful other than a few minor skirmishes with our aligned families still pushing the Korelovs back, and I'm fully at ease with the idea of raising Misha here in the city we love more than anything.

"Now we relax and figure out what we want." Dimitri hooks his arms around my waist and kisses my forehead.

"You're really not going to work for your father anymore?" I ask, still feeling a hint of concern there. It'd be easy for him to fall back into that routine, but it isn't the life I want for my son. He could go anywhere and do anything, but a life of crime isn't what I'd hope he'd choose.

"I'm really not. I'm good at this business consulting, Alana. I think that's what I want. I'm going to start my own firm, perhaps counsel some of my father's businesses that stay on the up and up. But I want you more than anything. Not the life I used to have."

It's the sweetest thing in the world to hear him say he chooses me over that life. I choose him too, now and forever, and I want to make every day centered around making life better for him so he can chase his dreams.

"Think your mom will keep Misha for a while?" he asks me, and I glance over my shoulder across the room where Natalia is rocking him, softly talking with Mamochka. I don't have to ask. My mother has wanted grandchildren for a while, and she's perfectly content playing the nanny for as long as I want her to.

"I think she might. Why? What do you have in mind?"

He's full of surprises today, and when he takes my hand and grabs my wool pea coat and a black hat to keep me warm, it piques my curiosity.

Dimitri leads me out to his car and opens the door. When I quirk an eyebrow in a question, he smirks and nods at the car. I climb in and buckle up as he rounds the car at a jog, breath puffing clouds out in the cold air.