Page 107 of Revenge

“Again, who the fuck do you think you are?”

“Your brother. The one person who doesn’t want any harm to come to your family. She’ll disappear, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to find her a second time.”

“How about you stay out of my business.”

“I can’t and won’t. They’re my family too. She doesn’t feel safe here. Give her what she wants within your control.”

He pours a drink and drains it. Pours another and walks to the couch to sit opposite me.

“I can’t do that,” he finally says.

“You can. You just don’t want to. Keeping Ava here is like keeping her prisoner. She loves you, but if you push her too far, you’ll lose her.” I see the wheels turning.

“How am I supposed to deal with her not being under this roof? She isn’t safe.”

“Find her an apartment and make it safe for her. Move her to your penthouse in the city with the proper modifications. She won’t be the wiser. Anywhere but this house.” He looks at me, contemplating my plan.

“There’s a leak somewhere,” he says.

“I know.” His change of subject means he has accepted that Ava should move out. Now I need to get Ava to cooperate too. Not exactly an easy task. She might just be harder than him.

“Who could it be? Who would dare betray me?” he says, looking into the distance, lost in thought.

“I don’t know. What we can do now is separate Ava from the clan. This will give us time and space to find the leak.”

“You were right in keeping Marco,” he adds absently.

“I thought it wise at the time. I’ll have him formally hire a dozen of his marine buddies. Outsiders might be what we need. We won’t have to worry about them being in our father’s pocket.”

“How did it come to this?” He drains his drink. I know he isn’t really asking. I would like to tell him this isn’t his fault, but I can’t. Instead, I stay quiet. “Let’s get the penthouse in the city ready for her.” He stands and leaves.

I sit, thinking of this last year. It’s been filled with a never-ending battle. Viktor’s question of how it got to this lingers in my mind. Where did it all start? People might say it started the moment Viktor brought Ava into his life, but it didn’t. To understand, you have to go all the way to the beginning.

“Viktor is just a boy, Dougal. He’s your son.” I hear Mom tell my father.

No one ever notices me.

“He’s useless to me. For him to run this empire, he needs to become ruthless and cold.” I’m hiding behind a staircase, wondering what they’re talking about.

“He needs your love, not your punishment.”

“I would rather kill him myself.”

I swore that day that I would always protect Viktor, even though he’s my big brother. I swore to be his right hand and fight beside him. He always says he’s the one doing the protecting, but if you take a step back, you’ll see it’s always been me. I’ve always done what I believe is right. In many ways, I became his conscience. But now, I find myself doing the same for Ava. I’m not her conscience, but I want to keep her safe. Life is hard as it is. Throw in the Manarch Clan, and it’s a battle that will never end. I know what it feels like to be the bastard son. I don’t want that life for Niko. Not if I can help it.

We’ve spent the past few hours at Eros, developing a plan to give Ava the freedom she’s demanding.

“How many men do you think you’ll need?” I ask Marco.

“Two in the apartment next door, two outside and Jimmy. That will be six, including me. We can do twelve-hour shifts. I say a dozen men to start with.”

“And you’re able to put a team together?”

“Yes. You’ve already met most of the men. I can have files on the others in a few hours.”

“That works. You will continue to report to me.”

“Sir?” he looks at me, confused.

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