Page 96 of Iron Crown

“I think she’ll ask me for a divorce,” Dairo said, resuming his seat and staring out into the darkness outside. It was cold, andclouds threatened the pleasantness of rain, already the petrichor wafting in, flavoring the sweet smoke of my Dunhill cigarette.

“Will you grant it?” We were Greens, after all. If he didn’t want a divorce, he would not have one. That was a simple fact. “Without a fight?”

“If she–” He straightened, as if he was ready to fight, before he slumped back in his chair in defeat. “If it will make her happy, then what choice do I have?”

What choice indeed?

“Hell, I’d settle for anything less than the abject misery she’s in when I enter the room.”

Three years ago, I would have said that if he wanted to keep her, he should. He should hold on with both hands, and trap her by any means necessary: money, vices, sex, or hell, he could get her pregnant again! Anything to keep her from slipping from his grasp.

That was what a husband was meant to do! But now, I wasn’t so sure.

“I think Kira will be better off far, far away from me,” I admitted.

If he gave something, it was only polite that I give something back in return, after all.

“That surprises me,” Dairo said with a sigh. “Then again, nothing should anymore.”

He and I sat in companionable silence for several seconds, simply staring out as the thunder began to gather electricity, flashing light amongst the distant gray clouds.

“Tell me, Dairo,” I said quietly, “What would I need to do to hire Caledonia Security to look after my wife and child? From a distance, you see? If… I let them go.”

Everything came out like a question. No wonder, because I was questioning everything I knew to be right, and good, and reasonable in this world.

I had always had my eyes on us—on Green Fields Enterprises, and the people within its periphery. Mafia, Bratva, criminals, traffickers, spies. Most weren’t worth a tombstone, since no one would mourn their passing. Not really. Not unless mourning was a power play. My view of life was that it was fleeting, dangerous, and brutish. Family, loyalty, and love were obsessions. They were wild horses that had to be tamed and broken, and brought to heel.

I had lived inside this world too long, and anything that resemblednormalwould be as alien to me as a green, bug-eyed martian.

God forbid, my son grew up the same way I did. That would be a tragedy. That would be my failure as a father.

“What about the betrothal?” Dairo had been brought up to speed on the agreement with Cosima Durante and the Mafia.

Kira was brilliant. It was a masterful stroke of genius that bought us at least sixteen years of peace. Sixteen years until Cillian andGiovanna turned eighteen years old, and would be dragged to an altar.

We had doomed our poor heirs.

“I don’t know.” If I backed out now, it would give the Italians every right to reignite the war.

In truth, I suspected that we could find a way out of the bargain before our kids grew up. If not, we could delay it. Or maybe they’d go to college, and we’d naturally delay until they graduated.

Maybe I could keep Cillian in school forever…

“I didn’t like seeing Kira with a gun in her hand, blood on her face,” I continued my self-pity, “I did that to her. Me. She was like that because of me.”

“I didn’t like seeing my wife bloodied in the octagon either,” Dairo let out a long sigh. “Don’t get me wrong, watching her fight, and seeing her in her strength is incredible. Delicious, even. But I can’t stand seeing her hurt. I can’t stand seeing someone hurt her. How can I watch as she goes back into the ring? How can I stand idly by as someonehitsmywife?”

Dairo shook his head, taking one of my cigarettes and lighting up.

He had quit smoking decades ago, when he’d left this house, and gone back to England to be with his mum’s family. My father had driven him away, and he’d flourished far, far away from this haunted mansion.

“Is that what all the fuss is about?” I asked, registering his words. “She wants to go back to her career, and you don’t want her to?”

Dairo sighed. “That’sonething, I suppose. But there are so many other reasons.”

He shook his head.

“I pushed her too far, too fast.” He looked into the distance, his eyes unfocused.

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