Page 40 of Heir to Desire

Nikolai had just put a blanket over him.

“Me too,” Nikolai said.

He hugged me, and it was a hug that made up for the thousands of hugs I’d never received from my parents, from the random men I’d slept with over the years…it felt like everything I wanted, all at once.

As he pulled away, I saw his Grandpa’s eyes open, ever so slightly, before closing again.

Mr. Ivanov came into the room with some water. Roman, Igor, and Svetlana followed, Svetlana coming in on crutches due to her injured foot.

“I just wanted to thank all of you,” Nikolai said, “for saving my grandfather, and for saving me too.”

“We’ve got your back, Nikolai,” Igor said. It was the warmest I’d ever heard his voice.

Just like that, it was all over.

We all went to bed, Nikolai still across the hall from me, but feeling once again closer.

Chapter 25

Nikolai

“Did they treat you okay?” I asked my grandfather, sitting on the edge of his bed. He himself was sitting upright and having some herbal tea. He had a bit more color in his cheeks than he’d had when we found him at Vladimir’s.

“It was no four-star hotel, my boy, but it was fine. Their intention wasn’t to hurt me,” he replied. “It was to end your young life. But of course, that wasn’t going to happen. You really are your parents’ boy, you know.”

I smiled a bit. The last time we’d really spoken, I was yelling at him for not telling me about my parents.

“Grandpa, I know you thought this whole mafia thing would just go away. I understand why you wished that it would. I understand why you didn’t tell me about it.”

“It’s just that one neverhearsabout the mafia anymore. I thought, well, that it had just vanished. And, well, how do you tell a young man such as yourself that…well…”

“His life was a lie?”

“Oh, my boy, your life wasn’ta lie. There were some parts you didn’t know about, sure. But it wasn’t a lie that your parents cared for you and loved you deeply with every last molecule in their body. You are still of Russian blood. You are still a New Yorker. Your parents were still incredible people—perhaps better people than you even knew. Sure—I wasn’t thrilled that my son was getting wrapped up in the mafia. But I knew the changes they were making. I knew the good they were doing. And, well, perhaps I'd rather them be elected politicians, but being billionaire mafia heirs changing the world from, well, the underworld...that's nothing to turn your nose up at.”

Grandpa smiled at me. I put my hand on his knee. “I couldn’t agree more,” I said. “And what if…I decide that I want to be a part of the same lifestyle as my parents? What if I want to stay here instead of going to NYU?”

“My boy, I have never seen you warm up to a single individual since your parents passed away. In fact, I don’t think I saw you warm up to many evenbeforethat. But I saw how you were downstairs with that scary, beautiful woman Svetlana, and that big muscular menace, Igor, was it? And, my boy, you won’t be comfortable with me saying this, but don’t think I don’t know what’s going on between you and Damien, the one who saved my life.”

I felt my cheeks turn bright red. I couldn’t believe Grandpa had seen that.

“My boy, I do not care if you’re gay. Your parents taught me about gay people and I think it’s great. And if you can finally build a relationship with someone, forGod’s sake boy, do it.”

“I can’t believe we’re having this conversation right now,” I said, still completely flushed.

“Well, if not now, then when? Who knows how much longer I have on this planet.”

I felt the color rush out of my cheeks. “Grandpa, don’t say that.”

“Well, it’s true, my boy. We all only have so much time on this planet.”

“Exactly, that’s exactly why I haven’t wanted to get close to anyone but you since Mom and Dad died.”

After I said this, Grandpa reached forward and wrapped both of his hands around one of mine.

“Nikolai, people come and go. They’ve always come and go. But think of your mother’s lovely roses—just because one day they’d wilt and die, does it really make sense not to enjoy their beauty while they’re alive? That’s no way to live, my boy.”

“I see what you mean,” I replied. He loosened his grip around my hand.

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