stone house that looked, from the outside, more like a fortress than a home, and Elena remembered the f

t the car without meeting anyone's eyes. The same enormous house rose up out of the winter-ba

s to the window, wide-ey

aid. "And for now

arranged his entire world to make room for a son he had known about for less than a day. She recognized that ferocity. It

s the first summer Dmitri had brought her here, remembered him laughing at her for talking to it under her breath like it might answer back. She wondered if he remembered t

Elena's rusty ear only half caught, and she felt, stepping out onto the gravel with her son's small hand gripping two of her fi

◆

e, a child's picture book left carelessly on a hallway table that made no sense until Elena realized, with a small shock, that it must belong to

s posture of someone who felt entirely at home in a space that should have demanded more fo

ri said. "You

Alexei with an expression that lasted only a fraction of a second too long before smoothing bac

Dmitri said, an edge entering his voice that made Vikt

Alexei's level with a warmth Elena did not trust for reasons she c

half his face against Elena's leg, and Elena watched Viktor's eyes track the movement with an

straightening back up, his gaze flicking briefly

amusement in it, the first Elena had seen since he had shown up on Ruth's doorst

studying the easy performance of it, the practiced charm that had clearly smoothed his way through this world for years, and wonderin

curved staircase at the center of the hall. "Alexei, would you like to see your room? There m

ll feet slapping against marble that had never in Elena's memory heard the sound of a child's footsteps before tod

◆

rchased, apparently, within the hour by a member of Dmitri's staff under orders she had not heard given, Elena found hers

" Elena said withou

ething behind his eyes sharpened. "He's fam

lose enough to you to cover it up perfectly. I'm not accusing him of anything specific. I'm telling you my

that she recognized as the same expression he'd worn the moment Yuri first said her name aloud in his office. "I will watch hi

tch, instead of assuming loyalty because of a shared last name.

urrent running between them even now, even furious, even five years and a lifetime of secrets deep. "You w

tly, "have a way of becomin

nty of his voice settled deep into her chest, unwelcome and familiar and impossible to fully dismiss

ary, his phone pressed to his ear, his voice pitched too low for anyone to overhear, before he finally turned and disa

g. Dmitri won't be thinking clearly for weeks, which is exactly the kind of window we need." He paused, listening, his eyes flicking once toward the closed study door dow

le, before he schooled his face back into its familiar, easy warmth and continued toward the east wing as though he had not, in

rder only he understood, and for one unguarded moment, surrounded by soft toys and lamplight and the low murmur of Dmitri's voice somewhere down th

beside her and the worst of the day's revelations finally behind them, and not with the particular exhausted r