Page 45 of Hunt Me, Daddy
“I had reasons.”
“You always have reasons.”
“Mine are excellent.”
“That is what makes them dangerous.”
I looked toward the bar, where Nikolai was trying to convince the bartender that a sandwich could be improved by adding more meat than bread. Aleksei was correcting his argument with far too much seriousness. Maxim was speaking to one of our men near the entrance, calm and commanding, the Iron Wolf bending around him like he had his own personal sense of gravity.
Family.
The one thing I had never risked lightly.
Sergei said, “Is she in danger?”
I did not ask who he meant. We had both moved beyond the usefulness of pretending.
“Yes.”
His jaw flexed once. “Does she know?”
“Not well enough.”
“Does Maxim know she exists?”
“No.”
Sergei was quiet for a long time. Then he said, “That is a mistake.”
“Possibly.”
“Definitely.”
I smiled faintly. “Your confidence is tedious.”
“Yours may get someone killed.”
I looked at him then. Sergei’s face gave away nothing, but his eyes were not Maxim’s. Maxim looked for betrayal in omissions because he carried the family like a crown and a blade at the same time. Sergei looked for consequences. He saw impact before confession. Blood before the wound opened.
“I bought her time,” I said.
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then buy her more.”
It was the most Sergei-possible answer.
I nodded.
He started to turn away, then stopped. “And Ivan?”
“Yes?”
“If you keep not looking at me when you lie, I will start taking it personally.”
“I would never want to wound your feelings.”
