Page 54 of The Enemy of My Enemy: Pt. 2

Chapter 26

Aurora~

“I’m sorry, Papa,” I said as I stood with Viktor in his office.“I really am.”

My father shook his head quietly before he took a drink of his bourbon, and I felt so bad for him, even though I knew that he wasn’t one to get too sentimental about much.Regardless, Decio had been with him for years, so I knew that the betrayal had to sting some.

After setting the glass back down on the bar, he said, “Perhaps we should have taken our chances with a war.”

I felt Viktor stiffen next to me, and maybe the man really did love me after all.“Why do you say that?”I asked.

My father let out a heavy sigh as he eyed me, and it never occurred to me that he might be struggling with what had happened.I knew that he trusted me, and I knew that he had every faith in me, but he’d also seen me stabbed and shot, something that hadn’t ever happened before.Sure, I’d been scraped up many times in my life, but nothing like what had happened on the pier that day.

“Because as much as I’ve had to believe it in order to remain sane, you’re not indestructible,Alba,”he answered.“Despite your many gifts, you are still only human, and I never should have proposed the marriage as an option.No matter that I had Aleksei’s word, I never should have sent you there.I never should have let you be the solution.”

“You can’t have her back, Roman,” Viktor said as he stepped around me, nearly blocking me from my own father.“I don’t care about your regrets or doubts.I don’t care that my marriage led to the ultimate betrayal by people that we both trusted.Do I care that my wife was hurt?Of course.Not protecting Aurora will eat at me for the rest of my life, something that I deserve.Still, no matter what has come of all this, you can’t have her back.Over my dead body will you ever get her back.”

“You say that as if I’m not willing to risk everything that I have for my children,” my father remarked.“You say that as if I’m not aware of my daughter’s value.”

“I’m also very aware of Aurora’s value,” Viktor fired back.“And if you think that I won’t start a war to keep her, then you’re wrong, Roman.You’re wrong, and we can both just see how far the other is willing to go if that’s what you want.”

Before my father could pull his gun out and shoot my husband, I rushed to stand between them.“That’s enough.I am not going to let you kill each other just to prove who loves me more.Not only is that incredibly ridiculous, but unconditional love can’t be proven.”

“And I’m not going to stand here and listen to him talk about our marriage like it was a mistake,” Viktor shot back.“Because it’s not.”

“Viktor-”

“No,” he snapped.“He doesn’t get to take you back.None of them can have you back.”

I placed my hands on his chest, a small attempt to calm him down.“Okay,” I said softly.“Okay.”

Then, because Viktor Korolev never ceased to amaze me, he turned back towards my father, saying, “I will never fail her again.You’ve my word on that.”

My father didn’t say anything for a few seconds, but when he finally did, I couldn’t help but love him just a bit more.“I just want my child safe, happy, and loved.”

“She’s safe and loved,” Viktor assured him.“And I’m working on the happy part.”

“Papa, I’m fine,” I told him, tired but fine.“If I wasn’t, you’d be the first to know about it.”

Another few seconds went by before he said, “Perhaps it’s just been a rough few weeks and now would be a good time to process.”

“Youcannothave her back,” Viktor repeated, anger edging his voice again.“How many times do I have to say it?You can process until God visits us again, but I am not giving up my wife.”

Done with their arguing, I said, “My handiwork needs to be cleaned up.”