Page 50 of His Ruthless Vow

"I had to," Dimitri says, and he stands slowly, hands visible, showing he means no harm. "Alexei, I⁠—"

"Don't." Alexei steps into the room and closes the door behind him, and his shoulders relax. So he's not going to attack Dimitri, at least not yet. "Just don't. You ran out on us and⁠—"

"I didn't run, Lex," Dimitri says calmly. "I walked away because this world isn't what we were taught. Can't you see that? They lied to us about loyalty and oaths. They don’t uphold the code we swore to live by."

"And now you're back," Alexei says, and his eyes slide to me. "With her. Do you know what Father would do if he knew you were here consorting with the enemy?"

"I'm not the enemy," I say, but my voice is tiny and cautious. His eyes soften when he looks at my sister, and I wonder for a second if he wasn't even a little bit enamored of her when that wedding was arranged. She's a beautiful woman. She's just not anyone's pawn, and neither am I.

Alexei laughs, but it's bitter and cold. "I should kill you both where you sit and call Father right now and end this." When his eyes drop to the carrier where Misha sleeps peacefully, my sister stands and folds her hands in front of herself.

"But you won't," Natalia says quietly, holding her own in front of this man who has the power to stop us now. "Because you know this war is wrong and you've seen what it's costing us."

Alexei looks her over, and something flickers in his expression, some crack in the ice. He respects her more than he's willing to admit. "You don't know what I've seen," he growls, and it's clearly aimed at her. "You don't know what I've had to do."

"Then tell us," I respond, pulling his attention back to me. "We're here to help, Alexei. You look like you haven't slept in months. We just want peace now too." My eyes are pleading, but he doesn't look at me.

Alexei looks at Dimitri, and I see the war in him—the desire to punish versus the need to understand. He sinks into a chair and buries his head in his hands. "I never wanted this," he says quietly. "Any of it—I never wanted to inherit an empire built on revenge. I thought…" He stops, runs a hand through his hair, and I see the exhaustion in every movement. "I thought if I held things together and tried to keep the peace long enough, we could transition out. Find a new way. But Father won't stop. He keeps pushing for more blood, more territory, more destruction. Every time I try to pull back, he pushes harder. He's obsessed with destroying Nikolai and wiping out every Volskaya. He doesn't care what it costs."

"And my father meets him blow for blow," I say numbly, already seeing the picture he's painting. "They're so busy trying to destroy each other that they don't see the real enemy circling." What Dimitri told me about the Korelovs is scary. I don't know much about them, but the last thing we need in this war is more at stake. If it's not bad enough that we're killing each other, a third party will only increase the pressure and body count.

"I know," Alexei says, and he leans back in the chair, his strength seeming to leave him in one deep sigh as he drags a hand down over his scarred face. "I see it every day. I report to Father about the losses, about the territory we're ceding not to the Volskayas but to the Korelovs, and he doesn't hear me. He looks at me like I'm the enemy for suggesting peace."

"You're not the enemy," Dimitri says, stepping closer, but he doesn't sit. He respects the distance Alexei needs. "You're doing the right thing, Brother."

"But I'm not," Alexei says, and his voice is bitter. "I'm failing because I can't turn this sinking ship around. You were always the rightful leader."

Misha stirs, and a small sound escapes him, a whimper that becomes a cry. I bend to lift him, and Alexei's eyes widen as he sees the baby for the first time.

"What—" He stops, stares, and the color drains from his face. "Is that—Christ, is that your kid?"

"His name is Misha." I step into the light and hold him so Alexei can see him properly. "He's why we came back. He's why we have to end this."

Alexei reaches out, and his finger trembles as he touches Misha's hand. The baby wraps his tiny fingers around Alexei's finger, and I see compassion in his eyes. The wall he's built to survive these months of war starts to crumble. "He's so tiny," Alexei whispers.

"He was early," I say. "But he's strong. He has his father's stubbornness." I smile up at Dimitri and make it obvious who I'm talking about.

Alexei looks at Dimitri and asks, "You have a son?"

"I have a son," Dimitri confirms. "And I want him to grow up without looking over his shoulder. We have to end this war."

Alexei looks between us—his brother who left and returned, me with my father's eyes, Natalia who should have been his ally by marriage but stands here as conspirator, and the baby who represents everything they could have had. "You're asking me to betray my blood," he says, but he sounds exhausted.

"We're asking you to save it," Dimitri says. "But all four of us will approach the council together, present a united front. If Natalia stands with the Volskayas and you stand with the Sokolovs, and we show them that the next generation refuses to continue this war, we might have enough weight to force negotiation."

I can see by the look in his eye and his slumped posture that Alexei is ready to end this as much as Dimitri, Natalia, and I are. "Okay," he says. "I'll stand with you, and we'll approach the council together—force their hand."

"But?" I ask. I hear it hanging there, like he knows it's not going to go smoothly.

Alexei looks at Dimitri with eyes too old for his age. "But Father will never willingly surrender his position. He'd rather burn the empire down than admit he's wrong. If we force this negotiation and push him into a corner, he'll fight. And that fight will require more than words to win. It'll require blood, Dimitri. Are you prepared for that?"

Dimitri looks at me, at Misha, and I see the answer in his eyes. "If that's what it takes to give our son a future, then yes. I'm prepared."

Alexei nods and confirms what we all believe is the right thing. "Then we do this," he says. "Together. And God help us all."

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DIMITRI