“Maksim is taking us back to Russia with him,” Ivy says.
Her mother’s head snaps up.
“Us?” she echoes, like she’s misheard. “As in you and Leo?”
Ivy nods. “Yes.”
The color drains from her face. “You can’t be serious.”
Her father finally turns away from the window, his voice taut with fury. “You’re going to drag that boy back into his world? After everything that happened?”
“No one is dragging him anywhere,” Ivy says evenly. Her voice quavers, but her resolve does not. “I’m choosing this. I’m thinking about what’s safest for Leo.”
Her mother cuts her off. “What’s safest? You think running off to Russia with a… a Mafia boss issafe?”
I glance at her, not rising to the bait. This is grief speaking. Fear, not logic.
Still, I speak up anyway to reassure them. “I’ve made arrangements. They will be protected. The estate is locked down tighter than most foreign embassies. There are armedguards, reinforced security systems, an entire compound that answers to only me.”
“That’s supposed to make us feel better? You think that turning their lives into a war zone is suddenly going to be fine now that you’re going to dress it up in marble and gold?” her father growls.
“No,” I say. “It’s supposed to make you feel assured that what happened before willneverhappen again.”
Her mother rubs her hands over her face. “This is insane. Ivy, I thought you said when he came back, it was to say goodbye.”
Ivy’s grip on my hand tightens again. “It was. Ididsend him away. But… then I realized we’re never going to be out of danger. Not completely with who Leo is. He’s Maksim’s son, an heir. That makes him a target whether we’re here or across the ocean.”
Her father’s face hardens. “You want him to grow up in that world?”
“No. But I want him to grow upalive,” she says.
Her father’s face falls. “Ivy…”
She shakes her head at him. “I love you both, but what I’m saying is true. I made the choice to have Leo, knowing who his father was.”
“You said he wasn’t alive,” her mother chokes out.
“I know. A lot has happened that I can’t really get into without making you both targets. Just trust me when I say that it’s all been handled. Maksim never wanted to abandon Leo and me. If he had a choice, we would’ve never leftRussia.”
I nod, agreeing.
She continues, “If anything ever happens again, I can’t risk our being unprotected. What Maksim says is true. He’ll be using every resource he has to keep us safe. ”
Her mother shakes her head. “You trust him to actually do that, though?”
Ivy glances at me before saying, “Yes. I do.”
“Why?” her father asks coldly. “Because he got yououtof a mess he put you in to begin with?”
“That’s not fair,” Ivy snaps.
“No, it’s not,” I cut in, voice calm, steady. “But it’s not wrong either.”
All three of them look at me.
“I know what I’ve done. I know what Iam.I don’t expect your forgiveness, but I will earn your trust—if not for my sake, then for Leo’s. I swear to you, there is nothing on this earth I wouldn’t do to keep him and Ivy safe.”
Her mother looks away, eyes wet. Her father lets out a long breath through his nose, pacing again, but slower this time.