“I’m sorry. Everything I did?—”
He puts his hand up and shakes his head. “No more apologies. No more guilt. No more running away.” He points a long finger at me, which makes him look more like Alexander than himself.
“I told you we should have locked her away at a boarding school years ago,” Ivan says from behind Kaz.
“You never said that,” Alexander protests. “That had been my plan, you were against it. Both of you were. Maybe you both should have listened to me.”
Ivan smirks, ignoring our big brother. “You’re okay?”
“I am.”
“I heard you had some trouble.” He glances at the healing wound on my chest.
“My own clumsiness.” I touch the raised skin lightly. There’s no more pain, but it’s going to leave a scar.
“Where are your bags?” Kaz looks at Artem, who stands behind me, bagless. “Your room is still yours.”
Artem’s jaw tightens. “She stays with me.”
The air fills with awkward silence.
A small boy around six years old runs into the foyer. A woman hurries behind him. The fading bruise on her cheek and slight swelling to her lip tells me she’s Kaz’s wife. Sienna.
The boy runs up to Kaz and stands between the two of us, looking from him to me before gesturing with his hands. Kaz makes more movements with his own hands. The child is deaf, and Kaz has learned sign language.
“Kaz, who is this?” I ask when the boy turns up at me with a wide smile and a wave of his hand. It’s like looking at a much younger version, but I need to hear it from my brother.
“This is Tommy. Tony’s son.”
Elana sits on the leather couch in Kaz’s office, her feet tucked beneath her and her lip tightly pinched between her teeth. Her brothers sit across from her on another couch, unloading all of the events of the past months she’s been away.
“No. He never mentioned a son. But there were a lot of things he didn’t tell me.” She sighs. It has been a tense conversation, and the weight of the day shows in her expression.
She’s a strong woman, but even she has limits.
“I’m glad Sienna is all right.”
“She’s healing, but she should be resting more.” Kaz frowns. “She listens as well as you do.”
“Good. The last thing you need is another person jumping at your commands.” She smiles. It’s tiny, but it’s there and it’s the first one since we arrived.
“Is it too late to send her to boarding school?” Kaz looks at Alexander.
“I think you’d have to ask Artem that question.” Alexander raises his eyes to mine.
“Or—and I know this is probably a strange suggestion to you all, but you could ask me,” Elana says.
“You?” Kaz laughs. “You’ve proven more than ever you need a keeper. And I suppose Artem is as good as they come.”
“A keeper?” She drops her feet to the floor, ready to leap from the couch.
I place my hand on her shoulder, steadying her.
“We need to discuss O’Brien and Janis.” I turn the conversation. There’s time to inform her of the plans I’ve made for her and me later, once her brothers aren’t around to nudge her annoyance.
“Cole O’Brien put Janis on a leash. He’s not an issue.” Alexander frowns. “It cost us, though.”
“Cost you how?” Elana questions.