Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 92254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
I toss the severed ear onto the table and wipe my blade on Sevan’s shirt before returning it to my sheath.
“Someone shut him up,” I say, returning to my place.
Razmik and Michael drag Sevan to his feet, shove a napkin over his bloody face, and drag him out back.
I sigh and crack my neck. All things considered, one maimed cousin isn’t too bad so far. Everyone’s looking at me, but their expressions are changed.
I didn’t want to hurt Sevan, but the stupid fuck wouldn’t shut his mouth. He gave me a very convenient gift though.
Now everyone here understands: Lena is staying. She is my wife. And I will not tolerate dissent.
“I’m asking for a month,” I tell them. “I understand this war is my fault. I’m the kind of patron that takes responsibility for his own actions. I want one month to come to terms with Garen or to sufficiently ruin him. If that doesn’t happen, I will step down.”
Tigran stares at me in surprise. I notice more than a few curious frowns around the table. But nobody stands up to beg me to reconsider.
“I accept those terms,” Uncle Narek says, and all the others murmur their agreement.
“Then it’s unanimous. One month of your undivided loyalty. No second-guessing, no questioning my decisions. You will all kill when I say kill. You will all burn when I say burn. I will finish this mess with Garen, or I’ll walk away in shame.”
I leave the room after that. I’m surprisingly calm considering I just might’ve knotted my own noose. Tigran catches up with me out on the street as I head toward my parked car.
“What the fuck was that back in there?” he says, sounding frustrated.
“I can’t win this fight if everyone’s second-guessing my every move. I need them on board.”
“You’re hamstringing yourself? There’s no fucking way you’re ending this war in a month.”
“I’ll figure it out.”
“Arsen.” He grabs my arm. His grip is tight and there’s a note of desperation. “If you walk, they’ll kill you. There can’t be a living former patron wandering around. You’d be too dangerous.”
“I know that.”
His eyes soften. He releases his grip. “They’ll ask me to take your place.”
“I hope they do. You’ll make a good patron.”
“No, I won’t.” He turns away, shaking his head. “We’d just better figure this shit out.”
“Tigran—”
“We’ve lost enough already, brother. I’m not about to lose you too.”
He walks away. I watch him go, my emotions a mess. I knew marrying Lena would make trouble, but I hadn’t thought about the way it would mess with Tigran’s life.
If I fail, he’ll have to take my position, and I know he’ll blame himself for the rest of his life if that happens.
He doesn’t deserve that burden.
I lick my lips as I climb into my car. I can still taste Lena on my tongue. My pretty little wife. So fucking gorgeous, rough, and fierce. She has no idea how close to death we both are right now, but I’m not going to let her down.
Not her and not my child.
Chapter 18
Lena
More of my things show up over the next few days. Arsen must be stopping at my mom’s place every day and gathering just enough to fit in a single bag instead of bringing it all in one big trip.
“Your husband is strange,” Mom says to me over the phone. I pace around the library and do my best to ignore the weird creaking sounds I hear coming from the walls. This house feels like it’s alive sometimes.
“In what way?”
“He’s polite. Very nice, actually. But I don’t know—” She hesitates. I know she hates saying bad things about people. Usually, when she doesn’t like someone, she just pretends like they don’t exist. But she can’t do that with Arsen.
“Go ahead, tell me. I’m giving you a free pass. Say what’s on your mind.”
“He’s too serious.”
My eyebrows raise. That’s not what I was expecting. “How’s that?”
“He doesn’t laugh. I told him a really good joke and it barely made him smile. Even your father doubled over. But Arsen? Nothing.”
“I guess I hadn’t noticed.”
“You’re married to the man. You’d know him better than I do.”
If only that were true. Since moving into this enormous house, it’s like I barely see him. Either he’s coming and going when I’m asleep or he spends most of his time in his apartment deeper in the city. I know things are busy with his work and his Brotherhood or whatever, but it’d be nice if he were around at least a little bit.
At least he keeps his promises. Mom says he made a huge deposit of money into her account, more than enough to cover all their bills and then some. Dad quit his job and Vadim’s acting like we just won the lottery. Which I guess we kind of did.