away and tell the police about Dad before they even had a chance to discover I was gone.
Either way, Matvei’s telling me his schedule, and it makes my organization-obsessed heart beat just a little faster. Without another word, Matvei strides out of the room. I take a deep breath and head downstairs to get the day started with Nikolas.
When I make it to the kitchen, I see that Nikolas did exactly as I asked. He’s sitting in one of the chairs up on his knees, arms folded and cradling his chin. His head pops up the second he sees me.
“Oatmeal time!” I announce cheerily.
It doesn’t take me anywhere near as long as it usually does to make breakfast this morning. While the oats are cooking, I mix together a small bowl of berries and sprinkle sugar on top. Just a bit, since we’ve been trying to cut back on sweets for breakfast, but enough sweetness to make the berries pop.
I carry two bowls to the table and sit beside him. I stir in my own berries and glance at him, watching as Nikolas dives right in. The little bit of oatmeal stuck to his chin makes me laugh. I reach out and wipe it off.
“So,” I say, my mind wandering. “I heard you talking about your daddy upstairs. What is he like?”
Nikolas thinks for a minute. “He was really nice. Sometimes when he had to work, he was mean, but not always.”
The way he talks, in past tense, puts me on edge just a little. What could’ve happened to the man? Is he still with us?
“And your mommy?” I ask.
“I miss her,” he says with a forlorn whimper.
I pause. He’s so fragile—I can see it in the tremble of his lip, the sadness in his eye. I should back off, move slower, don’t push too hard for fear of hurting the progress he’s made in my short time here.
But who knows how much time we really have? This entire situation is a ticking time bomb. Any second, Matvei could explode and hurt one or both of us. He could kill my dad, or Niko’s parents, wherever they are.
No, I have to charge forward. For Niko’s sake. For Dad’s sake. For my own sake.
There’s a slow moment in the conversation before I soften my voice and ask, “Niko, what happened to them?”
Nikolas doesn’t look like he wants to talk about this anymore, but he doesn’t break down in tears like he did before whenever I mentioned them. He’s not running away screaming or crying. I hold my breath and wait.
Instead of throwing another fit, Nikolas says, “Mommy and Daddy died. Uncle Matvei is taking care of me now.”
This answer knocks the wind out of me.
Uncle Matvei.
Niko is the monster’s nephew.
I can’t believe all this time I’ve been working under the assumption that Nikolas was a hostage the same as me. He’s not. He’s a blood relative.
This changes everything.
All of the pieces begin to fall into place. The anger that I see Matvei walk around with might not be just his natural state. It could be the fact that he’s pissed about his brother’s death and the death of his sister-in-law.
I can’t imagine the stress he’s under right now. With the business that he runs and the fact that he’s always putting out fires for the Bratva, having a new child added to the mix would stress anyone out.
Matvei Morozov, suddenly made a single father to a child he never had.
I don’t know what I would do in such a situation. Obviously, I’d step up to bat, but I don’t think I’d be able to keep it all under control the way Matvei has. On the outside, I could barely even tell that he might’ve been stressed about Nikolas.
“I’m sorry to hear about your mommy and daddy. I wish I could’ve met them before they passed away.”
“Yeah,” he says sadly, stirring his oatmeal around. “They would like you.”
It’s such a simple phrase, but it breaks my heart. No little boy should have to go through this. Matvei is trying his best, but I don’t think he’s giving him the emotional support that he needs. The therapist might be helping, but we can’t see her every day. When it gets bad, who else is going to be there for Nikolas?
Me. There’s only me.
And I’m doing everything I can to get the hell out of this place as soon as possible.
I scoot over and pull him in for a hug, holding him to my