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“I’m Anya Mikhailov,” she says with a smile. “I’m your mother.”
Somehow, in only eleven months, Anya Mikhailov has managed to transform Willow into a mirror image of herself.
“The whole confident, black widow thing is really working for you,” Jax says, twisting around in the front seat with a wide grin. “I’m just not sure it’ll work on him.”
It’s like that old quote: everything in life is about sex. Except sex—that’s about power.
“It’s not safe for him here,” I say. “It’s not safe for either of us.”
“You made me believe he was dead,” he snarls. “You lied through your fucking teeth.”
“I don’t want my son to be a pawn in a war. You want revenge for your brother, I get it. But I don’t want my baby involved. He deserves better.”
He’s the only thing I’ve done right in my life. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect him.
“He’s not yours, Leo. You’re nothing more than my sperm donor. That child… I carried him in my stomach for nine months. I fed him at my breasts. I slept by his side and soothed his nightmares until the moment you plucked me from the mountains and caged me here. I am his whole world and he is mine. And I will die before I let you or anyone else use him as some political prop in your schemes.”
“It won’t matter where you go or how completely you disappear, Willow. I will always find you.”
“Viktoria Mikhailov is worth more to me alive than dead.
“You overestimate our connection, Willow. You always did,”
“She is in love with you. Even if she doesn’t want to be.”
“I loved you, Leo. Wholly and completely,” she says. “But not anymore. You took that from me, too.”
“She’s family. She’s my sister-in-law.”
Her name is Ariel and she loved Leo’s brother once upon a time.
“She’s had to fuck the man that murdered the love of her life for the last eight years?”
she’s one of the strongest women I’ve ever known in my life.”
“Losing Pavel nearly broke her,” he explains. “She became a shell of the person she was. There was a moment there when we thought we were going to lose her.”
“Pasha.” She says it so softly I almost don’t hear her. “Huh?” “His name. Our son’s name,” she offers awkwardly. “It’s Pasha.” I turn to her but don’t say anything. Pasha is a Russian derivative of Pavel. Which means… “I named him after your brother,” she confirms. “Pasha Leonardo Solovev.” “Leonardo?” I repeat. A faint blush creeps up her cheeks. “After you.”
“There will never be anyone else for me. Ever,”
The man you care about is alive. He’s right in front of you. Make the most of it.”
“You’re his grandmother!” Willow continues. “I thought he’d be safe with you. I thought you were strong. But all you are is an old woman who’s out of her depth.” Well, fuck me. The girl’s got balls.
“She’s in love with you,” she says suddenly, making a sharp detour. “I know.” “Do you?” she asks, raising an eyebrow. “Can’t say I’m surprised. Men believe women are in love with them even when they’re not.”
“For me, this is about getting my son back.”
“My Bratva means everything to me. But so does my family. Luckily for me, they’re one and the same. My Bratva is my family. My family is my Bratva. I won’t have to sacrifice my son for my empire, or the other way around.”
I would burn my Bratva to the ground before I let anyone hurt my family.”
“You have to get a hold of yourself. For Pasha. The only way to save him is to stay calm. To
stay in control.”
I’ll protect him with my life. Make sure that wife of yours gets her shit together. She’s got fire when she puts her mind to it.
Pasha is not alone.”
“Because I can’t lose you both!”
“You told me to fight. That’s what I’m doing. Now the only question is: am I fighting with you or against you?”
“You’ll make a fine Bratva queen one day.”
“I would never harm my future wife.”
“You didn’t think of that, did you? You just acted with your heart, not your head. I keep trying to tell you not to do that. It’s what makes me love—it’s what makes you innocent. But it’s going to get you killed. So yes, I did what I had to do. I thought for both of us. I got you out of there.”
You’re going to get yourself killed right along with Pasha. I can’t lose you both.”
“She’s a mother,” he says quietly. “Her first instinct is going to be to throw herself into the fire to protect her child.”
"I heard my son today for the first time,”
I want to be with a man who’s madly in love with me. Who wants me as much as I want
him.
Whatever happens next is out of my control. I can only cling to my son and think of Leo.
“Do you really think that Ariel was the only mole I planted?”
That felt like babymaking sex,
