How fucking wrong was I.
His hands fly up in defense. “Ma’am, I am just—”
I unclip the holster off Ari’s buckle and cock the gun quicker than Ari can notice and bring it right beneath Romanov’s chin. “You let these assholes into my house.”
Ari does nothing, standing still behind me. Good.
I press the tip farther up until Romanov’s head tilts backward. “They killed my husband, and now I’m going to kill you. You wanna know why, Romanov? Because you fucked with my family, and what did I say to you would happen if you ever fucked with my family?” I lean in closer until the tip of my nose touches the curve of his jaw.
“Leave the man alone, baby. Get the fuck in here, sit down, and tell me what the fuck is going on,” Niko demands from behind and my eyes flick to the side.
New plan.
“And I wouldn’t do that if I were you. You’re a shit shot and you only get one chance.”
“Meraki,” Ari says softly from beside me and I wince, that same sadness I felt earlier for Preacher dissipated.
Did I feel sad? Yes. I appreciated Preacher and he was a convenient distraction from the pain I felt for Niko, but now he’s here. Standing in my house with the knowledge that we have a child together.
I turn to face Ari. For the first time since finding out about his fake death those years ago, I can finally look at him. He’s different now, as he should be. He was always the softer brother of the two, and something tells me that hasn’t changed, but his appearance is so different. He ties his dark-brown hair into a bun on the top of his head while keeping the sides shaved short. Unlike Niko and me, Ari has no tattoos that I can see and keeps his face hidden with a thick beard. I still see the young boy in the essence of his eyes, but instead of that fact calming me, it only enrages me.
I squeeze my eyes closed. Anger releases from my muscles and defeat wraps its ugly arms around my body. “I’m just disappointed, Ari. But…”
“But?” he asks, and I know he’s stepped closer to me because I feel his body heat. He and Niko are both big boys—actually not big—huge—so any movement and they bring a wave of energy with them.
My eyes open up on his. “But I understand why you did it.”
His shoulders fall and he sinks into me as I wrap my arms around his body. “Mer, fuck, I missed you.”
Everything that I felt moments ago spills to a puddle at my feet. It’s a euphoric feeling. Holding on to resentment for so many years only to feel it detach from you.
“I’ve missed you too.”
He steps back, his hands on my face. “Don’t kill your security team. They’re acting on orders.”
I wave him off. “Leave that to me.”
Ari nods his head toward the open door. “I think you should leave them to me, and you go handle that.”
I know he’s right. It’s not like I stopped Niko from finding out about Ares, and I knew in the back of my mind that the day would come where he would meet him, but did I expect it on a casual Wednesday at six p.m.?
No.
I close the doors behind me, breathing through my turmoil. To the left, Preacher bleeds out on my kitchen floor, and to the right, Niko sits on the sofa opposite the open fireplace. Quiet, like a ghost in the night.
I would laugh at the irony if it wasn’t so sad.
I make my way into the sitting room, careful not to look at Niko as I lower myself onto the single sofa that’s slightly beside the fireplace. “Jess will be awake at five a.m. for Ares, so I’d rather this be quick so someone can clean the mess.”
When he doesn’t answer, I finally look at him, and that same gaping hole that’s been pounding in my chest since he walked away from me all those years ago is suddenly split back open with force. His eyes are almost darker, his features a little rougher around the edges. He ages well, I’ll give the psycho that.
He rests one foot against the coffee table. “You didn’t try hard enough to tell me about him, Meraki.”
His words slap me across the face, and the emotions he has raised out of me in eleven words is more than anyone has in two years.
“I didn’t hide him from you, Nik. Just from the rest of the world.”
He holds my stare, and I have to fight with myself to not back down and be the first to look away. It makes it hard when something so simple can stir so many different emotions.
“I don’t walk from what’s mine, Ruckus, and you know this.”