I re-grip the phone in my hand. “My men will understand that sometimes, sacrifices must be made for the good of the many.”
“You are the pakhan,” he says grudgingly. “Your will, our hands.”
Even a stranger would hear the bitterness in his voice when he says those words.
I sigh as we hang up. If only Nikolai was the second brother. That one twist of fate would have solved so much about our fractured, fraught relationship.
When I go down to my bedroom, I find Lev in there, building a Lego castle three stories high.
“Where were you?” he asks, glancing towards the vintage clock on the wall.
“I had work to finish, buddy.”
The guilt pinches away at me, same as always, but I’ve learned to ignore it. I sit down next to him but I don’t touch any of the toy bricks. I know better than to push m
