IVA
“You’ll return home with Akari,” he said. “And you’ll tell our parents about him.” My heart dropped into my stomach, and my eyes widened. I should have known he would try to insist somehow. My lips parted, but no sound came out before he continued. “But you won’t say he’s mine.”
I blinked hard.
“What?”
“You’ll say his father died or something,” Lev added, jaw tight. “Say whatever you want, as long as you don’t say it’s Nik because I want him out of our lives for good.”
“That won’t work,” I breathed.
“Why not?”
“Because Akari is a copy of you,” I said, my voice trembling. “Just one look at him, Lev. Our parents will know.”
“They won’t,” he insisted. “Akari looking like me isn’t strange, even if I weren’t his father.” He shrugged slightly, though tension carved every inch of him.
