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"Do you know what this cost me? What I went through?" Alana's eyes well up with tears, and I put an arm around her shoulder. I watch Alexei squirm and look away. There's no way he could ever understand it, but he can definitely see the effects on her.

"It wasn't right," he says, which is about as much of an admission of guilt as Alana will ever get from him. If he knew what our father covered up and said nothing, I'll never know, but he's choosing the right thing now. That's what's important to me.

"And the marriage we were supposed to go through with wasn't ever going to work." Natalia bumps Alexei's shoulder. "We're not right for each other, whether we can get along or not. We'd argue too much." I see resentment flash in my brother's eyes before acceptance filters down.

"You're probably right, though I'd have enjoyed it at first." He cracks a smile but turns to me in all seriousness and nods. "But you're right. A forced marriage was never going to truly end this war." He shakes his head and sighs. "We have to do this because the families want peace, not because they're ordered to do it. The men are tired. We need rest. We can't keep up like this."

"So, what do we do?" Alana asks, glancing at our sleeping boy. He's so peaceful. It's easy to think we could fall into this life with no problems or stress when we look into the face of a sleeping child. But the fact is, we have a fight on our hands. And it's not going to be an easy one.

"We'll have to force them into the same room—to sit across a table and talk peace," I say, realizing it won't be an easy feat. "And they won't like it."

"Fat chance," Alexei scoffs, sitting back. Natalia rolls her eyes at him and then looks at me with pursed lips.

"We have to trick them. I can handle Batya myself. He's wrapped around my finger ever since Alana left." The sisters share an uncertain glance, and Alana turns to me with skepticism scrawled on her face—high eyebrows, pinched in the center.

"They'll kill us," she says quietly. "Or they'll try."

"Maybe," I say, and I scoot closer to her and take her hand. "But we have to try. We have to believe that they love us more than they hate each other."

"And if they don't?" Natalia asks.

"Then we walk away," I say. "All of us—together. And we build something new without them."

The four of us are bound by choice and love in the desperate hope that we can end what our fathers started. The future hangs in the balance.

We've made our choice.

Now we have to make them make theirs.

35

DIMITRI

Ipush through the council chamber doors and my brother follows me, Alana and Natalia trailing behind him. We've come to tear this whole thing apart, and we've had to trick our fathers into coming, making them think Mr. Petrov called this emergency session himself. It's the only way we could get them in the same place at the same time without force, and it immediately appears to have worked.

My father sees me first. He stands near the table with Nikolai, and they look like they're seconds from killing each other. The fighting that is happening in the streets is a direct reflection on the hostility these two have toward each other. It wasn't always like this, but pride and ego die a hard death of humiliation and neither one of them is willing to admit that shit happens and we can learn from it.

Today, they'll learn the hard way.

When Father's eyes find mine, his whole body goes rigid. He takes a step toward me, and his hand moves toward his waist where I know he keeps his piece.

"Don't," I say, and I hold up my hands. "Just don't." I stalk forward with my brother in my shadow, ready to address the council directly after eleven full months of being away and needing this conversation to happen. I should've stuck around to clean up this mess after Christmas last year, but I'm back to finish what I've started.

"What the hell is this?" Father growls, and I can tell he's barely holding it together. "Alexei, you called an emergency session? You dragged me here for this? For him?" He gestures wildly and his eyes burn with hatred. It's painful, but not as painful as sitting back watching my cousins and brothers in arms die in the streets. I'd risk my father completely turning his back on me to save them.

Nikolai spins around when he sees Alana, and his face goes purple with rage. "You brought her here? Into council chambers? Have you lost your mind?"

As if it's some crime that a woman enters the chambers. This man has so much to learn about propriety and honor. This is the very reason we're in this situation. If he had stood up for her and let her tell her side of this story six years ago, this never would’ve happened. Good men would still be alive.

"I didn't bring her," Alexei says as he steps up beside me. "We all came together, and you're going to listen to what we have to say."

"The hell I will," Nikolai spits, and he starts toward Alana and Natalia with his hand raised like he'll grab them and force them to leave. He's lived far too long with this archaic idea that somehow, he can control others, especially women—especially those in his purview.

I move without thinking, stepping between them, and I catch his wrist before he can touch Alana. "Don't," I say, and I look him in the eye. "You don't touch her. Not ever again."

He stares at me like he can't believe I have the nerve to touch him. "You dare," he says. "Don't you fucking touch me." He jerks away and lifts his hand as if I've burned him, and his eyes flick toward my brother, then back to me. He knows this won't end well if he attempts again to resist us. He can't upset the council in their own chambers.

"Someone has to stop this," I say, and I push his hand down. "The abuse will stop now, and the war is over. You're done throwing your weight around." I turn to my father and say, "Both of you."