Chapter Eight: What Dante Wanted
Dante didn’t wait for an invitation.
He walked into Mikhail’s room at 3 PM.
Three bodyguards flanked him.
Kael stood up from his chair.
“Out.”
“Brother. So good to see you.” Dante’s smile was sharp. “I came to check on my nephew.”
“He’s not your nephew. He’s my son.”
“He’s our family. The only family either of us has left.”
Lian stepped between them.
“Mikhail needs rest. You need to leave.”
Dante’s eyes swept over her.
“Dr. Harper. I have a temporary guardianship order. Filed this morning. The judge will approve it by tomorrow.”
“On what grounds?”
“That the father is an unfit guardian. Someone shot his son in his own home. I’d say that’s grounds enough.”
Kael moved so fast Lian didn’t see it.
One moment, he was standing by the bed.
The next, he had Dante pinned against the wall, a scalpel pressed to his throat.
“You will never touch my son.”
“Kael,” Lian said sharply. “Mikhail is watching.”
Kael froze.
He looked at the bed.
Mikhail was staring with wide eyes.
Not scared.
Just watching.
Kael stepped back.
Dante straightened his jacket.
“You see?” he said to Mikhail. “Your father is unstable. Dangerous. You’ll be safer with me.”
Mikhail looked at Dante.
Then at Kael.
Then at Lian.
“My mom is a surgeon,” he said. “My dad is scary. And you’re just some guy who showed up with a fake piece of paper.”
Dante blinked.
“Get out of my room,” Mikhail said. “Or I’ll tell the nurses you’re being mean.”
No one moved.
Then Lian smiled.
“You heard him. Get out.”
Dante’s face twisted.
But he left.
His bodyguards followed.
The door closed.
Kael sank into the chair.
“I’m sorry,” he said to Mikhail. “You shouldn’t have seen that.”
Mikhail shrugged again.
“It’s okay. He’s a bad guy. I could tell.”
“How?” Lian asked.
Mikhail looked at her.
“He doesn’t have your eyes. He just has the same color. That’s not the same thing.”
Lian pulled her son close.
And over his head, she looked at Kael.
We need to end this.
I know, his eyes answered.
