The Last Hope

14

Nikolai

Dimitri holds Andrei in his arms one last time before joining his brother in the car, "you're suffocating me, Elif," grumbles Sasha next to me as Elif tightens her arms around my brother's waist.

Despite his protests, he embraces her back, kissing her temple, "I'd suffocate you for real if you don't pay attention to how you act with our guest, idiot," she tells him, kissing his cheek before turning to me, hugging me in turn. I gently inhale her scent, which always calms me, "sorry for putting you in uncomfortable situations, Elif," I say softly, holding her close.

She lifts her head, smiling gently, caressing my cheek as she did when I was younger. "Come on, Niko, with idiots like you, I'm not out of trouble, but fortunately, I appreciate all of you enough," she says. I smile, gently squeezing her hand, as I'm about to pull away, her hand behind my back restrains me. "Niko, be careful with what you do, don't do anything you're not 100% sure about. Sometimes, you Ivanov brothers don't realize the impact of your actions, and I know what I'm talking about." I grimace at her last words, vividly recalling what she's referring to – Grigori's biggest mistake, where we almost lost Elif. I don't even want to imagine our current state if he hadn't managed to redeem himself.

I sigh and nod; she smiles, satisfied, then joins Selina and Sienna waiting at the entrance to talk to them. I tense slightly as Grigori approaches while Sasha and Roman are in a heated discussion—or rather, an argument, it's never clear when it involves Roman.

"Do you think they're discussing or fighting?" my brother asks as he arrives by my side. "I'd say they're discussing, considering Sasha hasn't hit him yet," I reply with a smirk. Yes, our little brother had an exceptional talent for getting on Sasha's nerves.

"Niko," Grigori begins, turning towards me with his hands in his pockets, "I know I appear tough or even cruel to you, but all I want is to protect our family, my brother."

I nod, squeezing his shoulder. "I know, my brother, but know that I'll never let any harm come to our family. However, I won't turn away from a woman and her son who need help. It's not who I am, and it's not you either, Grigori," I say, holding his gaze. He stares at me for a moment and eventually sighs, pulling me close. "I hope you know what you're doing, Nikolaï," he says before stepping back and joining his family in the car.

Roman lowers his window and perches, making grand gestures. "See you later, idiots. Try not to create more little Ivanovs in our absence," the fool shouts. Elif grabs the back of his shirt, pulling him inside while hitting him as the car drives away.

"I'll drown him in the pool when I see him next time," grumbles Sasha, watching the disappearing car. "What were you talking about?" I ask, giving him a sidelong glance.

I see him grimace, and it's never good when he makes that face. "I'm worried about him," Sasha finally growls, and my concerned gaze fixes on him, worried ?
"He's completely obsessed with this woman, Nikolaï. No matter what he does—whether he fights, works, cooks—she's always on his mind. He tortures himself. He just told me he dreamed about her yesterday and is considering going back to Iraq to find her." My blood runs cold at the thought of my little brother returning to that hell, we made the mistake of letting him go the first time, but it won't happen again. If only we could have found that woman; we tried, but with the limited information we had—dark eyes and hair, olive skin—nothing more, a description matching thousands of women.

"He won't go back there, never," I say through clenched teeth. "I'll break his legs if I have to, to stop him."

Sasha agrees without adding anything, equally determined as I am. We all carry the regret of letting him go eight years ago; we should have listened to Elif.