Finally, a smile pokes through the anxiety. “Did you really do that?”
“Sure did. It felt great, too. I felt powerful—and you know what? I would never have been able to do it if it weren’t for you.”
“I’m serious, Misha. I would do anything for you. It’s the nature of being a mother.”
His bottom lip trembles. “My mother didn’t always jump to defend me,” he admits, sitting down on the very corner of the bed.
“Because she knew that getting involved would only make things worse for you,” I suggest with more conviction than I have any right to feel. I don’t know the woman from Adam, but I feel confident in my assumptions. “But she did protect you, in her own way. She made sure to be on Nikolai’s good side. You were the only boy on the compound with sneakers, remember?” I clutch his forearm.
