Bound by Secrets

**Dimitri:**

"What do you mean she's with Locke?" I asked Leonardo, my anger getting the best of me before I could control it.

The man looked down at his feet, avoiding my eyes, and I growled in warning, not wanting this to be a game. I knew that the man wouldn't lie to me, but the idea that HER man was around wasn't something I would accept.

"The man waited for her at the school door. They both went in separate cars, but they are clearly heading in the same direction." He said, and I let out a low growl. "You know we have no right to stop them, Dimitri. You are not her husband and she is not bound to..."

"You are not going to tell me what to do and what not to fucking do, Leonardo." I said, stopping my beta. His eyes met mine and the man shook his head, knowing that I was speaking out of anger. "She can't be with another man, do you fucking understand me?"

"Dimitri, she is your ex. The two of you are divorced..."

"She has a son, and you know our fucking rules." I said, stopping him. "And the fact that the man is an Alpha, MY fucking partner, now that shows the audacity."

"You know that she is also Alpha blood, and IF she is to mate with another Alpha, our rules do not stop that. It would only strengthen her son's claim, and you know that he would be a threat to Lowrence when that happens." Leonardo said, and I let out a low growl as I tapped my fingers on the desk. "But we can't just stop them. You know we will only get ourselves in trouble with Yaroslav, and no matter what we do, we made a deal with him."

"Thank you for the fucking reminder," I said, looking down at the desk.

Flashback:

"You and my son seem to have started off on the wrong foot," Mark said, smiling at me.

"You knew that would happen. But I'm curious about the reason for your choices. The man doesn't seem to have the experience to run the business, and he seems to treat it like a commoner. You know that this isn't how we run our world, and if this continues, he will end up losing more than we can gain." I said, voicing my confusion. I knew better than to directly question the man's decisions. He was still an Alpha of his own territory, and he could choose to do whatever he wanted with what he owned.

"I want him to learn. That won't happen when he is sitting behind a desk or out partying. He has the ambition to see what is new, and he knows that the world outside is changing, and it is changing fast. But what he doesn't understand is that we don't follow what goes on outside, but what we want to follow within our own grounds." He explained, and I nodded in understanding. I knew that the man was trying to tell me that he wanted ME to be the one to explain that to his son.

"But your son seems to be more hardheaded. He doesn't want to listen, nor does he want to find it in himself to learn OUR ways, and rather..."

"And that is why I want YOU to be the one to support and train him." He said, stopping me. "You have learned under my hand. Your father left you with me when you were younger than he is. Sabrina was the one to take care of Locke, refusing that I do it. I want you to help me with that, and I want him to grow in a different way than he did with his mother."

"His mother taught him to be kind and gentle. She did not want him involved in our world, claiming that the dirty work should be left to me. While I understand her point, he is my heir, my son, and I will not have a weak son." He said, and I took a deep breath. I remembered a time when my own mother asked me to stay out of my father's dirty work. She knew it wouldn't happen, but she also didn't want that darkness to consume me.

"Don't worry, I'll be his mentor as you were mine." I said, getting up from my chair. Leonardo looked at me and I nodded. The two of us were leaving. "But I hope you understand that I won't be gentle."

"I never was with you." He said, and I smirked. "So as long as you don't turn your back on him, the rest doesn't matter..."

End of Flashback.

"Let's go," I said, and the man raised an eyebrow.

"Where are we going?" Leonardo asked, shaking his head in question. I chuckled and put my hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently.

"Don't worry, we aren't going to see them. I have other things to deal with, and Angel is the last person I am thinking of right now." I said, choosing to hide the anger I felt. I was going to need to find my own means for this. But for now, I would rather keep them to myself. "Neither of us knows about this 'meeting' between them. We are going to give them their privacy, for now."

I'll find my own way to break their wings.

"What do you plan on doing now?" He asked, and I got up from my desk.

"Haizel," I said, and he frowned in confusion. "She claims that Mariana had a problem. I want to go see about it."

"You really don't plan on dropping the subject, do you?" He asked, and I shook my head.

"No," I said, recalling her words. Her claim of me stopping her from feeling independent played in my head. And if she was to raise my children the way I want them to grow, then I knew that depending on others wasn't something I wanted her to teach them. "But I don't plan on speaking to Mariana. The woman would cover for her anyway. There is something that I have in mind, and I think this will give Haizel what she wants."

"Dimitri, you are going to open a bottle of trouble on your head, and you don't want to end up spilling its content where you don't need it, brother." He said, and I chuckled.

"I'm sealing that bottle, fratello." Brother. I said, and the man smirked. "Let's go, we are going to be late..."