Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 78587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Annoyed, I opened the door and snapped, “What do you want?”
“Good morning to you, too,” he replied with a snarky grin. He lifted his chin and inhaled a quick breath before brushing past me. “Smells like coffee and eggs. Tell me there’s more.”
I muttered a curse under my breath and turned to follow him, just in time to see him stop dead in his tracks. His eyes widened with surprise as he said, “Alina?”
Her head snapped up as she gasped, “Nikolai?”
For the first time since she’d arrived, her whole face lit up. She shot to her feet and rushed across the room, and when she reached him, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight.
“My goodness!” She pulled back to look him over. “You’ve grown so much! I can’t believe you’re the same little boy who used to throw his animal crackers at me.”
“Yeah, I might’ve done that a time or two.” Nikolai laughed, the sound warm, unguarded. “But in my defense, you were an easy target.”
The two of them stood there talking and teasing like no time had passed, and for reasons that made no sense to me, I felt something coil deep in my chest. Jealousy.
It was stupid and irrational, but I felt it all the same. She hadn’t looked at me like that. She certainly hadn’t hugged me or even looked remotely happy to see me. Not once. Not with that kind of warmth and not with that smile. And my God. That smile was something to behold.
I would burn the world to the ground for that fucking smile.
They continued on for a moment, then Nikolai said something that made Alina reach over and playfully swat him. Then came the grimace and gasp. Alina’s forgotten injuries had caught up with her. She tried to play it off with a smile, but Nikolai wasn’t going to let her get away with it. “What happened to you?”
“Nothing. I ah…”
“Alek Morozov happened,” I answered.
And just like that, the smiles and laughter evaporated from the room. Still confused, Nikolai looked at Alina and asked, “He did this to you?”
“He did,” I clipped, before Alina had a chance to spill everything. “He’s been doing it since they got married.”
“Woah. Shit… You were married?” Nikolai stared at Alina, mouth open wide.
“They were, and they still are.”
“How the hell did I miss that?”
Nikolai’s mood had shifted, and his light-hearted demeanor was gone. Like me, Alina didn’t miss the change. She turned to him and opened her mouth to speak. I quickly stepped closer as I said, “I’m taking care of it.”
Nikolai turned his attention to Alina as he asked, “Can you give us a minute?”
She hesitated but eventually nodded and headed back to her bedroom. As soon as the door clicked behind her, I stepped over to my brother, and I told him everything. And I did it quickly. I told him what Alek had done, what she’d endured, and why she couldn’t go back.
I thought he’d understand and have my back until he roared, “Are you out of your fucking mind? Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
“I will take care of it.”
“No.” His eyes narrowed with anger. “That’s where you’re wrong. This isn’t something you can handle on your own. It’s too big.”
“I’ll figure it out.”
“There is no figuring this out!” Nikolai’s face grew red with anger. “The second the family finds out you're protecting her, it won’t just be your head on the block. It’ll be mine. Viktor’s. Mom’s! Dammit, Sergei! You’ve fucked us all. You’ve fucked us hard! Do you get that?”
“I said I’ll deal with it.”
“You’re so fucking hard-headed!” He inhaled a quick breath. “You can’t deal with Alek, the Morozov clan, and the council on your own. Christ! Even if we all stood together, I don’t know if we’d survive it.”
I didn’t respond.
I just stood there and let him say his piece.
It was the only way he was going to settle down.
“You think you’re invincible, but you’re not! You’re going to drag us all into the grave with you!”
He kept going, and with each word he spoke, his voice would rise like he thought I hadn’t heard him the first damn time. Annoyance hit me hard. Not just at his doubt. That was bad enough, but it was the insult buried beneath it that got to me the most. My own brother was standing there, looking at me like I didn’t know what the Bratva was capable of.
He'd clearly forgotten how I’d bled for this family, that I was the one they sent when there was trouble. My father, along with the rest of the family, knew I was the one to handle the things no one else had the stomach for.
Me.
And me alone.
I leaned forward, letting the silence stretch between us until I saw his jaw tighten. “Have you forgotten who you are talking to? I’m Sergei Volkov. I know better than anyone what the bratva will do, Kolya. I was the one they sent when debts needed to be collected, and bodies needed to vanish. I was the blade they wielded in the dark.”