Page 33 of The Red Room

Back?I think, worrying not only about my own revealing appearance but the sentiment as well.Back? Back to Russia?Was he supposed to go home last night and instead opted to chain himself up in the loft? The loft I decided to break into and be party to something only seen in magazines with UFO reports and bigfoot sightings.

Nik stands tall, balling his fists. “Father should be used to my disappointment by now.”

Viktor grins something wicked. “Indeed. He did, however, want me to stress the importance of our next quota, since you weren’t there to hear it yourself.”

Glare fixed forward, Nik rubs the long scar stretching across his exposed chest. Next quota? Why does his father care how much they make from Völk? He said he used family money to open the club, but does that mean his dad is in control of it too? Is this just some capitalistic venture from the Vostik brand where Nikolai runs the operations stateside? Questions itch at my throat, ready to be asked if it weren’t for the brothers in the middle of a glaring match.

The stiffness in the air lingers, a thick animosity clouding around us like humidity. Neither say a word, only snarl and wait for the other to yield. These two have some serious history from the look of it, and I can’t help but wonder why.

Nik draws a deep breath, his tightened posture easing. “Will that be all, Viktor?”

Viktor smirks again and turns for the backroom. Before leaving us, he tilts his head over his shoulder. “Do clean up the bar. Can’t have our guests complaining about the mess your little pet made.”

A combination of shame and anger flushes my cheeks.Little pet?His brother may see me that way, but is this howNik looks at me too? A thing he has chosen to care for, make sure I’m fed, watered, and given the most tantalizing orgasm I’ve ever had? Pet. The word sours my tongue. Is this what he thinks when he kisses me? Just a show of affection for somethingheis keeping alive?

I hop off the bar, ensuring my dress is no different than when I was brought here. Eyebrow raised, I stare at Nik, waiting for some kind of a response. Denial. Agreeance. Fucking something.

He smooths his hair away from his face. “Do you have siblings?” he asks.

Arms crossed, I shake my head slightly.

One side of his mouth crooks upward in a smirk. “I envy you.”

“And now I’m your pet? Is that what this is?” I say, annoyance in my voice.

Nik rubs his palm forehead downward. “Viktor—well, Viktor is …”

“An asshole,” I finish and sit on one of the stools Nik didn’t knock over. Smoothing the dress over my thighs, I wait for him to tell me I’m wrong. To make an excuse for his brother.

“Asshole suits him.” Nik laughs to himself and goes behind the bar. He pours a shot from one of the bottles, and when I refuse, he gives me a glass of water. His muscles gleam under the lights raining down on us, showcasing each strand of chest tissue as he maneuvers the back of the bar. “Viktor, my baby brother, has always had everything handed to him. He’s stubborn. Arrogant. Some have to claw their way through life, while others are simply born to claw at those trying to survive.”

I stare at the scars on his chest. “How did you get those? From him?”

Nik smirks. “No. Viktor might be the favored son in my family, but he hasn’t been dumb enough to challenge me yet.He knows better. These scars,” he says and waves his hand over them. “They are a reminder of my disappointment.”

My eyes widen. What could possibly do that to him if not Viktor? No one, not even the group of men storming Völk the other night could touch Nik. Outnumbered and outsized, he still dropped them all with ease.Parents have a way of controlling your decisions even when you’re grown. At least my father does.“Your father?”

Nik nods, fills another shot, and knocks it back, his throat bobbing. “What do you know about wolves, Natalia?”

Wolves? I live in fucking Los Angeles. There are nowolveshere. Well, besides the men parading around in sheep’s clothing offering movie roles in exchange for late-night hotel visits. There’s a few predators in this city, and if it isn’t the taxes or unaffordable housing, wolves might rank somewhere near the bottom on the list of things that could kill me.

“Nothing,” I say pointedly.

Another shot, and Nik slams the glass down. “Wolves travel in packs because there are safety in numbers. A pack against a grizzly bear, well, the bear wouldn’t stand a chance.” He takes the shirt off his shoulder and slowly puts it back on, hiding the strong chest and scars I can’t seem to turn away from. “Weakness is never tolerated, not when the survival of the pack is at stake. And there will always be an alpha to ensure the survival of the pack.”

He was disappointed you couldn’t make it back.His father. Nik’s father. Not just a checkbook from halfway across the world, but the alpha. The one pulling all the Völk strings from thousands of miles away. “He forced you to be here?”

Pain takes over Nik’s features. His eyes close, and he grips the glass hard enough to shatter it. “Yes. I’m here because of him. I’ve always tried to please him. Tried to be stronger, faster, more savage than the rest he’s turned. Those he’s giventhis curse.” A harsh breath, and Nik stares nowhere else than the oak lines in the bar top. “I’ve done horrible things. Natalia. Things I’m not sure I will ever come back from.” He turns his head, the skin above his lips snarling in disgust. “For my pack. And for him.”

I reach over the bar and place my hands on top of his, noticing the way it trembles. He makes it a point to look anywhere but at me, a gloss taking over his glowing eyes.

“You are not him, Nik.”

“No, I’m just his puppet,” he responds and shakes off my embrace, filling the glass once more and downing it in one fell swoop. “And that makes it even worse.”

Torture eats away at my insides, taking bits of my heart one jagged piece at a time. There’s another question I have though, one burning the parts his words left unscathed. “If you’re here to work for your father, then why is Viktor here too?”

His demeanor shifts, no longer standing upright but hunching over the bar and tightening his shoulders. The seams of his shirt stretch around his hardened body. “Because I am what my father considers a weakness of this pack.” Nikolai Vostik brings his gaze to mine. “And my brother is the son he was waiting for.”

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