Page 15 of Cruel Russian Monster
He shrugged, unconcerned. “Katya will miss her, sure. But seeing as she only just realized they’re siblings, she’ll bounce back. In case you've forgotten, I have two amazing sisters.
“Kira will be mourned for nine days, maybe talked about a little longer. After that? She'll just be another name Katya won't remember. That’s how the world works, Vera.”
My blood turned to ice.
“But you…” He leaned closer, his index finger curled under my chin, lifting my head to meet his gaze. His voice was soft, but a hint of cruelty laced his next words. “Can you survive knowing Kira died because of you?”
He let that linger.
“Then again, the ex you left me for…he’ll be there to console you. Maybe even keep you warm at night.”
I removed my head from his touch, closed my eyes, and inhaled deeply.
I couldn’t let Kira die. Not for a mess I created.
My eyes shot open, and I glared at Jaroslav, and he returned it.
For now, I’d play the role.
But if he thought I’d be his obedient little wife?
He had another thing coming.
I’d make him regret ever putting a ring on my finger.
Chapter 5 - Jaroslav
Living with Vera was…difficult.
Three years ago, she was mine. My girl. My weakness. We had sex, sure, more times than I could count, but she was in college, and spending the entire night together was always off the table. Her rules, her boundaries.
Now she was under my roof, wearing my name.
And all I could think about was getting her in my bed…and keeping her there.
But I had to chase those thoughts away. My focus was on helping Lev put out these damn fires caused by Artyom and the ghost enemy lighting them. One of which I was currently interrogating.
And by ‘interrogating,’ I meant beating the shit out of him until he told me what I wanted to know. They tried to raid one of our warehouses and set the room on fire where the workers were held captive.
My men waited outside the small room.
But the man just smiled at me and refused to say a word.
His torn shirt slid down, and that was when I saw it—a star inked on his shoulder. This time, they’d fucked up, as I knew they eventually would. Instead of sending mercenaries, they’d sent one of their own.
Our ghost enemy wasn’t just some outside player. It was another fucking Bratva faction.
Either that…or it was one of the factions Artyom had pitted against us. With so many enemies, they probably assumedthey could topple us, topple what our leaders built before us, and what we continued to build.
That would only happen over my dead body.
But my gut told me the truth. This had nothing to do with Artyom making us outcasts among the other Bratva factions.
The people who paid those mercenaries to grab Katya? They were affiliated with the man tied in front of me. They were fucking Bratva.
After carving the star from his skin, I took a picture of him, slit his throat, and instructed the boys to dump the body. I walked over to the dock and threw the piece of skin in. The fish would discard it soon enough. I didn't want the other men knowing the man was Bratva, for them to run back and tell Lev.
I’d have Timur look into who the hell he was under the radar.
