Page 70 of Cruel Russian Monster
“So am I.”
Zahkar extended his hand, and I shook that, too, before returning it to Vera's hip.
She took one of her brothers’ hands in each of hers.
“When our parents died, I was still pretty young. Artyom was busy with the faction, and both of you had the task of raising Kira and me.”
She looked at Yegor. “Yegor, you taught me to be tough, yet in control. To value integrity.”
Then shifted her gaze to Zahkar. “Zahkar, you taught me it was okay to enjoy life, to let my hair down once in a while. But you also taught me the reward of hard work, and what it means to be there for family.”
Vera sighed.
“I need you to trust me. Trust that the lessons you taught me stayed with me. Jaroslav is my husband, which means he’s family now. So I’m asking, as your little sister, please… Don’t involve the Safin men in your plans. Don’t make me choose between my husband and his brothers, and mine.”
During Vera's speech, I watched Yegor’s and Zahkar’s faces change from hard-edged Bratva men to doting brothers.
“Vera,” Zahkar said, “the last thing we’d want is to force you to choose. You have our word that we won’t involve the Safin men in anything we’re planning.”
“We’ll still be overprotective assholes,” Yegor added, glancing at me before returning his gaze to Vera. “That’s not changing just because you’re married. You’ll always be a Rykov by blood.”
There was still a thread of warning under Yegor’s words, but could I blame him? If someone messed with Ninel or Mariya, I’d do worse. Marriage didn’t erase sibling loyalty, but it definitely complicated the dynamics.
Vera stepped away from me and into her brothers’ arms. The way she went to them willingly, and how they held her, showed that their bond was strong. She loved them, and they loved her.
I couldn’t help but want that for myself—Vera’s love. For her to willingly come to me, to trust that I could love her, too, for her to love me back.
But how could I ask for that, when we’d both agreed to keep this casual? We were finally getting along, being civilized to one another. She was comfortable here, and I wasn’t going to be the reason that changed.
Yegor pulled back first. “We’ve got to go. But since you’re here, we wrote our letters to Katya. Do you mind giving them to her?”
Zahkar walked over to a nearby table, picked up two folded pieces of paper, and handed them to Vera.
“I’d love to.” A genuine smile touched her lips. “Tell Kira I love her. I miss her.”
They nodded.
“I’ll walk you out,” I said, already heading for the door.
Vera stayed inside while I escorted her brothers to the car. We walked in silence for a moment before I spoke.
“Can you help me bring Kira over without Artyom finding out?”
Zahkar nodded. “Sure. Kira’s going to be miserable at the mansion without Vera, though.”
“We’ll figure out how to tell Artyom soon, so she'll be able to come and visit Vera freely.”
We stopped at the car. Zahkar climbed in first while Yegor lingered beside me.
“Take care of Vera,” he said quietly.
“I plan to.”
He gave me one last look, then got behind the wheel. The engine started, gravel crunching under the tires as they pulled out of the compound.
I stood there for a moment longer, watching the car disappear, before heading back inside.
I found her in the kitchen, her back to me. I leaned against the doorframe and watched for a moment.
