Page 52 of Sergei
Her whisper cut through the air, and everything around us stilled. I glanced behind me and found her standing in the hallway just outside my room. She was barefoot and wearing nothing but her nightgown. Her hair was down around her shoulders, and her eyes were filled with a mix of fear and regret.
The anger drained from Viktor’s face, leaving him pale with disbelief. His mouth dropped open, but no words came out. He just stood there, staring at her like she was some kind of ghost. After a few moments, he looked at me and then back at her again. Finally, he growled, “What the fuck is going on?”
I didn’t like the way Viktor was looking at Lina and felt an overwhelming need to put myself between them, shielding her from his view. But my feet seemed to be nailed to the floor, and all I could do was stand there and watch as she stepped further into the room.
She looked so vulnerable in her nightgown and wide eyes, but her voice was strong as she announced, “I was in trouble. Really, really bad trouble, and I came here for help.”
“Here?” Viktor looked like he was barely holding himself together as he snapped, “You came to Sergei for help?”
Her eyes skirted over to me, and for a second, my breath caught. Damn. There was no denying it. This woman had a hold on me like no other. She shook her head as she admitted, “No, I came here for you, but Sergei…”
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me!” Viktor’s arms flew into the air, and his rage escalated as he shouted, “So, this is it? This is what all the secrecy was about? You were hiding her from me, so you could play hero?”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“The hell it wasn’t!” Viktor took a charging step forward. “How long has she been here?”
“A couple of weeks before you left for the Caymans.”
“Motherfucker! How could you do this!”
“You think I wanted this.” My own anger started to get the best of me. “You think I asked for her to show up on my doorstep all bruised and broken? You think I wanted her to be hunted down like a fucking animal?”
“You should have told me!”
“I did it for your own good. You would’ve let your emotions cloud your judgment, and you would’ve gotten us all killed!”
“Bullshit!” he spat. “You wanted this! You always have to be in control. It’s who you are.”
With that, Lina dipped into her bedroom and closed the door. The click of the lock sounded like judgment. Viktor used the moment to look at me and snarl, “So, what did you do, bossman? Did you kill him? Was it you who put Alek in the ground?”
“I did what had to be done.”
“And what was that?”
“I took care of it.”
“That’s not going to work this time.” Viktor’s eyes widened, searching my face. “I want to know what you did!”
His tone ignited that old bratva darkness I carried deep within, and whatever calm I’d clung to snapped like thin ice. The old Sergei stepped into place—the one who said what he wanted to say and did whatever he wanted without giving a fuck who I destroyed along the way. My throat tightened with rage as I growled, “I made sure that bastard got exactly what he had coming.”
“How do you know that it won’t come back on us?”
“It won’t.”
“But how can you be sure?” he pushed. “This is the bratva we’re talking about!”
“I know damn well who we’re talking about. Do you? Have you kept up with the world we left behind? Do you have people who will go to incredible lengths to fulfill an order from you? Would they put their lives on the line for you? Because I do.”
He didn’t respond.
I didn’t expect him to.
He knew the power I had, and he hated me for it.
I ran my hand firmly down my throat, trying to relieve the knot that had formed there. “With their help, I put an end to Alek, and anyone connected to him. My only regret is that I wasn’t the one with the blade in my hand.”
The words had barely left my mouth when I noticed Lina standing at her bedroom door. She’d changed into leggings and a soft white sweater, and her hair was brushed back into a ponytail. She looked between us, staring at the wreckage of truth and lies, and that’s when I decided I didn’t give a damn what Viktor thought.
