Page 10 of Sergei
“I sound like someone who doesn’t allow thieves in my casino!”
“We’re not in New York anymore, Vik.” I crossed my arms and sighed with annoyance. “As much as I’d like to, we can’t go around slitting throats.”
“Actually, we could, and we should.”
“It wouldn’t fix the problem.”
“So, what? He gets a slap on the wrist?”
“We make him pay it back, double, and send him on his way.”
“Preacher has been in your ear too much. If you want to play games, go ahead. But I won’t coddle thieves.”
“We’re playing a new game here with new rules.”
He just stared at me. His eyes were hard and unreadable, and after a moment, he folded his arms across his broad chest. “You know, these new rules of yours are going to cost us.”
“Maybe,” I shrugged. “Or maybe it’ll keep us from turning into our father.”
He didn’t answer. But his silence wasn’t out of anger. It was something else. Respect. The kind brothers shared even whenthey disagreed. In that moment, I thought we could find our way through anything, but the days to come would test us both in ways I never could’ve imagined.
4
ALINA
“What the hell are you doing here, Alina?”
“I need help.”
“What kind of help?”
“I left Alek.” My sister’s eyes widened with disbelief. “I didn’t have a choice. He hurt me. He’s been hurting me. I couldn’t stay there. I had to get away from him.”
“So, you came here?” Mila yanked me inside so fast I nearly stumbled over my own feet. The door slammed shut behind us, her fingers gripping my arm hard enough to bruise. Her voice was sharp, angry, and low, like she was trying not to wake the neighbors. “Are you insane?”
“I didn’t know where else to go.” Her anger wasn’t fading, so I pleaded, “Mila, please. I need you.”
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” She raked her hands through her hair as she started pacing back and forth in the small living room. “If he finds out… If anyone saw you come here…”
I understood my sister’s fear and why she’d kept her distance all these years. In our world, there was no greater sin than betrayal, and when you betrayed the family, there would be hellto pay. My walking away from Alek, no matter how dire the circumstance, was the ultimate betrayal. Which was one of the many reasons I’d been so careful.
I tried to reassure her by saying, “No one saw. I made sure of it.”
“You made sure of it?” She threw her hands up in the air. “Are you forgetting who we are dealing with? This is Alek and his whole crazy family! There are cameras everywhere! They’ll use them to find you, which means they’ll be coming here and God knows what he will do.”
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.” I touched my swollen lip, the sting reminding me of every blow. “But I had to leave. I had to. He would’ve killed me.”
She froze, and for the first time since I’d arrived, she looked at me. Really looked at me. For a second, I thought I saw the sister I remembered. Soft. Loving. Protective. The girl who used to braid my hair and tell me stories when I was upset. But it was gone in a blink and replaced with a mask of fear and fury. “And you thought you could just walk away?”
“I had to do something.”
“The family will never allow it! They will kill you before they let that happen, and you coming here is dragging me into this, Alina. Me. My life. My safety.”
“You’re my sister, Mila.” Tears blurred my vision as I said, “Look what he’s done to me!”
I shoved my hair back, revealing the bruises on my face, and then I lifted my shirt, exposing the black and blue around my ribs. Mila winced, but only momentarily. I knew she wasn’t convinced, so I added, “And this was nothing. He’s done far worse.”
“Alek is an asshole. Always has been.”
