Page 9 of Paved in Hate

“Are you sure that isn’t just wishful thinking on your part?”

I laugh and put the pizzas in the oven. “Is that my type?” I ask, tilting my head and giving the question a good pondering.

“Only since we were teenagers,” Matvey says, leaning against the counter.

“I like to think I’m open to various types of women. I may be partial to blondes, but I’ve had my fair share of brunettes and redheads. I try not to be picky.”

The truth is that every encounter I’ve ever had has been completely superficial. I really don’t give a fuck what color their hair is or what size their tits are. I want a woman who wants to have a good time with no strings attached. My only real turnoff is clinginess. I once bought a woman a few drinks at a club, and after she’d loosened up, she’d laughed and said our kids would have beautiful eyes and then she’d suggested I meet her parents. My dick has never gone so soft so goddamn fast in my life.

“You know, I’ve never even looked at another woman,” he admits with a shrug. “It’s like I don’t even fucking see them.”

Matvey and I have always been close, and after the night I pulled him from the fire, the bond has just grown. My scarred hands gave me a small taste of the hell he went through, and I honestly don’t know how he survived the pain. He couldn’t tolerate even the slightest touch, and he was insecure about his scars. As he got older, it just seemed to get worse. Alina has been a constant in his life. She was like a little sister, and then she became a friend, and then she became the love of his life.

Matvey turns his dark eyes to me. “Is that weird?”

“Yes,” I tell him with a straight face. “So fucking weird.”

He studies me for a second, and then gives me a faint smile. It’s the most he can manage nowadays. “You’re such a jackass.”

“I try.” I grab us each a coke and hand him one. “Some people weren’t made for the single life, and you’re one of them. You and Alina have always been destined for one another.” I point a finger at him. “If you tell the others I was spouting fairytale bullshit, I’ll deny it till the day I die.”

He holds up a scarred palm that mirrors my own and says, “My lips are sealed, brother.”

Confident he won’t say anything, I lean against the counter and take a drink. “Alina’s been in love with you her whole life, and you fell hard as soon as she got older. I’m pretty sure you were already head over heels on her eighteenth birthday. Remember when Grisha looked at her? I thought you were going to kill him right then and there.”

Matvey’s face hardens at the memory, but then I can tell his mind immediately wanders to thoughts about what kind of man has her now, and the look on his face guts me.

“We’re so close,” I remind him, “so fucking close.”

“I feel like I can’t breathe without her.” His gravelly voice is barely more than a whisper. “Before you pulled me out of that damn fire, I knew I was going to die. I couldn’t breathe. My lungs just completely seized up and I couldn’t get a breath, no matter how fucking hard I tried. That’s exactly how I feel when I think about where she might be or what’s being done to her.”

I rest my hand lightly on his back, just enough to remind him that I’m here and that I’m not going anywhere. “I wasn’t about to leave you in that goddamn fire all those years ago, and I’m not about to leave you now.”

I mean every word of what I’m saying. If I couldn’t have pulled him out of that apartment, then I would’ve died with him that night. Leaving him to die alone was never an option. Not then and not now. My life was never worth anything, and I would’ve gladly given it up for him.

“We’re in this together to the end, Matvey. We’re going to get her back. I promise you I’ll never stop looking for her.”

He nods, but the anguish is still clearly written on his face. “Tonight should be a lot of fun,” he finally says, letting out a heavy sigh.

I give a soft laugh and take the pizza out. “Dinner with a notorious sex-trafficking Bratva that we’re planning on taking down, what could possibly go wrong?”

“I’m looking forward to killing them,” Matvey says, taking the plate I offer him.

“Me, too, just make sure you don’t do it tonight.”

“I won’t. I’d never put Alina’s life in danger like that.”

“I know you wouldn’t.”

I take a bite of pizza and think about what we’re about to walk into. God, I can already feel the tension. Roman, Danil, and Lev are going to be on high alert, and Matvey has a hard enough time being around people, but he should be okay as long as some woman doesn’t try to crawl into his lap. That leaves me to try and keep everyone sane and alive. It’s going to be a long fucking night.

I make a few calls to Pink, the strip club that I’ve been running, making sure that everything is set up for tonight. This club used to be an absolute shithole, a place so sleazy that you felt like you needed to put on a full-body condom before walking through the doors, but I’ve managed to turn it into a classy place that’s quickly gaining a reputation for being the best club in the city to get a steak and a dance from a beautiful woman. I’m pretty damn proud of it, and knowing everything is taken care of there will allow me to put all my focus on the Lebedev dinner.

Satisfied that the club will survive the night without me, I spend the next couple of hours wearing myself out in the home gym that we all share. By the time I get in the shower, I’m covered in sweat and my mind is wonderfully blank. Mindlessly punching a bag for an hour will do that to you. It’s the closest to meditating that I’ll probably ever get, and I enjoy the peace while I have it. I doubt it’ll last long.

Choosing an all-black suit, I finish getting ready and then head downstairs. Everyone else is already ready and waiting. There’s so much fidgeting going on that I finally shake my head and laugh.

“You guys are making me feel antsy just by being around you. They’re going to pick up on this shit.”

---