Page 34 of Dangerous Liaisons

Sighing, she motioned at Kira with a flick of her hand. “You’re free to go.”

“She is not,” Sergei fired back. “She will stand here and listen to the fallout of her decisions just as you will, and that is final! Explain to me who this man is to you.”

“He is not important.”

“You are lying! I am not a fool; I see the way he looks at you. You have allowed this man into your home. This nobody is in your bed! What possessed you to act in this manner? He is not our equal!”

Her grip tightened on her glass. “He is not a nobody; you will watch your tongue. I have been patient up until this point out of respect for you, but you will soon cross a line with me you cannot come back from if you continue.”

“You would risk everything for him? Risk all that Nikolai built for you and your son for some biker?”

Isabella rose from the couch even as her legs trembled. “Who I allow into my bed is not your concern.” Her gaze went to Kira. “Go. Sergei and I must talk.”

“I will stay.”

“Go, or the next person I direct my anger at will be you.”

Kira allowed a brief nod in her direction before disappearing into the hallway.

Isabella waited several minutes, silence lingering in the room as she and Sergei stared at each other. Satisfied Mikhail continued to sleep unbothered in his room, she took a long sip of her vodka and reclaimed her seat on the couch.

“Sit.” She sighed when he continued to stand there. “Sergei, I beg you to be calm and sit.” She swept a hand to the glass he had not touched since they returned to the house. “I need you to have a civilized conversation with me.” She cleared her throat. “Please.”

Jaw muscle clenching, he lowered himself into the leather recliner next and reached for his glass. He remained silent, cradling it between his hands, and gazed at the liquor inside. “Forgive me,” he whispered. “I thought the worst had happened.”

“Look at me, I am fine.” She waited until he did as instructed, their gazes connecting. “I am okay.”

Reclining in the chair, he sipped at his drink, and they sat in silence. He directed his attention to the mantle, a painting hanging there he gifted her on her wedding day. It was beautiful in its abstract nature, splashes of colors marking the canvas. “Mother died when Nikolai was a small boy. Maxim and I were teenagers. Father never spoke of her again. I learned to deal with the pain and rememberin my own ways, but Maxim… The rage he held grew until it became overwhelming, especially because Nikolai was her favorite.”

“She loved all of you.”

“We never doubted that, but there was something special about Nikolai, something you couldn’t put a finger on that made our life somewhat easier.”

“He never spoke of this.”

“He was young. All he had were the photos that we would sneak him under the cover of night. Father would punish us if he found them. There was a time I imagined the pain of her memory was too much for him, much like the pain I now feel when I think of my brother.”

Isabella observed the waves of emotion crossing Sergei’s face, this close-up view something she had never witnessed before.

“I had just graduated from university when Maxim told me that our father killed our mother.”

“Oh, Sergei.”

“He defended him, said it was what needed to be done because she tried to leave and take us from him. How dare she try to destroy our family? What gave her the right, he had said. He witnessed our father strangle our mother to death and never spoke of it until the day Father died.”

Frozen, she watched him drink, eyes locked on the painting. “I turned him away from us, from Nikolai. I wanted nothing to do with him, andin return, he betrayed us. Perhaps there was more I should have done. By not doing so, I lost not only Nikolai that night; I lost Maxim forever as well.”

“You were only trying to protect him.”

“I should have known better. How could I not recognize that my selfish decision to not lead our family, instead allowing Nikolai to do so at his insistence, would end in disaster for our family?”

“Nikolai knew it burdened you, Sergei. He wanted to make that life a better one for you and his son. He talked of how it could be so much more, but a part of him wondered if there was a world beyond it.”

“The night I found Maxim, I stood there and listened to him beg for his life. He begged me to understand his actions.” He looked away from the mantle. “I ended his life with my bare hands, and then I left his body behind. I didn’t even honor him with a proper burial.”

Isabella reached out to rest her hand against his cheek. “I am sorry that you carry such weight with you.”

“Our greatest decisions can lead us down the darkest paths, Isabella. This thing you think you have found with this biker…”