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I place the roses on the soil in front of their gravestones and step back, swallowing away the lump forming in the back of my throat.

I feel numb and cold inside.

Sasha is crouched in front of my sister's grave. “She was so young,” she says sadly.

“So were my parents. Far too young for their lives to end.”

“But—they all died on the same day?” she asks after noticing the dates. “What happened? Was it a car accident?”

“No. It wasn’t an accident.” My jaw muscles clench as images of their bodies flash through my mind.

“What happened?” Sasha asks again.

I sigh, staring down at their graves.

“They were all at home, late one evening, and a man broke into the house. He came with his team of men, and he took his time making each person in my family suffer.

"My mother’s arm was sawed off with a rusted hacksaw. She was covered in cuts and bruises. Her teeth were pulled out one by one. My father’s eyes were stitched open—they think it was done so that he was forced to watch what was happening. His eyes were open, and his mouth was stitched closed.

"His body was full of puncture wounds, maybe from a screwdriver or something like that. Patches of his skin were peeled off.

"My little sister—" My throat closes for a second, and I can’t speak. Sasha is staring at me with her mouth dropped open in shock. I take a deep breath. “My little sister was nailed to the fireplace. Her eyelids were cut off and her eyeballs were removed from her skull. They found her eyes in my father’s hands. She—she was—I came home and found them all. I found their bodies."

I can’t carry on.

I can’t keep speaking.

Sasha rushes forward and wraps her arms around me, holding me tightly against her body. I can’t even move to return her embrace, so I just stand there, leaning into her slightly, with silent tears falling down my face.

“Leo. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” She keeps holding me and repeating the same words. She is crying as well. “Who would do such a thing? Did they catch the people who did it?”

“Sasha. The man who did that to my family—it was your father.”

She drops her arms from around me and staggers away from me. “No,” she sobs.

“It was Danil Balakin who tortured my family in revenge for some business deal that didn’t go as well as he had hoped. My father made a mistake. A silly mistake. Something small, and it messed up the deal. Danil came after him with everything. He took everything from me, over some fucking business deal. I was young. I was left alone. If it wasn’t for my cousins…I don’t know what would have happened to me. They helped me with the business I inherited until I was old enough to run it myself.”

Sasha is staring at me, wide-eyed. I can see her heart is shattered by what I’ve told her. She is horrified about what happened to my family and even more horrified that it was her family that did it.

She isn’t speaking, so I carry on. She may as well know everything.

“My cousins didn’t know it, but from the day my family was taken from me, I was plotting revenge on your father. I built my business, made my fortunes, and for years I plotted, thinking, planning, deciding the best way to get back at him. For years I have been obsessed with revenge, and I will make him pay. I will make him hurt.”

Sasha shakes her head.

“Leo, revenge—it consumes you. It doesn’t bring you the satisfaction you think it will. If you keep chasing revenge, it is going to ruin you.”

“You don’t think he deserves to fucking suffer for what he did?” I feel anger surging through me, because she doesn’t seem to understand. She’s telling me to let it go instead of making him pay.

“That’s not what I said,” she says gently. “I just meant—your life is worth more than obsessing over such an evil man. Letting it go is the only way you will find peace.”

“Letting it go? Are you fucking crazy? How should I let it go? How am I supposed to just move on with my life as though nothing happened? How will I honor my family?”

“You can find some other way to honor your family. A way that they would have admired or wanted.”

“You don’t fucking get it,” I snap angrily.

I can’t stand here arguing with her about this.

If she doesn’t understand, so what, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t change anything.

I shake my head. “Let’s go.”

She follows me out of the cemetery, and we walk silently back to the house.

I’m furious with her for challenging my thoughts, and she seems furious with me for not even considering her words.

I hate to admit it, but the fact that she didn’t support my need for revenge hurts me. I didn’t expect that to happen, but I’m hurt to not have her on my side.

Sasha disappears to our bedroom, and I leave her there in peace. I need space from her, anyway. Space to clear my head and just be alone.

I find out quickly enough that being alone in a family holiday house is nearly impossible. So instead of being alone, I sit around with my family, having a drink and trying to push away this horrible mood.

Sasha is still in the bedroom by the time we get called for dinner. Chiara smiles and says, “I’ll go call her, she was probably having a nap or something.”

I pull my mouth tight. I’m still annoyed.

Maxim ushers me away from the dining room and out onto the patio.

“Are you doing okay? You seem really upset today.” Maxim asks, concerned.

“You know what day it is.”

“I know, I know.” He sighs. “Are you still hell-bent on your revenge plan with Sasha?”

I clench and unclench my jaw, not knowing how to answer him. My mind has been chaos since we left the cemetery.

Maxim tilts his head towards me. “What do you plan on doing with Sasha? I wanted to ask if maybe you think there’s a chance she's fooling you? Taking advantage somehow?”

“What? What do you mean? Why would she do that?”

“I don’t know, man. I just wanted to ask, you know. I don’t want her blindsiding you somehow.”

“She wouldn’t. She’s not like that at all,” I say protectively, defending her.

No matter what is going on at the moment, I still can’t let someone speak badly of her.

“So you trust her?” Maxim pushes.

“Where the hell is this coming from man?”

“I’m worried about you and this revenge plan,” he sighs.

“Well, it’s happening. I am going to get my revenge on that man for what he did. Fuck anyone who thinks they can talk me out of it. Revenge is the only thing that matters. Okay? Nothing else matters,” I snap angrily. Why the hell is everyone questioning me today?

Maxim sighs and pulls his mouth tight. “I was hoping—I guess I was hoping to hear something else.”

He’s disappointed? Why? Why would he be upset with me over this Sasha and Danil thing?

I shake my head. “Whatever. I’m going inside to get some food.”

“Okay, man. I’ll be right in.”

I walk away from him feeling like I’ve let him down in some way. I just don’t understand how.