Page 16

Rigor stands in the doorway of my bedroom looking at me.

I’m standing in front of the full-length mirror, flooded with anxiety and nerves. I spent half the day getting ready for this evening's event. My head is a mess, and my heart is even worse.

I can’t believe I am going to see my brother again.

I don’t know how to handle this. What will I say to him? What will it feel like when I look into his eyes?

“Are you ready?” Rigor asks quietly. He’s been distant and strange since the night I slept in his bed.

He’s been avoiding me and bluntly put—it hurts. I feel used .

It’s so clear to me that his only focus is getting his sister back now. Ever since he told me about the family event and that my brother would be there—he hasn’t even touched me. He has hardly spoken to me and it’s been tense between us. Horribly tense.

He’s done with me.

I assume he might even try to do the exchange at the event. Force my brother to give his sister back and let him take me home.

I have no idea. And I don’t even know if I want to go home with Avraam. How crazy is that? When I finally get a chance to escape—I don’t know if would choose it.

But maybe I won’t be released tonight. Rigor hasn’t told me a fucking thing and I’m just playing guessing games on my own.

“I’m ready,” I sigh, brushing my hands over the beautiful turquoise dress. Its long and flows right down to the ground, flaring over my hips. The thin spaghetti straps compliment my shoulders and shows off my sharp collar bones and a glimpse of my cleavage. It’s a gorgeous dress.

Rigor walks into the room. “You need this,” he says, reaching around me and gently clipping a gold chain around my neck.

“What is this?” I ask, not wanting to be wearing one of his ex’s jewelry. I scrunch my nose, lifting the little pendant in my fingers and peering down at it. A tiny, perfectly carved rain drop. It’s mesmerizing.

“That’s moonstone—it was my grandmother's,” he says casually and my stomach knots. This is a very special piece. I don’t want to be wearing something so special either. I might even prefer one of his ex’s necklaces than something so sentimental. I’m so confused.

I huff loudly.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s too—I don’t—“ I swallow hard, fighting tears.

I’m so overwhelmed. It’s annoying enough that I’m struggling to sort through my emotions towards Rigor and how he doesn’t feel the same towards me—but now I have to go and face my brother who I don’t even know anymore. Everything is wrong.

Everything.

Rigor wraps his arm around me and holds me against his chest. But its stiff and awkward. Not comforting at all. I can tell he’s only doing it to be nice, not because he genuinely cares for me.

I push him away and quickly brush the tears off my cheeks.

“I’m ready,” I say, numbing the emotions and preparing myself to face whatever I need to face.

He knots his brows as he looks down at me.

“Ok,” he says, eyeing me closely.

I push past him and make my way out of the mansion to the car.

At the event, my anxiety triples. I thought I could make it through tonight by pretending nothing matters, but it’s impossible. I’m far too emotional.

We are all standing outside on the patio enjoying what could be a really beautiful evening with a glowing red sunset that is streaking across the sky and turning the clouds pink.

But I’m uncomfortable.

I am fidgeting and shifting position constantly. I can’t stand still, and my smile feels so forced it’s awkward and weird. Several people have already asked me if I’m ok and I don’t know any of them.

My eyes keep darting across the crowd of strangers—looking for Avraam.

Rigor steps close to me. “Hey, firefly, are you ok?”

I hate the fact that he called me that. I thought it was a cute nickname the first time he did it—now I know it’s meaningless just like everything else that happened between us.

“No,” I hiss. “I’m not ok. I’m so confused and lost and out of place it’s terrifying.” To my surprise, he wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me close to him.

“Avraam just arrived,” he whispers.

I take a deep breath.

My brother. Someone I never really knew. Someone who has been lying to me for years.

Rigor gently squeezes my hip, reassuring me.

I watch across the room as Avraam walks in with a beautiful girl at his side. Immediately I can tell she is Rigor’s sister. She is gorgeous.

Her smile is so radiant I can feel the warmth of it all the way from here. She doesn’t look unhappy at all. But looks can be deceiving—I’ve learned that much.

Avraam has her tight against his side while they greet everyone, and she is staying close to him without complaint.

I look at my brother, watching him smile and talk to people, unaware that I’m here.

I’m so disappointed in who I found out he really is.

I’m heartbroken and in disbelief.

But I can’t just give up on him like that.

Something of the man I know still has to exist inside him somewhere. It can’t all have been fake.

As though he senses the intensity of my gaze from across the room, he looks up, his eyes meeting mine. His mouth drops open, and he lets go of the woman standing next to him. For a second he is frozen. Confused. Then suddenly everything changes, and he’s enraged.

His eyes aren’t on me anymore—they are on Rigor.

Avraam pushes through the people, storming towards us.

“Alyona,” he says, half questioning his own eyes, half throwing some kind of accusation at me. “What are you doing here?”

“She’s here with me,” Rigor answers, pulling me closer still.

“Alyona can speak for herself,” he snarls at Rigor.

“Aly? What is going on?” he address me again.

“I’m here with Rigor.” I say quietly, staring into my brothers eyes and trying to see the true soul inside him. Did he really do all those things? Did he really kidnap Rigor’s sister?

Avraam sneers and clenches his jaw, swallowing hard. “What are you doing with my sister , Rigor?” he asks slowly.

Behind him the beautiful girl gasps. “Alyona?” she says in horror.

“Do I know you?” I ask.

“Um—no—um—Rigor what is going on?” she asks, speaking to her brother.

“Ruslana, I need you to stay out of this right now,” Rigor says, glaring at Avraam.

Avraam steps close into Rigors space with his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles are turning white. “No, Rigor, we want to know what is going on,” Avraam snarls.

“Back off,” Rigor says, pushing his hand against Avraam’s chest. Avraam grabs Rigor’s wrist and shoves him away, then swings his arm back as though he’s about to throw a punch.

“Stop!” I shout.

Avraam turns towards me in shock. “Aly.”

“No. You need to stop. Since when do you punch people to solve arguments,” I snap.

He clenches his jaw and pulls his mouth tight.

“I need to speak to you,” I sigh. Avraam glances towards Rigor. Rigor looks towards me. “Alone,” I say sternly, not accepting anything else.

“I’ll be close by,” Rigor says. I can’t tell if it’s meant to be a threat, a warning or a reassurance.

Avraam sneers at him.

I grab my brothers arm and drag him to the side of the patio, away from everyone else.

“Alyona, you’ve been missing for weeks and I had no idea where you were. I can’t believe you—”

“Stop,” I say angrily.

He stops. I never speak to him like that and I can see the surprise on his face.

I take a sharp breath and stare straight into my brother’s eyes.

“I need you to be brutally honest with me here and trust me—if you lie to me anymore than you already have it is going to make things between us that much worse,” I say sharply.

He raises his brows in surprise. “Ok,” he says nervously. Avraam stands straight up, looking like he wants to puke.

“Are you in the mafia?” I ask bluntly.

He doesn’t reply. His eyes are intense, but he says nothing.

“No reply is as good as a lie, Avraam.” I’m losing patience. My anxiety is becoming overwhelming. I need him to speak to me.

“Yes,” he says in a rush of air.

“Did you—hurt people?”

“Yes.”

“Torture?”

He can’t look at me. “Yes.”

“Did you kill people, Avraam?”

“Aly—”

“Just answer me,” I say, fighting tears.

“Yes.”

His eyes are down towards the ground. I wait, letting his answers sink into my mind and feeling how the shards of my heart splinter into smaller pieces as it breaks and crumbles. My brother. I can’t deny it anymore because he admitted it with his own words.

After a while I haven’t said anything and Avraam looks up at me. His eyes are filled with pain. “I just wanted to keep you safe,” he says quietly.

“Avraam—did you kidnap Rigor’s sister and hold her hostage?” I whisper.

He swallows hard. “I did. But Aly—”

“Oh my word,” I mutter, tears flowing over my cheeks. Rigor was being honest with me from the beginning.

“Aly, stop, don’t cry. Ruslana and I are close now—things changed between us—we fell in love and she wants to be with me.”

I shake my head, stepping away from my brother as though he was a stranger to me. “And I’m supposed to just believe that?” I say.

“Aly, I’m so sorry about all of this. I’m sorry I kept you in the dark and didn’t tell you about my life. I didn’t want you involved in any of this. I promise you—all I was trying to do was protect you.”

“Protect me from who, Avraam?” I hiss below my breath. “Protect me from you? You murder people. You torture people to get what you want. I don’t even know who you are anymore. I don’t know if I’ve ever known the real you.”

My brother’s face sinks into misery. “Don’t say that, Aly. I’m your brother. I’m the same person you’ve always known.”

“But— you’re not . You’re just not .”

I can see my words cutting into him, breaking his heart the way he broke mine. I can’t feel sorry for him though. I can’t have empathy for him because he didn’t have any for me when he lied to me my entire life. How can I love him knowing what he’s done? At least someone like Rigor—he is open about who he is. He doesn’t hide it from his family or his sisters. Lying to me about it doesn’t make it any less real.

I take a step away from my brother, back towards the party.

I can see Rigor, surrounded by his brothers, locked into an intense conversation. Ruslana glances towards Avraam with worry in her eyes.

My heart breaks for her.

My brother really has been keeping her prisoner all this time. He kidnapped her. He took her and held her and never let her free again.

I walk away from Avraam towards Rigor.