Page 17

“What the fuck is going on? You sat in that meeting the other day and didn’t say a fucking word about any of this—you had her the whole time,” Rodion snarls at me, leaning over me angrily. Radmir and Renat are right there next to him. Their fists clenched and their eyes dark with aggression.

“I did what I had to do. I did what all of you were too scared to do,” I snarl back.

“Have you fucking lost your mind? Avraam is our ally. You are going to mess up that alliance and cause a fucking war!” Radmir shouts.

“Good. He doesn’t deserve to be allied to our family, anyway. I see straight through that fucking savage. I see what he is doing to Ruslana.”

I’m shaking with rage pulsing through me and I’m struggling to hold myself together.

“If you don’t care about the alliance don’t you at least care about Ruslana. That is her husband . Why would you do that to her?” Rodion says, shaking his head, not understanding anything at all. It grates me that even now he is so fucking blind.

“ All I care about is Ruslana. Can’t you see that? I want to save her!” I’m shouting, out of control and angry, about to start throwing punches.

Everything is being thrown at me all at once and it’s overwhelming.

I keep glancing over at Avraam and Alyona, wondering what they’re talking about. I keep expecting her to make a run for it somehow, to escape me and the terrible things I’ve done to her. I’m a wreck. I think I’ve fucked everything up. This is not going how I planned, and I don’t know how to make them see.

I turn back to my brother who is looking at me with darkness in his eyes.

“Get the fuck away from me,” I snarl. “I will kill him myself if I have to.”

Rodion shoves me hard in the shoulder. “He’s not fucking doing anything to our sister. Can’t you get that into your thick skull?” he is furious. I haven’t seen Roda this angry in years.

My other brothers are shaking their heads.

“We have to fix this. We have to annul the wedding or something. When did it happen?” They are speaking amongst themselves as though I don’t exist.

“What is fucking wrong with all of you ?” I shout angrily. “What about Ruslana? Don’t you care about your own sister?”

Rodion loses control and spins around to face me, grabbing the collar of my shirt he yanks me forward and hisses into my face. “Our sister—“ he shouts, his breath hot on my skin. The smell of whisky brushing over me.

“Your sister can speak for herself,” Ruslana says, grabbing Rodion’s arm. “Stop this right now. Let him go. I’m perfectly capable of speaking for myself,” she says sounding upset. “I can’t believe you guys. This is ridiculous. You’re all acting like children.”

Rodion growls but steps away from me.

Ruslana turns towards me. “Rigor—let’s talk—somewhere else,” she sighs, looking around and then taking my arm and pulling me towards the pool where we stand at the back of the garden alone. She looks so disappointed. Not only in me, but in everyone—the way this whole thing has been handled. But when her eyes meet mine, I feel like all of that emotion is directed at me and me alone.

“Rigor why would you do that? Why would you take his little sister? She didn’t even know about the mafia world,” Ruslana says, obviously upset. Her jaw is clenched tightly, and her eyes are scrunched narrow. Her mouth pursed together as she waits for my answer.

“Because I will do anything and everything that I have to do to save you, Ruslana. I promised to get you home and make you safe and I will keep that promise,” I assure her, reaching out to take her hand.

She snatches her hand away from me before I can touch her.

The disappointment in her eyes has turned to pure anger.

She grabs my arms and stares straight into my soul.

“Dammit, Rigor—listen to me—I don’t—need—to—be—saved,” she practically shouts at me, her fingers digging into my arm to emphasize her point. She pronounces each word clearly, separately, making sure I don’t mistake any of them for something else.

“But you—”

She shakes her head.

“But nothing, Rigor. Please. I don’t know what your fixation is on thinking I’m not happy. I’m really happy. I love him. I do not need to be saved,” she says again, slower, staring straight into my eyes with desperation in hers. Her voice is softer now, begging me to believe.

Not desperation for me to rescue her but rather desperation for me to understand her.

I brush her hand off my arm.

I blink several times, take several deep breaths.

I’m confused.

I don’t fucking know what is going on.

I don’t know if she means what she’s saying or not.

I don’t know if she needs my help.

I clench my jaw. I bunch my fists into tight balls.

My throat is dry, and I can’t swallow.

My mind is racing in too many directions.

My brothers are furious with me and Ruslana is angry with me. Avraam—I don’t give a fuck about Avraam.

I don’t know what to do.

I turn back towards the party.

“Rigor,” Ruslana says gently.

“Just leave me alone,” I snap at her. This isn’t right. Someone is hiding something.

I march back towards my brothers, ready to give them a piece of my mind, but on the way there I see Alyona standing to the side, looking like she’s in shock. She’s alone, her brother isn’t anywhere near her. Why would he leave her alone? Or did she push him away? Why wouldn’t she try to escape then?

Her eyes are red from tears. She has her arms wrapped tightly around herself. When I get closer to her, I can see that she is shaking badly.

“Aly?” I say gently. At first she doesn’t respond.

“Aly,” I say again, a little louder as I step close to her, gently touching her arm.

She turns her eyes towards me, and they are still glittering with tears.

My heart shatters at the sight of her pain. Reaching out I grab her tightly and hug her against my chest.

I am the one who put her in this position. I did this to her. I need to protect her and let her know she is safe. Whatever happened with her brother now—it’s also partly my fault. She could be living happily in delightful oblivion of his world. She could be at home, relaxed, not knowing about any of this.

Fuck.

I messed up her life to save my sister when she might not even want to be saved.

I have to take care of Aly now.

Glancing around the party I know that the best way to do that is to get her out of here. Tonight was a fuck up. It was a complete mess.

Aly did get to see her brother though—that’s good—but I don’t know what they spoke about and I don’t know if that is the reason she is so upset now—or if it’s because of me.

I pull her slightly away from me, but she grips tight and stays close. I wrap my arms tighter around her.

“Do you want to get out of here?” I ask, whispering against her ear.

“Yes, please,” she whimpers softly, her face buried in my shoulder. “You have to let go.” I chuckle, a low almost sad laugh.

She loosens her grip and I slide my hand down her arm, wrapping my fingers tightly around hers and holding her hand in a way that tells her I won’t let go if she doesn’t want me to.

Then I lead her through the crowd. Avraam steps in front of us. We both stammer to a halt.

I sneer at him and glare with anger.

Aly grips tighter onto my hand, stepping slightly behind me. That tells me so many things. She doesn’t even want to see her brother. To the point where she is willing to hide behind the man who kidnapped her to avoid talking to her own brother.

“We are leaving.” I nod towards the door. “But this isn’t over, Avraam. You and I are still going to have a conversation,” I growl low and threatening.

“Yes, we definitely are,” he agrees, looking dark with anger. His eyes turn to his sister, but she turns her face away from him, hiding further behind my back. She won’t even look at him. I wonder what he said to her to upset her so much.

“Aly?” he says gently.

She shakes her head against my back. She wants me to get her out of here now.

I squeeze her hand. “Let’s go,” I say.

I pull Aly around her brother, shielding her by wrapping my arm around her head. We walk together towards the door. No one else tries to stop us and we head out to the car.

I open her side first, not letting go of her until she ducks into the car and sits down.

Once she is safely in the passenger seat I close the door and climb in next to her. I want to ask her what they spoke about, but I doubt she will tell me now. Besides—it’s hardly the right time.

I glance towards her, she’s sitting stiff and looking anxious. Wringing her hands in her lap, fidgeting and uncomfortable.

“Do you want to go for a drink? Or we can get something to eat?”

“Please just take me home—um—to your mansion,” she sighs.

“Alright.” I start the car and the engine roars to life.

We are both quiet driving back to my place. A few times I open my mouth to say something but think better of it.

I don’t know what to say to her to help her feel better and I’m worried that if I bring up the wrong thing I will make it worse.

Inside the house, Aly flops down onto the sofa with a heavy sigh. She looks drained of emotion. Exhausted and numb.

“I’m going to make you some tea,” I say, walking towards the kitchen.

“Gin,” she calls after me.

“Gin then.” I nod.

I bring her a gin with blue tonic and strawberries floating in the bottom. She sips at it and says nothing.

Her eyes are glazed over with worry and stress.

“Aly, do you want to talk about it?” I ask, fishing for a way to help her.

“No. I want to forget it ever happened. All of it. I wish there was some way I could erase it from my memory.” She huffs.

“Do you really mean that? You would prefer not to know the truth?” If that’s the case then I feel even worse for letting her know who her brother really is.

She shakes her head slowly, closing her eyes for a moment.

“No, I don’t mean it. I just don’t know how to process it. It’s too much all at once.”

I want to reach out and touch her, but I refrain.

“What do you need? Anything—just let me know how I can help you.”

“I don’t know . I need to not feel so broken. I guess.” She shrugs.

I shift closer to her. “You’re not broken, Aly. You’re just overwhelmed. It’s a big change in perspective and it alters the way you see your entire life. It’ll take time to come to terms with all of it.”

“Ok—but what do I do now ?” she sighs.

“Right now?”

“Yes, right now—in this moment. I don’t want to be so focused on it. I need a distraction.”

I grin. “Cartoons?”

“No.” She scrunches her nose.

“Or we can make pizza? I’m sure that will be a fun distraction.”

“No. I can’t eat now.” She rolls her eyes.

“Maybe you want me to take you for a drive?” I say, running out of ideas.

“No,” she sighs again.

My heart begins to race, and my body stirs at thought. “What about—“ I say, lowering my voice, a husky whisper of suggestion.

“What about what?” she perks up, turning towards me. Her interest peeked by the tone of my voice alone.

“Why don’t you use me, Aly?” I say with my eyes locked into hers.

She tilts her head to the side. She knows exactly what I mean, but she’s choosing to make sure I say it out loud.

“Use you for what?” she asks slowly.

“Use my body, in whatever way you please, to distract yourself from your thoughts. Forget about the party. Forget about the people on your mind—let go and use me.”

My skin is burning with feverish desire. My cock is already starting to throb with anticipation. The look in her eyes is devilish and delightful. She’s already forgetting about the things that were worrying her. She’s already picturing what she might want to do to me.

She stands up and sets her drink down on the coffee table.

I’m sitting on the sofa, facing her as she looks down at me.

The dress she is wearing falls tightly over her breasts and waist line, then flares over her curvy hips and ass.

I bite my lip as I watch her—and wait—forcing myself not to move or reach out and touch her. This isn’t my turn. I told her to do whatever she wants.

“Undress,” she demands. Her voice clear and controlled. Her eyes are piercing and full of secret thoughts.

One corner of my mouth curves upwards as I start unbuttoning my shirt and kick off my shoes.