Page 84 of Toxic Temptation (Krayev Bratva #1)

KOVAN

“Can we go to the park?” Luka asks.

“I have to be at the hospital this evening,” Vesper says without looking up from her phone. “Sorry, baby.”

Her blunt dismissal snags my attention. Vesper never brushes Luka off like this. She might have work, but she always explains why, always promises to make it up to him, always gives him her full attention when she speaks to him.

Today, she sounds like she’s talking to a stranger.

I study her profile as she scrolls through whatever’s on her screen.

Something’s changed. The shift happened yesterday evening when she came home from her last hospital shift.

One minute, she was the woman who’d kissed me goodbye that morning; the next, she was this hollow-eyed stranger who barely acknowledged my existence.

“Everything okay?” I ask her.

“Yep.” She doesn’t glance my way.

I should have put Pavel on Vesper duty yesterday instead of Osip. I love Osip like a brother, but he gets distracted by hospital gossip and pretty nurses. He’s also failed to submit his written report from yesterday, which means he’s either forgotten or he’s avoiding me.

The fact that he tried calling three times last night suddenly feels more significant.

“Waylen can take you to the park today,” Vesper tells Luka, finally looking up from her phone to ruffle his hair. “He just texted. He’ll be here in a few minutes. Go get ready, okay?”

“Okay,” Luka says. But his disappointment is obvious.

The boy’s mood has become directly tied to Vesper’s over the past few weeks. When she’s happy, he lights up. When she’s distant like this, he deflates. It’s another thing to add to my growing list of concerns about how attached they’ve both become to each other.

Another thing to add to my own list of dependencies I can’t afford.

I try calling Osip while Vesper moves to the coffee station to fill her travel mug. Straight to voicemail.

When I corner Vesper by the coffee machine, her entire body goes rigid.

“Are you sure everything’s alright?” I ask. “Because you seem off today.”

She pours coffee into her mug without turning around. It’s like a robot is operating her limbs. She’s stiff. Mechanical.

“You’re not the only one who’s allowed to be distant and withdrawn, Kovan,” she says quietly. “Or is that also part of the deal I signed up for?”

My eyebrows climb toward my hairline. “You’re angry.”

She turns around, but her eyes stay hooded and low. Her jaw is clenched, her mouth pressed into a thin line.

She’s not just angry.

She’s furious .

“What do I have to be angry about, Kovan?” she spits sarcastically. “Go ahead. Tell me. Tell me more about how I feel.”

“Did something happen yesterday?”

“You could say that.” She brushes past me toward the door. “Excuse me. I have to go. There are things at the hospital I need to take care of.”

She stalks out with her travel mug, leaving me standing there like an idiot. I try Osip’s number again as I follow her outside.

Still nothing.

By the time I reach the driveway, Vesper is already hurling her bag into the car.

“Vesper, wait.”

Her shoulders tense up at the sound of my voice. “Please, Kovan. Not now. I’m late for a board meeting I absolutely cannot miss.”

“A board meeting? Since when do you attend board meetings?”

“Since I called one yesterday.” She busies herself with something in the backseat. “I’ve been passive for far too long. Time to take a stand. On all fronts.”

I don’t like the sound of that one fucking bit.

“Why won’t you look me in the eye?”

That does it. She whirls around, and for the first time in days, her blue eyes lock onto mine. They’re blazing with an anger so intense it actually makes me take a step back.

“Are you serious?” she hisses. “ You haven’t looked me in the eye for a week. Not since the shooting. Even though I apologized over and over?—”

“I told you, you don’t need to apologize. I was never mad at you. What happened that night was my fault. I let you convince me that going out was safe when I knew better.”

She lets out a harsh laugh. “I see. So you’re pushing me away because you think I influence you too much. You’re putting up walls because I got too close. Does that about sum it up?”

“Something happened yesterday?—”

“You’re goddamn right something happened!” she cries out. “Something’s been happening for a long time, and I’ve been blind to it. Maybe because I didn’t want to see what was right in front of my face.”

“What are you talking about?”

She checks her phone. “I’m already late. I have to go.”

“Vesper, we need to talk.” I reach for her arm, but she rips away from me. The look she gives me is pure, withering distrust, and it hurts worse than any knife or bullet ever has.

“Why bother?” she scoffs. “I’m not going to believe a single thing that comes out of your mouth.”

She gets behind the wheel and slams the door. I tap on the window, but she ignores me completely, starting the engine and backing out of the driveway without so much as a glance in my direction.

I stand there watching her taillights disappear, the taste of dust and engine exhaust bitter in my mouth.

“Fuck,” I mutter, dialing Osip again.

“Yo, you’ve reached Osip. You know the drill. Beeeeeep ? —”

“Osip, get your ass here now. We need to talk about yesterday.”

“What’s the emergency?” Osip bursts into the gym forty minutes later, slightly out of breath. “You sounded like someone died.”

“Someone’s about to if you don’t tell me why Vesper’s acting like I’m her worst enemy.”

He instantly goes pale. “Shit.”

I drop the fifty-pound weights I’ve been using to work out my frustration. “‘Shit’? That’s all you’ve got?”

“I fucked up yesterday, brother.”

“Like hell you did?—”

“I let her out of my sight.” He buries his face in his hands and exhales. “I swear, I had to take a piss so bad I thought my bladder was going to explode?—”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know for certain,” he admits. “But I have suspicions. I didn’t want to worry you unnecessarily in case I was wrong.”

“Spit it out.”

“I saw Ihor leaving the hospital yesterday. He looked…” Osip searches for the right word. “Satisfied.”

My hands clench into fists. “Ihor was at the hospital. Again. And you didn’t mention this because…?”

“Vesper had mentioned seeing him there before. I figured it was routine and that you already knew about it. But now, I think maybe they crossed paths. Maybe he talked to her.”

I’m not going to believe a single thing that comes out of your mouth, she told me.

“ Fuck.” I dig my fingers into my scalp. “She knows.”

“No,” Osip shakes his head frantically. “He wouldn’t have told her about?—”

“This is Ihor we’re talking about. The man gets off on watching things die.” I look up at Osip. “He told her about the organ trafficking. That’s the only explanation.”

“But she doesn’t know you’ve been working to shut it down. She can’t know you’re trying to destroy the entire?—”

“It doesn’t fucking matter!” I roar. “What matters is that I lied to her. I kept this from her.”

“Kovan—”

“And that motherfucker!” My hands ball into fists. “I made it crystal clear that Vesper was off-limits. He was to stay away from her.”

“Ever since Yana got arrested, I think he’s decided all bets are off.”

“Good.” I push past him toward the door. “No more playing nice. Time to deal with this head-on.”

“Wait, where are you going?”

“To find Ihor.” All the rage is gone. I’m deadly calm now. “He and I are having a conversation. Today.”

“You’re just going in?” Osip gawks at me. “We need to plan this. We need backup?—”

“You and Pavel are my backup. Call him now.”

Osip jumps in front of me, blocking my path. “Are you thinking this through? I know you’re upset about Vesper, but?—”

“You think this is about Vesper?”

“Uh… yes?”

“No. This is about Ihor constantly undermining my authority. He still works for me, officially. Time to remind him who’s in charge.” I push past him again. “As for Vesper… maybe it’s good she knows the truth. Maybe she’ll finally realize we’re a terrible idea. We have no future. We never did.”

I stride toward the door, forcing my hands to stop shaking.

Because no matter how convincingly I deliver those words to Osip, we both know the truth.

Vesper has gotten under my skin in a way no one ever has. She’s changed something fundamental in me, and now that she’s pulling away, I feel like I’m bleeding from a wound I can’t see.

Fuck it.

If it kills me, let it kill me.

We can’t go on like this. It was a cruel joke to ever pretend we could.