Page 31

THIRTY

Vlad

M y lips quirk at the angry slash on Galya’s ugly fucking face. I deserve a medal for not laughing as she runs away, and Anika does something right for once in her miserable life, entertaining Inessa so I can have some fun. Excusing myself from the table, I already know where the little bitch is going to be hiding, and she’s muttering prayers like they’ll fucking save her. Stupid woman, doesn’t she know the devil hears them too?

I stick to the shadows and blend into the wall as she walks deeper into the hallway near the alcove that leads to the library. More importantly, away from prying eyes. I don’t move until she lifts her foot, ready to flee, and my hand is in her hair before she can take the step. I drag her back and she squeaks in fear as I whisper, “Don’t fight, it won’t hurt. I’m going to make it better.”

My smile comes out, dragging the worthless cunt with me and her tears are like rainbows in a world of gray. There’s no begging, she knows it’s fucking useless and the praying stops.

Her hair is wrapping around my fingers, making them tingle as they cut off the blood supply and I know she’s going to have a fucking bald spot. Just to make sure that she does, I twist my fist in her hair, and she chokes back her screams, allowing me to feel euphoria wash over me. I hum bayu bayushki in my head as I push through the door of the library. Her knees crack against the harsh wood as I let her go and I need more. I need her blood and her pain; I need to become her living nightmare and the one thing she fears.

The bitch sits up on her knees, putting her hands together like I’ll ever give her a moment of peace.

“Get the fuck up.”

The bark makes her flinch while I’m dancing inside. Turning pain into power, my leg rocks back when she refuses to stand, and I exhale as it connects with her chest. A laugh escapes me when she slides across the floor and the bitch ruins my moment, opening her mouth and mentioning something that should never be on her unworthy fucking tongue.

“Vanya, please.”

Picking her up by her hair, she can’t meet my eyes and I grip her cheeks, pushing in until her teeth move under the force.

“You do not mention her fucking name, she does not exist to you. She is mine.”

Anger latches on to every syllable and the pained whimpering gets closer together as I push harder. The stone column behind her serves a purpose as I grip her face harder and push every ounce of force behind my arm, driving her head into it. I won’t kill her, yet. She has to remain alive and so fucking fearful that she’s afraid to die, knowing I’ll be waiting to reap my revenge in that moment too.

Her hands come up, pushing against my arm and showing the large scar going across her wrist. Three times she’s tried to kill herself, three times I’ve ensured she remains alive with her guards being under my command. She makes it worse for herself as I wrap one hand around her neck, watching the way her eyes bulge, and she whispers one word.

“Daughter.”

My blood is roaring in my ears, and I lose control of my hand around her jaw as it flexes. The crack of her jaw breaking isn’t dulled by the pages insulating the walls and I drop the decrepit cunt before her dirty fucking blood can touch me. Falling to a heap on her side, she brings her arms in front of her face as my leg moves back again. The force of my kick has her being pushed until her spine slams into the opposite wall and I can breathe.

Her cries echo off the floor as I close the distance with steady steps. They are fucking nothing in comparison to her crimes. Pressing my foot against her jaw, I straighten my cuffs and remind her of what should never be forgotten.

“You do not have a daughter.”

The muffled scream is like music, and I press harder, turning up the volume as I fix my shirt.

The scar on her face is supposed to fucking haunt her. Reminding the bitch of me and that I’m allowing her to live until the day I decide not to. A physical representation of what she tried to destroy and fucking failed. Pushing away all emotion, I look down and ask, “Do you have a daughter, Galya?”

Blood pools under her face as I lift my foot enough for her to speak and she shakes her head no.

“I can’t hear you.”

I increase the pressure, digging the toe of my shoe below her cheek bone and wait for the answer.

Her tears fall and I smile. It gets wider at the pained mumbling.

“No, no daughter.”

I lift my foot and grab her hair at her crown, picking her up off the floor. She continues crying and her jaw is already swelling, her teeth are cracked, and they don’t marry up with bone displaced. She’ll pass out soon, she always does, and I take out my knife to trace the edge of her scar. The tip of the blade digs into the thick scar tissue, the first time I did it wasn’t enough and I muse aloud, feeling lighter than I have in years as I reopen the healed wound.

“If you weren’t so beautiful I wouldn’t have to keep hurting you.”

A thud near the doors gets my attention and I turn, pressing down, inadvertently digging the blade in harder. There’s no one there and none of the weak fucks here could stop me if they tried. Cutting my fun short, I let her live. For now. We both know the day will come, but there’s no fun in an easy kill. Haunting her for the rest of her miserable fucking existence is much better.

Inessa keeps flinching when we’re alone. The facade is out in front of other people, but since leaving Dmitri’s home she keeps a two- person space between us. It’s been 48 hours of this shit and there are no remarks or demands. I change the flight, so I can have one last visit with Vanya, as we drive to the airfield, and I try to get the loudmouth back out.

“Will you wait on the jet, or shall I have a driver collect you?”

Her brows come together, and she stares at me as her voice hardens.

“Where are you going?”

I don’t look up from my phone as I lie easily.

“I didn’t finish the business I had at the beginning of the trip.”

Tempering her anger, she sits primly and her jaw clenches as she tries to hide her rage.

“I’ll wait.”

The stilted response has me looking up, and she quickly looks away.It’s strange, and she wasn’t this cold or distant after speaking with Anika.

I shouldn’t ask, but my tongue moves automatically. “Are you on your period?”

Fuck me, the deadly look as she slowly turns is beautiful. It matches her tone as she attempts to give me an opportunity to change my question.

“What did you say?”

I’ve never been good at backing down and I don’t deny the shit I say or do. She becomes the queen again and rages when I repeat myself.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? When your neurotic behavior comes out, it’s fine because you’re a man. But I can’t act however I want without it being down to my uterus?”

The privacy screen can’t be trusted, neither can the driver, and I hold my hand over her mouth before she spews more shit. Inessa does something she’s never done before. She freezes in pure fear. Her eyes go wide, and she hyperventilates instead of trying to bite me. Falling limp, tears line her lashes, and she doesn’t blink in terror of me.Her breathing turns ragged, and she shrinks inside of herself.

That look usually bolsters me. On my wife’s features it has the opposite effect and I slowly let her go. I’ve never been a choir boy or remotely good, but I don’t want her fear. She’s family now, the same as my brothers and nephew. They are the only people who I will protect, even from myself.

I focus back on the details Dima has found and allow the person- sized gap between us. All my anger will be released on the sick fuckers who can’t help themselves watching what they shouldn’t. We slowly roll to a stop, and I don’t look at her as I get out of the car. Going to her side, I take a step back and open the door for her to get out without having to pass me. The ice princess is back as she straightens her shoulders and steps out with her head held high. It’s cold and her legs are bare, but I don’t offer her any warmth as we take the steps into the jet.

She takes the seat opposite me rather than going into the back to get away and I’ve given up trying to understand the woman. When she only knew my reputation she wasn’t afraid, but now she keeps flinching and is unable to meet my eyes. It can’t be because of her failed attempt at fucking when I haven’t touched her since. Fuck it, she can sit in her weird-ass thoughts and I plan the gruesome end I’ll give the new opponents for the entire flight. The relay matches began as a way for me to weed out the weak within my group. Pairing up two teams of three in death matches was also entertaining, but now it’s too easy to add the sick fucks into trios, knowing they’ll get demolished while I sit back and watch.

When we land, I look up and Inessa is curled up on her seat, scrolling on her phone. I don’t make the mistake of attempting to talk to her and take the steps two at a time, eager to get to Vanya as everything goes blank. It’s strange not being here while there’s snow on every surface and I make it to her in half the time without the car skidding. The ground is alive, pointing out how the people under it aren’t and the old bitch who used to live next door to us crosses the street with a rosary gripped in her fist. The stupid cunt never gave her prayers when my brothers were bruised and bloody, she never uttered a fucking word at that shit, but she’s all fucking religious now, the hypocrite.She spits when she sees that I’ve noticed her, and I leave that particular cunt to die for another day.

My mind quietens as I take my usual seat and the stone is warm against my lips as I greet the only one who deserves it. She’s the best part of my life, the best part of me, and I hold her headstone, needing any connection I can get. I still remember the first day I saw her, held her. Black raven hair and huge eyes as she blinked awake, staring up at me. From that moment on, Vanya became everything. Introducing her to Valya and Vitya when they were too young to remember. Seeing them hug her and kiss her cheek, trying to be gentle while I snuck her in their room and our parents were getting drunk or laid.

Apology fills my tone as I rest my temple on the edge of her headstone. “They still love you, solnyshkuh, I promise. They were too young to remember, but we all still love you.”

A low hum begins in my throat matching her favorite song, she’d always laugh when I sung bayu bayushki. She’d put her hands on my face and laugh with her eyes sparkling. I wish I could hold her once more, just once, and kiss her cheek while she was still warm. My palm goes to the back of the headstone, and I make circles as if it’s her back, exactly how she liked.

I sit up and feel the need to explain my sudden visit. My voice is low and my eyes alert in case any fucker approaches.

“Inessa is on the plane and waiting for me, I can’t sit for long.”

It’s irrational when she can’t reply or hear me, but I need to do it. If I don’t she doesn’t exist, and her life means too much for it to be forgotten.

“You’d like her, you would probably be friends and laugh at the stupid things she says. She’d make you join in her pampering sessions.”

The alert goes off telling me it’s time to leave. I don’t move and emotion chokes me.

“Soon, solnyshkuh, then no one can take you from me again.”

Straightening my cuffs, I stand, and my feet are filled with lead. My heart is heavier than the last with each step I take awar from her, and I pick my sins back up. I want this fucking place to burn to ash, for every fucker who refused to help, to feel what it’s like to choke. The memories of laying by her grave for months, an hour at a time, before going back to that fucking house, fuel the need for destruction.

But I would give it all up for one hour of having her back .