AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The instant you kill Yevgeniy, Ruslan’s heart will harden and his focus will become hunting you down to get his revenge. In exchange for achieving your vengeance, all you’ll do is create his desire for revenge. This cycle will never end.”
“You talk like you expect me to spare Yevgeniy after all he’s done.”
“I don’t! That’s the problem!” I point at him accusingly. “I want him dead as much as you. And that means Ruslan’s hate for you will be inevitable. What does that mean for our future? If he kills you, won’t our child end up with the same desire for vengeance? Where does it end?”
The air crackles between us. Arsen glances down. I notice I’ve placed my hands over my stomach. My protectiveness is second nature at this point.
“How did you expect to protect Ruslan from this?” he asks in a softer tone than before. “Hiding him from me could only work for so long. Knowing won’t stop me from killing his father.”
“I don’t know. I don’t know!” My feet cut over the floor, taking me toward the window.
The snow from earlier is a solid blanket untouched by any living thing. I watch it for a moment until I see my own reflection in the window’s glass. The torment on it looks the same as Arsen’s when he exited his car.
“I wasn’t sure what to do,” I whisper. “I thought I’d figure something out; maybe you’d never discover Ruslan, and then maybe there’d be a way for him to move on after you killed Yevgeniy … But clearly that was too stupid to hope for. I’ve seen them together, Arsen. He loves his father.” I toss him a mournful frown. “And because of that, he will hunt you to the ends of the earth.”
Arsen comes up behind me. I turn away, but I can still see his reflection. “You were trying to protect him without a plan.”
“Because he’s just a child, Arsen. A little boy.”
Setting his hands gently on my shoulders, he sighs into my hair. “You’re not wrong to fear the unending cycle of violence. I think about this all the time. I’ve always wondered, if Yevgeniy ever killed me, would my men try to avenge me? Would Mila?” His grip tightens. “Would you?”
Yes, I think instantly. I would.
“And his men,” he goes on. “Surely some would risk their lives for his memory. Even before knowing about Ruslan, I knew these risks.” Turning me with enough force that I can’t resist, he makes me face him. His fingertips drag over my forehead, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. “I know there has to be a way to break that cycle. And I will find it.”
I don’t need to see my reflection to know how miserable my smile is. “But will you find it in time? Whether he kills you, which I couldn’t bear, or you kill him, this violence has no end in sight.” Pushing out of his grip, I pace back toward the stairs. When I reach them, I drop down heavily on the second to last step.
“When did it all get so complicated? All I ever wanted was to be Galina Stepanovna. That girl had struggles, but they were honest, clean problems. But instead, I’m forced to be Galina Yevgeniyevna and live in this world stained with blood.” I turn to look at him. “Forced to make choices I never wanted to make.”
Arsen remains by the window. He doesn’t blink; he simply considers me. Shrugging out of his soaked and filthy jacket, he lets it fall to the floor. His boots go next. When he’s in just his dry undershirt and pants, he comes my way, standing over me with his hand on the banister above my head. “Whatever choices we need to make, I will make them with you.”
“No, Arsen.” Tilting my head, I shoot a bittersweet grin up at him. “You’ve made those choices for me. The moment you dragged me away from Tsar’s Lounge, you forced me into this corrupted world without a choice.”
All the stress of waiting to know what Arsen would do tonight collapses onto me at once. I fold in half, burdened by the load as it becomes sludge that drips through my muscles and bones.
“If I knew all of this was going to happen, I would have gladly allowed Mom to sign your contract and walked away.”
“Galina …”
Lurching to my feet, I climb the steps until I’m halfway up. He’s below me, one of the rare times I can look down on the powerful man whose word can grant life or death.
“Like it or not, I’m bound to you now. I’m nothing more than your ptichka—a little bird locked up in a cage you built for me, too stupid to realize you’ve already broken my wings.”
27
ARSEN
Ulyana has the ability to traverse my home with the lightness of a mouse on tiptoe. I only hear her footsteps because I’m listening for them. My office door is open, her shadow slipping through the gap moments before she does.
“Arsen Kirilovich,” she says to announce herself. Her posture is stiff, shoulders pulled back and jaw clenched.
She knows why I’ve called for her.
“Explain yourself.”
“About what?”
She won’t make this easy for me. Fine. Sitting forward in my leather chair, I place my elbows on my spread knees, my chin perched on my laced fingers. “You knew Galina’s little secret. Didn’t you?”
