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It’s the way he looks at her. I’ve followed them enough times to know he has plans. That’s why I’m always there, a watchful presence, ready to leap into action if that weasel takes it up a notch.
Seb pulls up, and I watch him like a hawk as he rings the bell. Lilyana comes to the door but doesn’t let him in; instead, they leave in Seb’s car. They don’t see me lurking in the darkness.
I put my sedan in gear and follow them.
The bar is a dive but quiet. Lilyana and Seb take a booth, and I sit in the adjacent one to hear them.
They’re bickering, and I smirk with savage satisfaction. The guy has all the charm of a pubic louse and is at least as clingy. After an hour of superficial chit-chat, Lilyana announces she wants to leave, and unnoticed, I do the same.
Back at the Kislev mansion, I wait for the usual scene to unfold; they talk a minute, Lilyana says good night, Seb waits awkwardly for a kiss he wouldn’t deserve if he were the last dickless moron on Earth, and that’s it. She’ll go inside, and he’ll wait longer than is appropriate, then give up and go home.
Shadows move inside the car. Come on, baby girl. Get out so I can see you go inside your house. I’ll give it a few minutes, check the front door is locked, and then—
Lilyana screams, and I’m out of the car instantly, sprinting across the road. I punch the window, tearing my knuckles to ribbons, and drag Seb out, giving him a preliminary beating before dropping him so I can speak to Lilyana.
“Unlock it and get out,” I say to her.
She looks terrified—of Seb or me, I’m not sure, but she’s a mess. It’s her wide eyes; they’re full of terror I’ve seen before and hoped never to see again.
I’m glad I listened to my hunch. I have every reason to murder this cowardly fool, and there’s nothing to stop me. He’s not bratva or mafia, so I don’t have to answer to anyone if I choose to destroy him, and I’d be doing the world a favor anyway. Seb’s the kind of kid who’ll hurt a woman but would shit himself if a man wanted to fight. And I’m a man who has put the fear of God into scarier guys than him.
“Put me down,” he squeaks. “I’ll leave Lili alone.”
I hate him using Lilyana’s pet name. It’s reserved for people close to her, and it’s what I call her, too, so as not to stand out. No one knows that her proper name does it for me. Whenever I think of her, I say it in my head.
Lilyana. Soft and lyrical, like the woman she’s become.
I knee Seb in the stomach, and he wheezes like a burst tire. “What were you trying to do?” I ask. I haul him up to my height and smash his face with my forehead. “I know already, but you’re gonna admit it aloud.”
Seb gives a thin scream of agony as blood streams from his broken nose. “We were just fooling around!”
“He’s not worth it, Arman,” Lilyana’s voice comes from behind me. “Let him go.”
I can’t look at her. A glimpse of her tear-streaked face and ruined dress is enough to make me rage. Another look at my beautiful angel in that debased state will tip me over the edge, and I’ll have no choice but to bleed Seb to death right in front of her.
“Go inside, Lili,” I say.
“What are you going to do?”
“Don’t push me,” I reply, my tone sharp. “I haven’t made my mind up yet. Go inside now.”
I hear her footsteps retreating. Seb breathes heavily in my face, and I’m overwhelmed by disgust.
“You would have raped her,” I say. “Say it, or I’ll kill you right here.”
Seb gibbers, trying to get the words out. “I—I would. I would have raped her.” He sniffs like a child. “I don’t wanna die.”
With a heave, I hurl him onto the hood of his car, denting it beyond repair. What was it Lilyana told me about him? Ah, yes.
“Your father is a bit of a prick, right?” I say. “Only cares about your violin career. Had you practicing for hours as a kid.”
Seb nods, and I understand that for him, there are things worse than death. He just hasn’t realized it yet.
I reach for my inside pocket. Without warning, I lash my knife at his hand, snatching his wrist to stop him wriggling away. The sharp edge cuts through his middle and ring fingers like butter, and Seb howls, clutching his wounded hand as blood geysers from the stumps.
“You psycho!” he cries.
“Correct,” I say, “so pay attention.” “You’re only walking away now because I prefer to ruin your life rather than take it.” I brace my forearm across his throat, compressing his windpipe. “No Juilliard for you now, of course. No New York, either.” I press my weight onto his neck to emphasize each word. “Disappear. Tonight. Forever. You understand?”
