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Seb doesn’t answer, but my message is clear enough, so I release him. He coughs, and I remove a bar napkin from my pocket and toss it at him. He wraps up his disfigured hand and climbs into his car, weaving away into the night.
All in all, a good evening’s work. I better check on Lilyana.
3
Arman
Idon’t live in the Kislev house anymore, but I grew up here as an honorary member of the family. I still keep some of my clothes here for the nights I’m on duty.
I’m tossing my shirt into the laundry basket of my old room when there’s a knock at the door. Before I can say anything, Lilyana kicks it open.
Her dress is shredded, revealing too much cleavage. The blonde hair I love so much is unraveling from her ballerina bun, and her cheeks are painted with black mascara trails. Worst of all, she’s drunk.
“I’m sorry,” she says, leaning on the doorframe to steady herself. “I shouldn’t have lied. But you’re always just there, aren’t you?”
I don’t know how to respond. Of course I’m always there; it’s my fucking job. Her father is dead, Vlad is pakhan, and he charged me with protecting his vulnerable younger sister. She thinks I’m another over-protective brother figure, but God help me—I’m not her brother.
I clear my throat, trying not to stare. “Are you hurt?”
She touches the back of her head. “Seb shoved me into the door, but I’m alright.”
I turn away reluctantly, rummaging in the closet. “Go and put some clothes on,” I snap. “I can’t believe you lied to me, Lilyana. What if I hadn’t been here?”
“Why were you here?” she asks.
It’s a valid question, but I don’t want to consider the answer. I pull a T-shirt from the rack. “That’s not the point. I trusted you. I’m responsible for your safety, even more so when Vlad is out of town. What do you think he’d say if he knew—”
I turn to see Lilyana in my bed, the coverlet pulled up to her chin. Her eyes are closed.
I would set the world on fire to keep her here in my bed. What I wouldn’t give to hear her pretty moans as I make her come again and again. But Lilyana Kislev is the forbidden fruit no one is permitted to taste. Vlad is committed to safeguarding her from the brutality of our world, and on a daily basis, that’s on me.
It’s a harder job than he thinks.
“Don’t dick around, Lili,” I say. “Out of there.”
Lilyana opens one eye. “I’m tired and freaked out. My head hurts. Please don’t make me move, Arman. I don’t wanna be alone.”
“No,” I say. “Go to your room.”
I drag my eyes away from the enticing sight and head into the ensuite to brush my teeth. When I emerge, she’s asleep.
Fuck. She’s so beautiful. Even smeared with makeup, hers is the loveliest face I’ve ever seen. I can rarely look at her at my leisure, so I sit beside her, watching her as she rests.
She needs a real man to claim her. A man like me.
The thought of Seb’s hands on Lilyana’s untouched body is killing me. I’m not worried she’ll catch me looking; I’m more concerned about my self-control. If I allow my gaze to rest on Lilyana’s luscious curves for more than a second, I might not be able to resist touching her, and then there’ll be no going back.
“Can’t let you stay here, tsvetok.” I lift her into my arms. “I’m only human.”
I carry Lilyana upstairs to her room, and she sighs as I lay her on her bed. I pull the sheets over her and fill her water glass, setting it on the nightstand.
“Sweet dreams,” I whisper as I leave.
I lie in my old room, but sleep is impossible, even in the house I know so well. I spent years on a hard prison cot, and even now, I’m often more comfortable on the floor than on an expensive mattress.
Ever since my father died, I’ve been close to the Kislev bratva. The patriarch Sergey was a piece of work, but his oldest sons, Vlad and Sasha, became as close to me as brothers. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for them.
Vlad constantly dodged racketeering charges, but his father could always make the problems disappear. I had no such protection, and when the law came for me, they wanted me to take a deal and implicate Vlad. I refused to sing, no matter what the offer, but Sergey wouldn’t bail me out. As far as the family was concerned, it was just his usual asshole behavior, but when his health declined, Vlad got me parole, and there was nothing his ailing father could do about it.
