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Not Viktor.
It was a joke, like always. They loved to worry me and pull my leg during unexpected times. It must have been Viktor’s plan. He was the player, the one who could make me laugh even when I wanted to cry.
But this time, I wasn’t in the mood to joke.
Turning to Alessio, I grabbed his arm. “Are you going to answer me, Alessio? Or just stand there? I asked a question. Where is Viktor?”
His furious blue eyes met mine, and he pulled his arm back, almost causing me to stumble back. “He will not be coming back.”
“What do you mean by that? Where is he?”
I suddenly felt sick. This couldn’t be happening.
Viktor was more than Alessio’s second in command. He was his best friend. His brother. They were bonded not by blood but by choice. By hearts.
This moment was one that left me speechless. And then angry. Tears clouded my vision as realization sunk in.
“What have you done, Alessio?” I asked quietly but already knowing the answer. When he didn’t answer, his gaze moving away from mine, he confirmed what I already knew.
“I asked a question, and I want an answer.”
His glare could cut through glass. He stared at me, unflinching, like my anger and sadness meant nothing to him. “And I already answered, Angel.”
His voice was surprisingly soft even when his gaze held red hot fury.
“Don’t call me that,” I hissed, finally breaking into cold sweats. Each word had become harder to speak.
It made me realize that I had been blinded for so long. Nothing was perfect…I just thought it was. I wanted to believe that it was.
A perfect family.
Without another glance, Alessio started to walk away. My back straightened as he bluntly ignored me.
“Don’t walk away from me. I am speaking to you,” I said, louder.
Maila flinched in my arms, and I heard a small whimper as she started to struggle. Her chin wobbled as if she was about to cry.
I rocked her back and forth, soothingly. All the while my gaze stayed on her father’s back, glaring at the sight.
“Maddie, can you take Maila?” I asked, already handing her over. Maddie shook her head, trying to clear her shock from Alessio’s announcement.
“I got her.”
I went upstairs, following behind my husband. I found him in our bedroom. His back was to me as he stared off into the distance, his gaze on the wall.
“He is dead, Ayla. I left him bleeding in a dark alley. You won’t be seeing him again,” he murmured. The anger in his voice wasn’t mistaken.
“Why would you do that? How could you?” I asked rather softly. It was the moment when I didn’t know if I should be crying or yelling. Maybe both. Yet I couldn’t bring myself to do either.
“You know why.”
“Is it because of what happened? Alessio, I thought we talked about that. I explained what happened!”
I walked closer. Alessio stepped away, his back rigid. Almost like he couldn’t bear for me to be close to him.
“He touched you!” he growled low in this chest.
Once upon a time, I would have loved those words, that tone. Today, I just hated it.
“He was drunk!” I hissed back, suddenly wanting to shake some sense into Alessio. “He didn’t realize what he was doing, and I stopped him before he could do anything else.”
It had happened weeks ago. In the middle of the night, I had caught Viktor stumbling in the corridor, looking for his room. But he was drunk…he didn’t know what he was doing. He tried to kiss me, but it never happened.
I thought Alessio understood that.
He swiveled around, a dangerous glint in those blue eyes I loved so much. “He touched what is mine. And he had no right to touch you.”
I swallowed, already knowing I was losing this battle. It was never mine to win.
Desperately, I tried to reason with Alessio. But knowing him, it would make no difference. “I told you. He didn’t touch me because he wanted to. It was a mistake. I stopped him before anything happened. Why are you acting like this?”
He stalked forward, forcing me to take several steps back. When I hit the wall behind me, Alessio crowded my space. With his hands leaning on the wall on either side of my head, he caged me in.
“He touched my wife,” he repeated, his voice dangerously low.
His head bent forward slightly until his lips were so close to mine. With his gaze on mine, holding me in place, he continued. “His lips were this close. His fucking lips almost touched yours, Ayla. And you know damn well I don’t play nice to anyone who touches you.”
I breathed in, trying to stop my wildly racing heart. Remembering the scene clearly, I knew it looked bad. Alessio would never forgive Viktor. Not when it came to me.
