Page 143 of Fractured Ties

Maya didn’t stir when he reached over and pushed back the wisps of black hair that had fallen over her face in her sleep. With her head resting on top of one of her hands, she smiled even in her sleep.

When the world wasn’t out to get this woman, she was something else. Bubbly and perpetually happy. Bouncy on her feet and sweet to her very core.

The world wasn’t out to get her anymore. He’d made sure of that. The Albanians backed off after the Valbon and New York thing. According to the tape they’d sent over about a week after Kolya returned to Chicago, Valbon was officially dead. He’d considered letting Maya see it just so she too could watch Valbon die and know.

Konstantin thought that might be a bad idea.

Why traumatize her more?

His brother was probably right. Kolya simply told her instead.

Why anyone in the world would want to hurt her, he didn’t know. But he was willing to kill any fucker who thought to try it again. There was still her brother left, after all, but that was simply a matter of time before Alexei showed up again somewhere. Snakes did tend to prefer other snakes, and Kolya had people looking in the best spots to find a fucking serpent.

It was the whining at the doorway that finally drew Kolya’s attention away from a sleeping Maya. He found Sumerki pacing just outside the bedroom. He swore the pup—despite having his own bed to sleep in that was just one room over—just needed to come and check on Kolya multiple times in a night. And because Kolya wasn’t sleeping at all, Sumerki decided every time he came to check, that it was time to go outside.

Kolya slipped from the bed when Sumerki’s whining started up again. At the sight of Kolya coming his way, the black ball of fur ran a circle just outside the door, and then proceeded to trip over his big ass paws.

It was amusing.

According to the vet, when Sumerki was full grown, he’d be well over a hundred pounds, and tipping closer to one-fifty. But right now, he was still a pup. Still too big for his paws and learning what those teeth in his mouth could do when he put his mind to something.

Lately, his mind had been on the chair legs of the new table set Maya had picked for the kitchen. She never said a word, though, just laughed and took the dog away from the tables.

Kolya slipped on the slacks and white T-shirt he’d discarded the evening before and headed out of the bedroom. Sumerki was fast on his heels the whole time. It was only once they were in the large fenced backyard of their new home that Sumerki finally darted away from Kolya out onto the damp grass. He waited for the dog to run off his energy and do his business. All the while, he stared at the inky sky over his head.

“I wondered why nobody answered the fucking door.”

Kolya didn’t jump at the new voice—even though he recognized it was Konstantin—but it was still a shock to have someone sneak up on him, nonetheless. Konstantin wore his smug-as-fuck smile that said he knew exactly what he’d done as he came around the side of the house.

“How did you get through the gate on the side of the house?” Kolya demanded. “It’s locked.”

Konstantin quirked a brow. “It’s locked, really? When has a shitty little lock ever stopped me?”

“Stop trying to break into my house.”

Because this was not even the first time Konstantin had pulled this shit since Kolya closed on the house. More like the tenth. Konstantin got some kind of sick enjoyment out of finding all the weak spots in a house. Windows, backdoors … roofs.

“You need to put a better system in, no?”

Kolya rolled his eyes. “Next week.”

Konstantin rubbed his hands together and looked all too fucking gleeful at that statement. “Good, something new to try.”

“I’m serious, yeah? Stop trying to break into my house.”

“I didn’t come here for that anyway,” his brother said quieter.

Maybe it was the tone of Konstantin’s voice, or the way it faded a bit at the end. Maybe it was the way Konstantin tried to deliver the statement with little emotion, and yet failed still. Or maybe it was the fact it was early morning and Kolya knew his brother would rather be anywhere else but here at this time.

“What is it?” Kolya asked.

A muscle worked in Konstantin’s jaw as he looked over the backyard, and his gaze landed on a still-playing Sumerki. “Vadim called. He demanded someone bring you into the Compound. Tonight.”

An icy sensation slid down Kolya’s spine.

Finally, he supposed.

It was finally time to finish this.