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“Your brother. He keeps taunting me. He follows me, but doesn’t give me attention. He says he wants me, but leaves. He says I’m his, but am I? I don’t see him, talk to him.” Viktor’s eyes search mine, seeing into my soul, my pain, my suffering.

“Dmitri is stupid boy. He doesn’t realize what he’s losing. I told you once, I’ll say it again.” He pauses, eyes thinning into slits. “Make. Him. Regret. It.”

I listen to his words, soaking them in like a complex math problem.

“Your turn,” I whisper.

He takes a deep breath like he’s at war with himself in his head. “My father did it. Not him, per se, but his goons. Keeping his hands clean of beating me, he made others do it. Every time I misbehaved, did something wrong. Any mistake I made, I got a slash in my arms. Unfortunately for me, I was a clumsy kid. So they ran out of space on my arms. They just cut over the old scars, sometimes using my back or chest. I’m littered in the mistakes of my childhood.” My heart breaks for him, what he had to go through. “Dmitri got it worse. He has more mental abuse from our father than I did. That doesn’t mean his skin isn’t tainted with scars, though.”

“I’ve seen them.” He looks over at me, sadness clouding his eyes. “But that doesn’t change my words. A scar exists because the body refused to give up. You and your brother didn’t let go. They are evidence of your survival. They show you both went through something. Betrayal because that’s your father, fear of being hurt, the loss of being a child, and becoming a soldier. Strength is not the absence of pain; strength is what remains after the pain has passed and you are still surviving. You both are survivors and carry a shit ton more strength than anyone here.”

He doesn’t say anything, just stares at me. His eyes shine with unshed tears. He sniffles, clearing his throat.

“I know the abuse, the trauma that comes with it. The shadows follow you around, the whispers of words you’ve been told. My skin isn’t perfect. Cuts line my legs, my stomach, my back. But I know I survived something. The mental toll is still there, it’s hard to make it go away, but with time and acceptance it does. I know you and Riot are strong enough to heal.”

“You’re pretty good at words for a girl that hasn’t spoken since she was seven.” He grunts quietly, his eyes trained on his feet on the floor. “Why won’t you say his name?”

“Why should I?” I throw back. “He doesn’t deserve it.”

“How about that bike ride?” he whispers, accepting my answer to his question.

“Okay.” Time to let the bikes scream what our hearts can’t.

*This book is an advance reader copy and is to not be distributed anywhere. [email protected]*

28

Chapter Twenty-Eight-stop editing

Heart Shaped Box - Nirvana

Riot

“Any leads? Any at all?” I question Jacob, my best hacker. The person I go to when I need someone found.

“Nothing yet, sir.” He pushes the glasses on his face further up the bridge of his nose.

I go to turn around before he speaks again. “Wait, actually something just came up.” I turn around, stalking over to the computer, leaning over him.

“What is it?” I ask, my voice lowering.

“He just purchased something on his credit card in Rome.” He points at the computer, showing the statement for seven thousand dollars.

“What if it’s a decoy?” I ask, and he pulls up street cams from the entire area surrounding the store. We watch the front door for a couple of seconds before Adrian walks out.

“Bingo. Thank you, Jacob, the man!” I call out before swiftly exiting his little office.

I pull my phone out, dialing my brother’s number before pressing call. It rings three times before he answers.

“Dmitri,” His voice calls out. I hear the wind whipping in the background, the revving of his bike.

“Where are you?” He laughs nervously before answering.

“On a ride with Penelope. We’re almost to New York. She wanted something from the penthouse.” Anger boils in my blood. Why the fuck is he taking her back there? I thought she had everything.

“Well, plans change. We found Adrian.” He curses, his side going completely quiet, and I’m assuming he’s talking to Penelope.

“Okay, what do I need to do?”