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Taras nods, backing out of my father’s viewing room, leaving me to confront my would-be brother-in-law.
“Grieve now, because once he’s buried six feet under, you’re gonna have to figure out a way to make good on our arrangement,” Dmitri growls, closing the distance between us. “Boss.”
I stare at him, my pulse slamming against my throat. Ire roars through me, shooting out to every limb and commanding every brain cell. The din of voices around me mutes to white noise.
A sea of bloody images, the aftermath of the wedding attack, flashes before my eyes. The sound of exploding bullets assaults my ears, and I fling Dmitri around, slamming his back against the wall next to my father’s casket. An elaborate spray of white lilies on the table next to us falls to the floor.
A collective gasp ripples through the crowd of visitors who’ve come to pay their last respects to my father.
The stench of death is heavy in the air.
I close my hand around Dmitri’s throat, and he wiggles and gasps for air like a fish in desperate need of water. “Don’t you dare disrespect me ever again, you arrogant pussy. You think just because you have your father’s bank account to cushion your ass that you can attack me?” I squeeze harder.
A malicious smirk lifts my lips when his eyes bug out of his head. My fingers loosen slightly because I want him to really hear my next words without being distracted by the fact that he can’t breathe.
“Get your hands off of him!” Dmitri’s father, Denis Stepanov, bellows from behind me.
It only makes me grip him harder.
“This is exactly why your father didn’t want you as his underboss. He knew what a loose cannon you are, what you’d do to your family if you were in charge,” Denis yells.
“I have another hand,” I growl at him over my shoulder. “Wanna join your son against the fucking wall?”
“You’re a lunatic. An animal!”
“I’m glad you realize that. And I want you to remember it in case you get the idea to do something stupid, like try to collect on whatever arrangement my father had with you. Because what I can do with my bare hands alone should have you running and never looking back.”
I release Dmitri and he collapses to his knees. He coughs and sputters but makes no move to lunge for me. Turning slowly, I regard the shocked expressions and dropped jaws that greet me from around the viewing room.
A pang assaults my chest when I see my mother’s tortured gaze cling to mine. She gives her head a slow shake, tears slipping from her red-rimmed eyes.
I inch toward Denis, leveling him with a glare. “Let me tell you this,” I seethe. “If I find out you had anything to do with the murders of my father and brother, or the disappearance of my sister, I will find you both and punch matching holes through your goddamn throats. And then I will really fuck your shit up.”
“Don’t you threaten me,” he says. His voice falters slightly as he looks up at me.
Because he knows I’m dead serious, dead being the apropos word.
“I will do whatever the hell I need to do to find the people responsible. You’d just better hope that I never find out you’re one of them. Because if I do, the torment you will suffer will make you beg me to put a bullet in your brain.”
His face flares red, fists balled at his sides. He wants to take a swing. Or shoot me. He’ll do neither. I’ve made my point.
I straighten my jacket, watching Dmitri and Denis scramble to get away from me and out of the viewing room. The rest of the crowd continues their muffled chatter now that the disturbance has been eradicated.
Taras stands with our mother a few feet away, a hand on her shoulder. He gives me a cool look when I walk toward them.
“Was that really necessary?” he asks. “Are you trying to prove to everyone here that you’re as crazy as Dmitri and Denis make you out to be?”
“No,” I say abruptly. “Crazier.”
“Well, good job,” he grunts sarcastically. “You knocked it outta the park.”
I lace my fingers with my mother’s and lean toward her, my lips against her ear. “I’m gonna do what needs to be done to find Val, and to punish the people who did this to our family.”
She dabs a tissue at the corner of her eyes. “I know you will, Luka. I know you’ll protect us.”
Taras scoffs. “We need protection against him.”
“Watch it or you have no idea how true those words will be,” I growl.
