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I sighed. “I’m aware, but it’s not that simple.” I wasn’t worried about going against the Petrov’s. Sasha or no, I would be sure to rain death down on the family until they knew the pain that they had caused all of us.
“Your wife isn’t anywhere to be found,” Marco muttered. He looked angry. “She left the second we got to the hospital.”
“Not for the reasons you think,” a soft voice called. Marco and I both looked over to the door where Sasha was standing. Her normally pale face was the color of a sheet. Her hair was windswept, and I could see the remnants of her mascara under her eyes. She had been crying.
“Where the fuck did you go?” Marco barked.
I watched Sasha tense, and I wanted to remind Marco not to speak to my wife in that fucking way, but I said nothing. Marco had a right to be pissed.
“I went to go see my parents,” she said.
Marco’ mouth dropped, and I’m sure that my expression looked just as shocked.
“We need to talk,” she said, as she walked further into the door.
I nodded. I wasn’t sure what I could say to her. I didn’t like Sasha seeing me in a hospital bed like this. Being in the hospital made me feel weak, and I didn’t want her to think that I was weak. Such thoughts could be dangerous especially if she was heading off to talk to her parents without telling anyone.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Marco said, crossing his arms around his chest. “Whatever bullshit you want to spin, you can say it to both of us.”
Sasha sighed. Whatever she wanted to tell me, I could tell that it was taking a lot out of her. I wanted to make this easier on her. Over the past few weeks, my feelings towards Sasha had become protective, and I wanted to shield her from Marco’ anger. But I couldn’t.
My job was to protect the family, and so far, I had screwed that up.
She looked at me and must have realized that I wasn’t going to make Marco leave, so she sighed and started telling us her story.
“I wasn’t completely honest with you about the shooting,” she said.
“Shocking,” Marco snorted. “A Petrov lying.”
I said nothing. My eyes were locked on Sasha, and I examined her as she spoke. She wasn’t a good liar, despite what Marco might think. Sasha wore her emotions on her face. She was still young, and she had not yet learned to hide them.
“When I ran out of the ceremony, I went to the restroom. I needed some time to get myself together.”
I knew immediately what she was talking about. We’d never discussed the things that had happened between us before the shooting, but I knew that I had broken a part of her in the car the day I fucked her into submission.
“And?” Marco asked. It was clear that my brother was impatient for her response. I shoot him a look, which I hoped would express my desire for him to shut the fuck up. I knew that Sasha had been keeping something from him, and while I was eager that she tell me what it was. I also knew that she needed a chance to tell her side of things.
“A woman stopped me. She wanted me to leave the wedding. She practically begged me to flee…” She didn’t, and she’d almost died.
“Who was this woman?” I asked.
“At first, I didn’t know who she was.” There was an urgency to her voice that made me believe her. “She grabbed me, and I rushed away from her. I thought maybe she was someone who was trying to freak me out, but she had a slight Russian accent.”
“So she was part of your family?” Marco sneered.
Sasha shook her head, and her brow furrowed. I could tell that she was trying to figure out some part of the puzzle. “She was my brother’s girlfriend. Her name is Anastasia.”
“You want me to believe that you didn’t recognize your brother’s girlfriend?”
“I was so young when Nikolai died. It’s not like we ran in the same circles. I’d seen her maybe once or twice outside of his funeral.”
That made sense to me. Sasha was only eighteen, something that we tended to forget. Looking at Marco I could tell that he had also forgotten.
“I think my family tried to kill you that night,” she said. “I think I was caught in the crossfire, or maybe, I too was a target. I don’t know. But I do know that my mother wants you dead. She blames you for killing my brother.” The words escaped Sasha quickly, and I could tell that it had taken her a great deal to tell me the truth.
“Why are you telling us any of this now?” Marco sneered. “If you had spoken up earlier, we could have tightened security around Dom instead of tightening it around you. Maybe then, we wouldn't be burying friends and family.”
“Marco,” I snapped. “Shut the fuck up.”
Both Sasha and Marco looked at me shocked by my outburst. I rarely cussed my brother out, but he was out of line. “The Petrov’s have been gunning for us for years. Every single one of us has paid them in a pound of flesh.”
Marco’ mouth snapped shut.
Sasha rushed forward and took my hands in her own. “I know that you might not believe me, but I had nothing to do with trying to kill you. I wasn’t sure if my family had a hit or not. I’m still not sure. But I swear that I don’t want you dead.”
Tears were welling up in her eyes as she spoke. Before I thought too much about it, I reached out and enveloped Sasha in my arms. I looked over her head at Marco who was shooting daggers at me. I knew that he was pissed.
He wanted blood, and he would get it. But that blood wouldn’t be Sasha’s. As far as I was concerned, she was no longer a Petrov. She was a Blanchi.
