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I’m cut off as a hand closes around my throat, pulling me to him. I bring my hands up and claw at his grip, but he only tightens it and, I feel the last bit of air flow close. I try to bring a knee up to hit him in the balls, but his thighs stop me easily. Kris brings his face close to mine.
“What the fuck are you playing at, Galina?” he snarls. I let out a choked sound and scratch at his hands until he grunts, loosening his grip. I almost drop to the floor but catch myself on the edge of the desk.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I rasp and cough, more thrown off than angry. Despite all we’ve been through, Kris has never fucking touched me.
Not like that anyway, I think wryly. I wonder for a moment if he knows I’m aware it was him…. Doesn't fucking matter, I decide. I still need to figure out if he gave me up to those pieces of shit all those years ago. His fucking obsession with Sin or me or whatever the fuck is going on with him is hardly a priority.
Kris’s lips pull back, the muscles and veins in his neck straining.
“I’ve stood by you through a lot of things,” he starts. His voice is terse, but I can tell he’s making an effort to keep it even. “Saved you from those fuckers all those years ago, stood by you since. And yeah, I tell you if I think you’re being fucking dumb, but I’ve trusted you to take care of us, of CASH-ULTY, the same way I have.Yet you jeopardize all of it!”
“What the hell are you going on about?” I sputter as I stand, resisting the urge to bring a hand up to my throat which is still raw where he gripped it. “I’ve never—”
“You fucked a goddamn acquisition,” he snarls. I feel myself freeze up, but after a second, I loosen my stance and narrow my eyes, forcing my mouth to stay closed.
“If it was just about getting your rocks off, I could maybe understand. But you didn’t fucking eliminate him.You fucking hired him! Some fucking man you know nothing about. He’s probably fucking here just to take you down, for fuck’s sake! What the fuck are you thinking?”
His voice gets more frantic as he continues, and my frown deepens. I despise every word that’s coming out of his mouth, now that I know that it’s coming from some kind of perverse jealously, but that doesn’t mean I don’t resent every fucking bit of it.
“Who I fuck and why are none of your goddamn business,” I hiss, pointing a finger at him. I see him stare at my finger like contemplating breaking it, but don’t pull back. “And I’ve never fucking steered us wrong. We pull this shit off, it’ll be a fucking walk in the park from here on out. And who set that up?”
“And whose kept us safe all these fucking years.”
We’re practically nose to nose before I feel a flush of unease at the proximity. I scoff as though I’m not bothered and step away, moving behind my desk. My hands absently touch some of the papers, looking anywhere but at him.
“And whose the one whose been fucking up lately, again and again,” I deadpan, raising a brow. Kris releases a heavy breath through his nose, never taking his eyes off me. Darkness swims within them, and for the first time in my life, I feel a measure of fear of my brother.
“If you don’t eliminate him, I will.”
My eyes thin. “You touch him, I’ll fucking kill you.”
His eyes widen, and he takes a step back as though I struck him. He gets his bearings quickly, but I can see the hurt in his eyes.
“You’d choose him over family, over me,” he says, a statement rather than a question. My chin rises a touch.
“What bothers you more? That I fucked someone else, or I prefer him over fucking you?” I spit back. I see the shock in his eyes that he tries to hide before it quickly changes to anger.
I feel the instant he breaks the tension that crackles between us. It isn’t until he’s at the door that he speaks again.
“Watch yourself, Galina,” he says in Russian. “You don’t know how bad the world can be when I’m not looking out for you.”
The door slams behind him.
I sit here for several minutes unmoving, letting the conversation play through my head.
Before now, there’s never been another man around long enough to be a problem. It isn’t the fact that I had sex with Sin that bothers him, it’s that it isn’t him. It’s that I’m defending Sin over him.
And no, I’m not ready to let the mystery of Sin rest just yet.
Tonight, a deadbolt and a sleeping pill are in order.
Chapter 32
Sin
I’m calledto a meeting room. Upon entering, it’s quickly apparent that chaos has ensued. It’s hard to stifle my smile, especially when I walk in to the fucking tantrum CASH-ULTY’s CEO is throwing. With rage overwhelming her now, I do see our family in her. I can actually believe she is Galina Pashkin. Or I suppose I should say Pashkina, as a true Russian would.
I see Viktor when her eyes light up at the sight of blood. Artur when she’s talking about something she’s passionate about. She even has Maxim’s resting bitch face.
