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I exchanged a look with Viking. He knew exactly what I was thinking. He also knew how this was going to end.
“Blood for blood is our way. As such, Vasili has the right to demand his pound of flesh.”
Viking looked like a bug who had just hit a windshield. “She’s the mother of my child.”
“Regardless, she’s not blood. Only wives fall under your protection and outrank a brigadier, if a woman isn’t blood.”
I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if it had been Katya. She wasn’t blood either. It was why I kept her on a short leash. She resented me for it most of the time, but it was a sheer necessity to keep her safe. The Bulgarians hadn’t been the first who had tried to get at me through her. They had merely been the first—and the fucking last—to succeed. I had taken a blood vow to protect her. Unlike Viking, who could simply let this matter with Elena go. She would be handed over to that prick Vasili, and afterward I would have a talk with Sokolov about the insult his brigadier had committed under my roof and would get my own pound of flesh. All would be well again. No fuss, no muss. Except, of course, Viking had to go and open his pie hole.
“Vasili can’t have her. She’s mine. She might be a vicious, blood-thirsty witch, but she’s my witch. We have unfinished business.”
Blyat!
A silence fell on the room and all eyes turned to me. My house, my rules, and they were those of the brotherhood I’d sworn allegiance to. And I didn’t break my vows for anyone, not even my blood brother.
I gritted my teeth. This clusterfuck had gone exactly as I’d feared. That damn woman was Viking’s kryptonite, but he was too blind to see it. That was what hate did to a man—I knew that better than anyone. Some men like Viking were willing to sacrifice their life for it. Others, like me, their soul.
I cut Viking a look. “Are you willing to pay the price to keep her?”
There was only one way to do that. Obviously, the crux of it was that Viking couldn’t do it while engaged to Sokolov’s niece. Breaking the engagement would come at a hefty price.
Blood and bones.
It always came down to those.
23
KATYA
I could add ‘hauled over a shoulder and dragged out of a room’ to the list of the most humiliating moments in my life.
After Baran dragged me out of the living room and through the foyer, he finally put me back on my feet.
I looked over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of what was going on in the living room. He blocked my view so fast, I almost did a chest-plant. Elena must have been terrified, alone in that room, with no one to champion her cause.
“You know Vasili assaulted her, right?” I said.
Upon hearing Elena’s cry, I’d rushed over to her. Yuri had been standing in front of her, keeping away one of the Russians belonging to Sokolov’s crew. Blood dripped from the man’s head and seeing the shards of a broken vase on the floor, I put two and two together.
“And he’ll pay for that.”
Would he? Who was to say Elena would even get the chance to speak up? The asshole had demanded her blood.
Once again, I glimpsed over Baran’s shoulder. “I don’t see why I can’t stay.”
He cut me a look. “Because if someone accidentally hurt you, we’d have war on our hands, that’s why. Now get your butt upstairs or outside, I don’t really care. Just stay out of the house for a while.”
His jaw was clenched, and I knew I wouldn’t get him to cooperate. For all his relaxed vibes, he was as dominant as the rest of the men in the house.
Seeing as I had no other choice, I took a stroll in the garden. I needed to do something, figure out a way to help Elena. The look on her face when she discovered Viking was engaged broke my heart. It was obvious she still had feelings for him. I just hoped that she’d get the chance to sort things out with him.
I strolled to the gazebo. The first place I’d ever seen Kristoff. He’d been out here burying his dog. It was where he often visited when he was in a pensive mood. I waited here for him, anticipating he would come here after he decided on Elena’s future. And if the verdict was something I didn’t like, I was going to do my best to change his mind. Over the years, I’d picked up a thing or two about how things worked around here. No matter Vasili’s rank, he was still a guest. You didn’t assault someone in anotherpakhan’shouse. It just wasn’t done. If necessary, I would remind Kristoff of that.
I kept to the shadows, not wanting any company. Sometimes the soldiers walking the perimeter wanted to have a chat, but I wasn’t in the mood for that. I neared Kristoff’s garage. Two soldiers who stood close-by were having a smoke. Their comms beeped. I wondered if they’d just gotten an update on what was going on inside.
“You can’t just dump apakhan’sniece,” one soldier said. “Not even if you’re brigadier. The big guy’s gotta pay a price, Bratva style.”
I stilled. Viking had broken off his engagement with Annika? I pumped my fist in the air. Word sure traveled fast around the mansion.
