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In fact, seeing his mood go from dark to darker as the days passed was a highlight for me. For days, he’d been like a human volcano, with tremors measuring high on the Richter scale. I knew the men had placed bets on when he would erupt and level the whole place.
He had broken my heart and somehow, some way, he was going to pay for that grave mistake in sweat and blood. And hopefully tears.
It was the Bratva way.
I took another sip from my drink. Guess I did have a bit of Bratva queen in me after all.
7.
KRISTOFF
No groom in the history of grooms had had less sex than me on my honeymoon—exactly none.
I looked past a soldier’s shoulder toward the pool party in my backyard. Persistent laughter and glee emanated from the flock of people out there, like nails on a chalkboard.
It had been two days since Katya had left me and almost gotten herself killed. She was still here, of course. I’d never let her leave me, but because she had vowed to leave me, I knew she would attempt to do so again. If nothing else, my Katya was stubborn. She was also prideful.
I lay next to her at night and took care of my business during the day, all the while wondering what she was plotting. And that she was plotting to leave my ass was as clear as the sunny sky and the water in the pool Katya and half her dorm were having a party in.
“How much longer?” Damon followed my gaze, his jaw set.
I didn’t ask him to specify what he meant. He wanted to know when the damn coeds would leave the mansion, where they had seemed to settle like locusts, eating my food and enjoying my drinks. And more importantly, taking up my wife’s attention.
“They’ll leave when they want to leave.”
“I could make them want to.”
“I don’t doubt you could.” Damon had a dangerous aura around him, his mere presence was often intimidating to people. All he had to do was give a few stern looks here and there, and half of my unwanted guests would leave, running.
I pondered this beautiful scenario for a moment.
“But why would you?” Angel countered. “It’s like a free-for all-buffet of college girls looking for a good lay.”
I’d spotted several women approaching him, and giving him their phone numbers.
Why would I make them leave? These days I had difficulty remembering why I did anything at all. But then another nightmare would hit me—a dark, dream in which I found my mother’s brutalized body on the kitchen floor, and it all came back at me. No sacrifice was too big to avenge her.
Everything had been so clear ever since Sokolov took me in and gave me a purpose in life. All I had to do was swear my allegiance to him, vow that I’d stand by his side when he finally could avenge the murder of his own family. Who could understand him better than I? I’d suffered through his grueling and gruesome training in the dark and cold of Siberia, learning to survive in the outstretched white plains in the bitter winter. I’d run with the wolves, so to speak; my mission in life, my only goal, clear as day. I was going to find my mother’s killer and ruin his life, right before I killed him with the cuts of a thousand knives.
Speaking of cutting someone… “Take me to the asshole you caught.”
Damon led the way to the basement in the garage. It was a dark and gloomy place which sometimes served as a dungeon. Right now it held exactly one occupant.
I expertly twirled a knife in my hand as I walked, earning a knowing frown from Damon. Crazy Russians weren’t the only people I’d encountered in Siberia during Sokolov’s bootcamp. One of his trainees had been the son of high-ranking Chinese triad member. I’d never seen a man wield a knife like he had. He’d taught me well, though I hadn’t even come close to his level of expertise in torturing a confession out of a man.
My mission in life had been clear, untilher. It was like the gods laughed at me now. Nothing since Katya appeared had been easy. She’d wormed herself into my life, into my very being, and had made the clear waters murky.
For the first time since my mother’s death, I’d wanted something. Most of all, I wanted to keep her alive. I’d intended to send her away to a boarding school, but then her presence in my house had leaked to my enemies. Sending her anywhere would have been like dropping her into shark-infested waters while she was bleeding. So instead I’d let her stay, intent on ignoring her presence in the house. Except Katya wasn’t the kind of woman who allowed you to ignore her. I didn’t know when it had happened, but somewhere during her four-year stay at my house she not only found a permanent spot under my roof, but also in my soul. Which was ironic, considering my enemies had dubbed me the Soulless One. A nickname which was in fact very adept. Most days I didn’t feel like I had one. Hell, most days I didn’t feel much at all.
I hurried down the dungeon steps until I found my target in the last room. I needed to do something with my hands, like wrap them around the neck of the asshole who Damon had picked up last night.
I barely remembered hauling the man off his feet and slamming my fist into his gut.
“Maybe you should stop choking him,” someone suggested behind me.
I ignored both him and the man I’d wrapped my hands around. He was turning a nice shade of purple. This asshole had tried to sell drugs in our club. Every player in town knew Flux was off-limits. So when an edict like that was ignored, I tended to take it personally.
An edict. My mind flipped like the pages of an encyclopedia but instead of turning pages, it turned to one of the manyconversations I’d had with my mentor, Sokolov. The man who had raised me after my mother was murdered and had given me a purpose.
