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The weeks that followedsaw Sasha doing his fucking best to put Sheena out of his mind, but she was not making it easy at all. She called, emailed, and texted him all the fucking time, and he just couldn't fucking find it in him to block her from contacting him.
Why couldn't he forget her, dammit?
With thoughts of her haunting every fucking second of his life, and his resolve weakening with every attempt she made to speak to him...it finally occurred to Sasha that perhaps he was going about this the wrong way.
It might be impossible to make himself forget her, but what if he did it the other way around?
What if he did something that was sure to make Sheena want to forget him?
The thought infected his mind like poison, and as more days passed, and the urge to hear her voice and see her face became harder to ignore—-Sasha just fucking bit the bullet and did it.
He headed to the club that he co-owned with the other members of Strakh. Had his photo taken while pretending to have a goddamn blast partying with other women. The thought of how all of this would hurt Sheena made him feel sick to his stomach, but he told himself that he was doing this for her sake.
An angel like her isn't supposed to end up with a devil like him.
The words brought no comfort at all, but they were all Sasha had, and he had to remind himself of this again when he realized the next day that he had finally gotten what he wanted.
There were no new texts, no new emails or any kind of message from Sheena.
He had finally gotten rid of her for good.
****
DMITRY WAS NOT THEtype to meddle in his brother's affairs. But he also remembered the time when it was Sasha's meddling that helped him get back with Tahey...and so he also knew it was time to return the favor, with how his younger brother had only become more withdrawn in the past few weeks.
Sasha's face turned expressionless when he saw who it was that had entered his office unannounced. "Not your style to come barging in like this, is it?"
"Don't pretend you didn't know you had this talk coming."
"I don't want to talk about her," Sasha gritted out.
Dmitry raised a brow. "Did I say anything about a woman?"
Sasha cursed under his breath, and Dmitry's gaze narrowed at his younger brother. "Why are you punishing yourself like this? Talk to me, dammit—-"
"Because she's better off without me," Sasha growled. "She's not like Tahey. She didn't grow up surrounded by death. Aaron Bronn was the worst thing that happened to her, and you and I both know that boy is no worse than a kindergarten bully compared to the other guys we've gone after.That'swhy I fucking know she's better off without me—-"
"Are you actually hearing yourself right now?" Dmitry snapped. "Do you really not know how fucking stupid you sound?Wewere all like Sheena at one point in our lives...remember? You and I, Tahey and the others...we were no different from Sheena at the start. But we survived, didn't we?"
Sasha's fists clenched. "I don't want her tosurviveanything. That's why I'm staying away from her—-"
"Then let's just say you're fucking right. Let's say that she really is better off without you. What makes you think life's always going to be safe and rosy for her just because you're not around? What will you do when something bad does happen...and you weren't by her side to protect her from it?"
Sasha could feel himself whiten as he realized what his brother was driving at.
"No one has the power to stop life from getting shitty," Dmitry said quietly. "You and I know both know that better than anyone else, after what's happened to Paige."
Sasha had a hard time breathing as he listened to his brother's words.
"Loving another person is more than a choice of leaving or staying that person, Sasha. If you choose to stay away from her for good, then you're choosing to let her fight her own battles all on her fucking own...or you can choose to stay. You can choose to fight by her side and fight for her because you love her."
****
DMITRY'S WORDS STAYEDwith him even when his brother was long gone, and by the end of the day Sasha could no longer find it in him to keep resisting. He took his phone out, and he slowly started going through the scores of unread messages Sheena had sent him since he disappeared from her life.
So...I've been trying to figure out why you think we shouldn't end up together, and I just want to know if it's because you think I might become a liability to the Devil? That's it, isn't it?
Um, hey. I just thought you should know I've started taking lessons in self-defense. It might take a while, but I promise I'll be strong enough to stay by your side, and I can be like the Devil's...minion?
