AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I don’t know what I am saying or whether it is a threat. Maybe I’m curious to see how Viktor would react. His jaw twitches, and his mouth sets in a grim line. He looks up at me, silent and brooding, keeping his opinions to himself. Only then do I realize my hand is raised as if I meant to strike him. I lower my hand. Another memory fills my head, a memory that chased me out of my safe bed: Talia.
“Paige, stop.” Emma looks at me as if I’m a monster. “I made him take me. I kept asking him to go. It wasn’t his fault. I said I’d go out alone if he didn’t. He was only there to keep an eye on me. If it weren’t for Viktor, things would have been worse.”
I grab the first aid kit off the table and shove it into Viktor’s hands. “Go. Finish patching yourself up. I need to speak to my sister alone.”
Viktor takes the kit out of my hand and stalks out of the garage, gently closing the door. Emma watches him leave, his tall frame bent after being chewed out for something he’s probably not guilty of. But he’s responsible.
Emma’s gaze turns to me after the door closes. I expect to see a temper, but she’s close to tears. “Please don’t tell anyone, Paige,” she begs. “Viktor will get into a lot of trouble. He didn’t want to take me, but I told him I would go alone. I’m sorry. I didn’t know there would be a fight. We stood in a corner the whole time until that guy approached me.”
I want to pull her into my arms, but I can’t make her think it’s okay. And that every time she acts out, I’ll be swayed with tears and pleas.
“Emma, we have to be careful. We’renotlike these people. They are killers and don’t forgive easily. It might seem glamorous, but this isn’t some Hollywood movie where the good guy wins just because he’s good. This is not a game.”
My words are sincere, but the cold look in Emma’s eyes tells me one thing. She thinks I’m full of shit.
“You’re such a hypocrite.” Her gaze takes me in from head to toe. “Your mob husband dresses you in designer clothes, wraps you in diamonds, and drives you around in a Lamborghini. But if I do one little thing I want, it’s wrong, and I’ve done something wicked.”
“That’s not it.”
“Isn’t it? Why do you think you’re better than me? That you can handle bad people? Do you think you’re one of them? Because you’re not, Paige. I know I’m not, but you’re about to get burned.”
I hold back my tears, despite how badly her words sting. “Emma, stay away from Viktor.”
She won’t speak to me. She bumps into the stool, her shoulders tense as she grabs it. Instead of catching it, she picks it up and tosses it across the floor before slamming the garage door behind her. For a moment, I’m worried about how she will get into the house. But the two of us aren’t exactly stealthy. The whole house probably heard us screaming at each other like alley cats in a death match.
I reconsider going after Emma to make sure she gets inside safely, but then I hear footsteps outside the door. I don’t know how to explain why I’m out here, and then it’s too late to think of an excuse.
Natasha strolls into the garage, her even gaze sweeping across the room, settling on the stool lying on its side. She looks at me in my nightgown and smirks. “Do you mind if I smoke, Paige Geraldovna?” she asks.
“No. But I’ll stand over here if you don’t mind.”
She lights up, and the flash of her lighter illuminates her stunning face. She grabs the stool off the floor and sits down. “I heard a commotion. Not trying to run away again, are you?”
My body tenses until she grins, and I realize too late she’s joking. “I couldn’t sleep, so I took a walk.”
“So, you came out to the garage in your slippers?” she asks.
My shoulders sag as I hold onto my arms. I don’t have a friend, and maybe that’s why I admit what I feel. “Things are starting to get hopelessly complicated.”
“You don’t owe me an explanation, Paige Geraldovna.” Her tone reveals her genuine concern. “I’m not your jailor anymore. You may not want to talk openly to me, but you should always speak to your husband. Don’t try to handle everything alone. He’s not as cold as we may imagine. If you’re having a crisis, tell him and avoid the disaster.”
I nod but say nothing else as I leave the garage.
Chapter 24
Andrei
“Yob tvoyu mat!I ought to put a bullet in your head for this!”
Viktor stands before me, hands behind his back and showing respect but no fear. Expressionless and unafraid, as if he’s already resigned to his fate.
Dmitri paces the length of the garage, his hands clenching and unclenching as Natasha looks on in silence. I sit on a straight chair at a metal table where we handcuff prisoners and make them talk by any means. The garage is dark except for one scorching light above Viktor’s head; the three of us eye him with hard hearts.
“The boy has dishonored us,” Dmitri says through gritted teeth, brandishing his gun at Viktor. “He was beaten by members of the Novikov Bratva. By that little shithead Gleb Novikov! Gleb fuck-mothering Novikov?”
“Why exactly did they jump you?” I demand sharply. “Were you on their territory?”
“No, they grabbed me and drove me to their bar,” Viktor answers without looking up from his shoes. “They stripped me and laughed at me for not having tattoos. They said I was nothing but a fake.”
