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Chapter 25 - Evelina
I was shocked to see my father launch at Mikhail, even more, shocked that he just wouldn’t stop hitting him no matter how much I shouted or dragged at his shoulders. He only pushed me away, his fury like nothing I’d ever seen before. I had always thought of my father as an old man, and it was probably true that Leo and I coddled him a bit.
He wasn’t a frail old man at all; he was solid. The force of each blow had me wincing. Seeing him this ruthless, a way I knew he must be in order to maintain his position in the Bratva but that he’d always taken care to shield us from, I realized he wasn’t so much older than the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Grayer, with a bit of a paunch, but still perfectly capable of causing real harm if Mikhail didn’t start defending himself.
“Papa, please stop.”
The blows only seemed to rain down faster. I finally ran to the hall and yelled for Leo.
God, men were stupid.
I couldn’t stand it anymore. By the time Leo descended the stairs on his crutches, Mikhail might have been in a coma. I jumped on my father’s back and held on as tightly as possible, hoping to choke some sense into him. He jerked back, and I flew off, hitting the floor with a hard thud. I coughed and rolled over to see both of them at my side, hovering to see if I was okay. Well, at least that got my father to stop—
Nope. As soon as he saw I was fine, he jumped on Mikhail again, shouting about betrayal.
Enough was enough. I hurried to the desk drawer and took out the gun I kept after we rescued Leo. Jerking open the sliding glass door, I stepped onto the balcony and fired a round into the air.
Turning back to look inside, I saw my father frozen with his fist in mid-air. Within seconds, the room was swarmed with guards.
“Oh, now you come running,” I said bitterly.
Keeping a firm grip on the gun, I told them everything was fine. I gave my father a filthy glare until he nodded. Mikhail grunted for them to go, spitting blood onto the floor. Now it was just the three of us again, and no one was getting pummeled, but I kept the gun in my hand as I stepped back into the room.
“Evelina put the gun down,” Mikhail said, sitting up with some effort.
“Shut up,” my father and I said in unison.
He shrugged and hauled himself to sit on the couch, blood seeping from his nose. It took everything I had not to rush to his side and start sopping up the mess, but I had a bigger mess to take care of first. I turned to my father.
“No one took advantage of me. No one was betrayed.” When he opened his mouth, I twitched my gun hand, and he closed it again. “I’m a grown woman, and you have to see that eventually. I’ll pick who I want to be with. And I shouldn’t have to be holding a gun for you to listen to me say it, either.”
He was silent for a long time, looking at me mournfully and at Mikhail with murderous rage. “Over my dead body,” he finally said, stalking from the room.
My heart seemed to turn to stone. Mikhail looked at me and sighed. He didn’t say he told me so, but he may as well have since he got up and also left. I stood there all alone with the gun still in my hand. I put it back in the drawer and looked at my computer screen, barely remembering the joy I felt a few minutes ago when I finally succeeded at my goal.
Leo stumped in and over to my side. “I saw the last part. It went about as well as could be expected.”
“Oh, fuck off,” I said, then started to cry. There was no use trying to hide it; Leo could tell how miserable I was.
“Aw, Ev, I’m sorry,” he said, pulling me into a rough, brotherly hug.
I was glad someone was left to offer comfort, but I wished I could go a few days without needing any.
Chapter 26 - Mikhail
I stormed past Leo on my way out of Evelina’s office, and he gave me a death glare before going into it. A moment later, I heard her start to cry, and I stopped in my tracks, feeling like my skin was being ripped off. It was far worse than the multiple punches I just took, and my face hurt plenty. Things went exactly as I expected. Well, I was still alive, but that was probably only because Evelina had drawn a gun.
I was alive for now, anyway.
I trudged upstairs to clean up my face as best as I could. The damage wasn’t too bad, but I’d rival Leo in the looks department for the next few days. It was almost as if Oleg was pulling his punches, but why? Trying to keep me alive until he figured out how he really wanted to end me, no doubt.
I was torn in two. Was any of it worth it? Friendship destroyed; love lost.
Did Evelina really blurt out that she loved me?
I was certain she was just passing the time or playing out a fantasy while I was the one getting caught up in feelings. Was she telling the truth or trying to defuse the situation?
After giving Oleg some time to cool off, I sought him out and tried to make things right. Or at least less wrong. Or let him get the murder over with. I wasn’t one to cower in my own house, no matter what might be waiting for me when I found him.
