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But I had never been a coward. If melting under Sergey’s scorching glare was the price I had to pay, then so be it.
I said it. I said it out loud, and I sure as hell knew I meant every fucking word. My fingers curled by my sides, balling into fists as I squared up and lifted my chin, staring him down.
“I amnotgoing ahead with the plan, brother,” I reechoed, my nostrils flaring with hot air. “I’m done playing along.”
“Playing along?” he raved. “What thefuckis this, Vlad? What the hell?”
He kept his voice low, not to alert the guests in the hall, and directed the murderous look in his eyes to only me, but somehow, he must not have been subtle enough. Sophia Russo must have picked up the tension between us all the way across, from where she stood by the food trays giggling with a bunch of lean girls, and thought it necessary to interfere.
She neared our side, in what appeared to be a graceful catwalk, grinning from ear to ear. Her eyes, hooded and suspicious, moved from Sergey and back to me. She cocked her head to the side, taking in the scene, while her father stayed frozen on the spot beside Sergey.
“Is there a problem, brother-in-law?” she asked, her voice sickly sweet like her cologne, which I honestly found nauseating.
Vincent took a step forward and stretched out a hand. An attempt to stop or shield her, I didn’t give a fuck. “Sophia...”
The grave tone of his deep, gruff voice gave it all up. The secret was exposed if at all it could be considered as such. Her overly bright smile faded and a dreary cloud masked herexpression. Uncomfortable silence hung between the four us but we stood, each one waiting for the other to make a move first.
Sergey and I ignored them. The scowl on his face deepened when he asked me, “Why?”
The disappointment in my brother’s voice was as clear as day and as audible as the lyrics of The PretendersI’ll Stand By Youplaying in the background. I cringed, and shifted my weight to the other leg. The DJ, whoever he was, deserved a bullet in the ears for the off-timed playlist.
But I had to focus on the issue at hand, which was telling my brother the reason for the abrupt call off of the marriage arrangementsduringthe engagement party, especially considering how curial the arrangement with the Russo’s was.
I knew it didn’t look good. But the look on Mariana’s face when she expressed her hatred for me was even worse. I felt the sudden squeeze in my chest and, for a split second, I couldn’t... I couldn’t breathe. The thought of never seeing her again, the thought of losing her felt like I had a bag tied tightly over my head.
“Vlad!”Sergey barked, and I blinked. “Answer the fucking question, dammit! Why thefuckare you doing this, here and now? I need answers before I drill them out of your fucking head .”
Leave it Sergey to go full-on beast mode when he was mad. Still, undeterred...
I matched his hard gaze with mine and clenched my teeth so hard, I thought they’d crack. “I’m not turning my back on them!”
It rushed out before I could stop ‘them’ from flowing and I sounded like I was sixteen again; proactive, high on the firstcoke I’d accidentally snuffed, and pissed at my older brother, Maxim, who asked me to drop the shit and get in the tub.
I wasn’t sixteen anymore and I was not going to let them push me into a bloody marriage I wanted nothing to do with, while Mariana was out there, somewhere, feeling abandoned with my seed growing inside her.
In a flash, the searing look in his eyes dimmed and his tensed jaw relaxed. Now, he appeared more sullen than furious. He moved his head backwards, the slight arch of his brows showing he’d caught on faster than I expected.
“Jesus,Vlad. A woman.” It was a short, but simple statement, and one that felt like an arrow slicing through the air and hitting the target right in the heart.
“Yes.” I uncurled my fingers and my shoulders drooped. A sigh left my lips and I slid my hand over my hair. “Another woman is pregnant withmychild, Sergey, and I am not... I willnottreat them as if they do not exist.”
“Pregnant?” Vincent Russo repeated, hissing distastefully. “He stands there and dishonors our agreement, Sergey!”
Sergey started to say something but Sophia cut him off with a gasp, loud enough to cause the sudden pause of the music in the hall and over fifty pairs of eyes to turn towards us. A quiet hush fell amongst the people, save for an awkward clinking sound of glasses on a tray and murmurs quickly spreading.
Her hand flew to her chest, her long acrylic fingernails digging into the fabric of her white dress, as she staggereddramaticallyon her ridiculously high heels, gripping Sergey’s arms. “It’s a lie, right?” she croaked. “That’s a fucking lie, right, Vlad? You’re... you’re messing with me. You don’t have a child with another woman, yeah?”
I kept mute and held my brother’s gaze. I heard her soft whimper and, from the corner of my eyes, I saw her bite down on her lip, her teeth smudging the thick red lipstick coating it. Her eyes grew glassy and a deep shade of crimson highlighted her cheekbones.
“Fuckingsay something already!” she stomped her foot. “It’s her, isn’t it? It’s the fucking blonde whore, Mariana, isn’t it?”
I saw a flash of red and a sizzling fire flow through my veins. My head snapped to the side and my blood boiled withthatconsuming rage. The one that drove us Vadims to put a hole in an enemy's head without hesitation.
The first spot I saw was her pale long neck and I raised my hand, only a little, but Sergey grabbed my arm, jolting me awake from the bloodlust trance. If he’d given me the chance, I snuffed the life out of her with just one grip. She was just begging to taste death, wasn’t she?
My eyes met his and he blinked once. It meantdon’t.
“It’s her,” Sophia laughed. It was hollow and lacked depth. “It’s Mariana. You’re having a child with her. God! I can’t believe this.”
