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Clara’s beyond shivering, but she manages to lift her gaze to meet his.
She deserves this. She deserves every ounce of his wrath. And he deserves to look his accuser in the eye and let her know exactly what she’s done to him.
So why do I want to put a stop to this?
“I should have left you in that fucking car.” Tolya bites each word in her face. “I tried to do something good for once in my life and what did I get? Hmm? Tell me, Miss Everett, what did you fucking give me for trying to save you?”
Tears brim her lashes, but she doesn’t respond.
“See? That.” He shakes a finger at her face. “That. Right there. Hear that?That’swhat landed me in this godforsaken shithole.”
I’m tired of his riddles and my tolerance is wearing thin the closer he leans toward Clara. “The hell are you talking about,brat?”
Tolya doesn’t flicker his gaze from her for a second. “She didn’t tell you? Fucking figures. She didn’t tell the judge, either.” He scoffs. “I saw a little girl get snatched from the streets and stuffed into the trunk of some beat-up shitshow. I followed them to the warehouse and waited for him to leave before I went in. And I found her stuffed inside some shipping crate, ready to be sold to some sick bastard.”
Fucking hell.
I manage to swallow, despite the dryness in my mouth. “You were there. You were there and you saw who?—”
“I didn’t see shit. I was too busy hiding behind the crate when I heard voices arguing.” He pitches his voice into some sick sing-song. “I didn’t want to leave such a sweet little girl all alone.”
Tolya swiftly takes her hand. It’s not quite a grab, not enough to alert the guards to any trouble. But I see the way he holds her fingers firmly in his… and I feel my own clench into a fist.
“You want to pay me back?” he asks her insincerely. “You want to make up for your silence? For the fact that you made it look and sound likeIwas the one who kidnapped you and hurt you?” He tugs her closer by her hand and lifts her fingers to his mouth. “Get on your knees and put your mouth to good use, for once in your fucking pathetic little life.”
“Okay.” I pull Clara’s hand away from his grasp and shoot my brother a warning look. “That’s enough.”
Tolya finally looks at me. Then at Clara, and back at me. He leans back with a sudden jolt of surprise, then twists his mouth into an ugly sneer. “No. Not you, Dem. Don’t tell me you’ve beat me to the punch.”
As true as that statement may be, I don’t like what he’s implying. “You have every right to be angry, Tol. I get it and I’m just as pissed as you are.”
“The fuck you are!” he roars at me. Again, I wave the guards down. I can take on my own brother. “Was it a rage fuck in my honor? Or did you wait until after you had a taste before realizing this is the bitch who betrayed me?”
“She was ten years old! Achild, Tol! You can’t?—”
“I can’t what? Try to get what little justice I can against the people who fucked me over?” He turns back to Clara, his grin almost sadistic. “I’ll show you what being ‘fucked over’ really feels like, sweetheart.That’swhat you can do for me.”
I’ve never seen him like this before.
And I’ve never felt this enraged at him before.
“Shut the fuck up, Tolya.”
“Fucking make me, Demyen?—”
“Stop.” Clara rests a hand on my arm. And, to both our surprise, she looks him in the eyes. “That’s enough. Both of you.”
Tolya sneers again. “You don’t get to tell me what to do, you little whore?—”
“You’re right. I don’t.”
She gives him a respectful nod, which does actually manage to ease him back onto the bench. Only now do I realize both of us were halfway climbing across the table to throttle each other.
Clara clears her throat. She’s still trembling, but she pushes through. “And you’re right. I fucked you over.”
He sits and blinks, silent. So do I.
“The truth is…” She slowly shakes her head and runs a frustrated hand through her hair. “The truth is, I don’t know what the truth is. I barely remember what I saw or what I heard. And back when I did remember all the details, I kept getting it wrong.”
