Ayla
It was a moment when everything stilled. My feet froze on the landing above the staircase, and it felt like I had been robbed of my breath. My heart flipped, and then the tears came.
My throat closed, trying so hard not to cry as I ran down the stairs toward him. In the back of my mind, I knew Alessio was going to be mad at me for running in my current state. I could already see his face turning red with frustration but trying his best not to yell at me.
But in that moment, nothing mattered.
One year.
One whole year since I had seen him.
One year since Alessio came back home and gave me news that broke my heart.
“Ayla! Alessio is home!” Maddie screamed at the top of her lungs.
My heart jumped and then accelerated, my face breaking into a wide smile that I couldn’t hold in anymore.
I really hated it when he had to go away for more than just a day or two. It had been almost a week—five days to be exact—since I last saw him. But Alessio always made sure we spoke on the phone every day. Even through his busy schedules, he always found time for me and Princess.
I felt a kick on my thigh and laughed quietly. Speaking of Princess.
Looking down at my bundle of joy, she cooed at me, her lips pursing cutely. “Papa is home, pretty Princess.”
Her tiny legs kicked at me again excitedly, as if she understood what I was saying. “Let’s get you dressed and we can welcome him home. What do you say?” I murmured, tickling her sides.
She laughed, her cute little dimple showing. Maila had her papa’s dimple, even on the same cheek. Poking the dent softly, I placed a kiss on her nose.
Princess kicked again, her giggles never ending, as she tried to roll on her back. Her tiny body moved around, trying to escape my hands. At four months old, she was already rolling around, almost giving Alessio a heart attack the first time she did it.
“Well, aren’t you excited today?” I continued talking, making sure to dress her up quickly.
After making sure she was presentable, her pretty blue dress adorning her tiny body and her headband in place, we both made our way downstairs.
Just in time to see Alessio walking through the doors with his men following closely behind him. I smiled at the sight.
The entry was filled with so much power and dominance. Each step they took spoke of authority. The suits made them look like gentlemen, rich billionaires. But the looks on their faces, the harsh and unveiled look that didn’t hide anything, showed the true monsters underneath.
No smiles from them. No laughter. Emotionless stares. Stiff bodies.
As I stepped off the last landing, I practically ran to Alessio. He opened his arms for me, and I sunk into his embrace. He held us close, Princess against his chest, cushioned between him and me.
His warm embrace felt like sunlight, erasing the harsh coldness I felt during his absence. “Princess missed you,” I muttered.
“I think you mean you missed me,” he replied with a dry chuckle.
“You know I did,” I retorted as he pulled away slightly.
To my surprise, he wasn’t smiling. The soft gentle look he always wore around Princess and me was gone. In its place was a man I had met the first time, when our story started. The very first time I had seen him.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, placing my palm over his cheek. He didn’t reply; instead, he brought his attention to Princess.
His thumb brushed over her nose softly, and her smile widened. She was definitely her papa’s girl. “How is my little Princess doing?”
His mood seemed off. Not the Alessio I had grown accustomed to. My gaze went behind me, looking at the other men.
Every time they would leave the house, it felt like something big had settled over my heart. And when they would come back home, I always found myself giving them a once-over, making sure they were all okay. They were older than me, meaner, harder…killers.
Yet I found myself watching over them like they were my babies.
They stood silently, their shoulders rigid, their bodies locked and ready for battle. Nikolay wore a frown, while Phoenix appeared like he was mourning.
Everyone seemed fine…except nothing was fine.
They were all here, except one.
“Where is Viktor?”
My question was met with silence. It lasted for a few seconds until I couldn’t handle the suffocating silence anymore.
“I asked, where is Viktor?” The panic in my voice couldn’t be mistaken.
One of my boys was missing. One of Alessio’s men, his brother, was missing.
I looked at everyone, but their faces told me nothing. My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach. This couldn’t be happening.
Not Viktor.
It was a joke, like always. They loved to worry me and pull my leg during unexpected times. It must have been Viktor’s plan. He was the player, the one who could make me laugh even when I wanted to cry.
But this time, I wasn’t in the mood to joke.
Turning to Alessio, I grabbed his arm. “Are you going to answer me, Alessio? Or just stand there? I asked a question. Where is Viktor?”
His furious blue eyes met mine, and he pulled his arm back, almost causing me to stumble back. “He will not be coming back.”
“What do you mean by that? Where is he?”
I suddenly felt sick. This couldn’t be happening.
Viktor was more than Alessio’s second in command. He was his best friend. His brother. They were bonded not by blood but by choice. By hearts.
This moment was one that left me speechless. And then angry. Tears clouded my vision as realization sunk in.
“What have you done, Alessio?” I asked quietly but already knowing the answer. When he didn’t answer, his gaze moving away from mine, he confirmed what I already knew.
“I asked a question, and I want an answer.”
His glare could cut through glass. He stared at me, unflinching, like my anger and sadness meant nothing to him. “And I already answered, Angel.”
His voice was surprisingly soft even when his gaze held red hot fury.
“Don’t call me that,” I hissed, finally breaking into cold sweats. Each word had become harder to speak.
It made me realize that I had been blinded for so long. Nothing was perfect…I just thought it was. I wanted to believe that it was.
A perfect family.
Without another glance, Alessio started to walk away. My back straightened as he bluntly ignored me.
“Don’t walk away from me. I am speaking to you,” I said, louder.
Maila flinched in my arms, and I heard a small whimper as she started to struggle. Her chin wobbled as if she was about to cry.
I rocked her back and forth, soothingly. All the while my gaze stayed on her father’s back, glaring at the sight.
“Maddie, can you take Maila?” I asked, already handing her over. Maddie shook her head, trying to clear her shock from Alessio’s announcement.
“I got her.”
I went upstairs, following behind my husband. I found him in our bedroom. His back was to me as he stared off into the distance, his gaze on the wall.
“He is dead, Ayla. I left him bleeding in a dark alley. You won’t be seeing him again,” he murmured. The anger in his voice wasn’t mistaken.
“Why would you do that? How could you?” I asked rather softly. It was the moment when I didn’t know if I should be crying or yelling. Maybe both. Yet I couldn’t bring myself to do either.
“You know why.”
“Is it because of what happened? Alessio, I thought we talked about that. I explained what happened!”
I walked closer. Alessio stepped away, his back rigid. Almost like he couldn’t bear for me to be close to him.
“He touched you!” he growled low in this chest.
Once upon a time, I would have loved those words, that tone. Today, I just hated it.
“He was drunk!” I hissed back, suddenly wanting to shake some sense into Alessio. “He didn’t realize what he was doing, and I stopped him before he could do anything else.”
It had happened weeks ago. In the middle of the night, I had caught Viktor stumbling in the corridor, looking for his room. But he was drunk…he didn’t know what he was doing. He tried to kiss me, but it never happened.
I thought Alessio understood that.
He swiveled around, a dangerous glint in those blue eyes I loved so much. “He touched what is mine. And he had no right to touch you.”
I swallowed, already knowing I was losing this battle. It was never mine to win.
Desperately, I tried to reason with Alessio. But knowing him, it would make no difference. “I told you. He didn’t touch me because he wanted to. It was a mistake. I stopped him before anything happened. Why are you acting like this?”
He stalked forward, forcing me to take several steps back. When I hit the wall behind me, Alessio crowded my space. With his hands leaning on the wall on either side of my head, he caged me in.
“He touched my wife,” he repeated, his voice dangerously low.
His head bent forward slightly until his lips were so close to mine. With his gaze on mine, holding me in place, he continued. “His lips were this close. His fucking lips almost touched yours, Ayla. And you know damn well I don’t play nice to anyone who touches you.”
I breathed in, trying to stop my wildly racing heart. Remembering the scene clearly, I knew it looked bad. Alessio would never forgive Viktor. Not when it came to me.
“I stopped him,” I replied softly.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“He didn’t mean it.”
His lips turned up into a smirk. Not a nice beautiful one. More like an evil smirk, one that said Alessio Ivanshov was about to kill you and you had no choice but to accept your fate.
“Do you really think that, Ayla?”
Shaking my head, I tried to push him away. “What you did was wrong. Worse than what Viktor did. Only because he didn’t do anything wrong. He didn’t kiss me. He was drunk and not in his right mind. He didn’t mean to hurt you.”
When he finally moved, I walked away from the wall and his furious gaze. “But you? You hurt him knowingly.”
His hands fisted at his sides, and I knew I had hit him straight in the heart. “You killed him,” I whispered. The tears finally escaped, falling down my cheeks.
I saw his eyes tracking my tears, following the drops. His jaw tightened as he gritted his teeth. Was it in anger, or was he hiding his pain…I didn’t know.
I made no move to swipe the tears away, letting him feel my pain. “He trusted you, Alessio.”
“And I trusted him. But he broke that trust. The moment he thought of you as someone to be desired and fucked, he broke that trust.”
My eyes widened, and I took a step back. “You are disgusting.”
“Truth hurts, doesn’t it, Angel?”
When I didn’t answer, he let out a dry laugh. With a broken heart, I couldn’t even say anything. There was nothing to say.
Alessio had already made up his mind. He did the one thing I thought he would never do.
The world tilted, and it felt like everything was crashing around me, falling underneath my feet. Alessio started to walk away, and I could only stare at his retreating back.
Before he could step out of the room, my voice stopped him.
“He was your brother.”
My final words. I had hoped they would make a difference. But what a laughable thought. Those words wouldn’t bring Viktor back.
He was…really gone.
Alessio paused at the doorway. His voice was low and rough as he spoke.
“You are right. He…was.”
The door closed behind him, leaving me in the silence of the storm he left behind.
Decades of friendship. Decades of brotherhood. All gone within days.
Viktor was gone.
The man who could make me laugh. The man who sometimes had wiped my tears away. He loved Maila unconditionally. He loved Alessio.
He was a man who would do anything for his family. Lay his life down for those he loved. In his eyes, we always came first.
For Alessio to kill a man like that, it was despairing.
“How could you, Alessio?” I whispered brokenly.
The world slowed to a stop as the past faded into the present. My mind swirled with each image, and then I saw him…
His arms opened wide, and I jumped into his embrace, holding him tight. My tears soaked his shirt, but he didn’t seem to care. He held me just as tightly.
“You came back,” I choked through my cries.
“Yeah. I’m home, baby girl.” His reply was soft as he moved slightly. With my body no longer hugging his, we faced each other.
He gave me a small smile and then winked. “Miss me?”
I shook my head. “Not really. Phoenix and Nikolay kept me entertained enough.”
“Ha. Those fuckers are boring without me,” he replied, looking behind my shoulders.
“I can’t believe you’re finally home,” I whispered, my eyes taking all of him in.
He winked mischievously. “It took me long enough, but I am here now.”
His teasing laughter brought a smile to my face. Everything felt surreal. Viktor was home. After one year, he was back where he belonged.
“Viktor!” I heard a squeal, and then Maddie flew into his arms.
“Are you trying to kill me?” he asked, hugging her just as tightly.
“How? I don’t understand…” she cried in her chest.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m home now. We will discuss everything later.”
Maddie pulled away, questions burning in her eyes. “But…”
His stern voice stopped her flow of words. “Let’s forget about this for now. I don’t want to talk about it, Maddie.”
Viktor turned to me. “Where is my potato?”
Just then, I heard babbling coming from my right. Turning to my side, I saw Princess and Lena standing near the kitchen. Lena appeared like she had seen death, while Maila was oblivious.
“There is your potato,” I announced, pointing at my little firecracker.
“She’s walking,” he said in astonishment, his eyes practically bulging out.
“Of course, she is. She doesn’t sit for more than five minutes now.”
“Mama,” she said in her cute baby voice, walking toward me.
Bending down as far as my pregnant belly would let me, I smiled at my baby. “Come here, Princess.”
Her smile widened, and I smiled at the sight of drool covering her chin. As I opened my arms for her, she started running as fast as her little chubby legs would let her.
But before she could make it into my arms, Viktor swooped forward. Maila quieted down, her eyes widening in shock and fear.
She looked back at me and then at Viktor again. Back at me again and then at the rather strange man holding her in his arms.
Her chin wobbled as she started to struggle out of his arms. “Mama,” she whimpered, reaching for me. “No. Mama.”
Viktor panicked at the sight of Maila crying. “Why is she crying?”
Maila practically slapped him in the face as she tried to reach for me again, sobbing her heart out. Quickly, I took her in my arms, soothing my frightened baby.
“I’m sorry. She was just shocked, that’s all,” I apologized as Maila finally settled, giving Viktor a weird look.
She wrinkled her nose at him before burying her face in my neck.
“She doesn’t remember me,” Viktor said quietly.
Biting on my lips, I looked down at her. “She was so little when you…”
My words died in my throat, and silence fell around us. Viktor nodded, without any words.
All too quickly, it felt like a cold air had hit me. Viktor’s soft eyes turned into a glare as he stared behind me. It was deadly. If his glare could burn someone on the spot, the person would only be ashes right now.
Without turning around, I knew who was standing behind me. My heart went to my throat, suddenly suffocating me.
“Excuse me. I have to deal with something,” Viktor said, walking past me. Not something. Someone.
I grabbed onto his arm. “Please, Viktor.”
If I had to beg, I would.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Alessio already making his way upstairs. Viktor tracked his movement, his hands fisting at his sides.
My voice brought his attention back on me. “Please don’t fight.”
“Ayla…”
“I know what he did was wrong, but maybe just talk without fighting,” I quickly spoke.
“I would really appreciate if you stay out of this. It doesn’t concern you,” he replied stiffly. I flinched at his tone. “Whatever happened is between Alessio and me.”
He pulled his arm back, walking away.
“Don’t hurt him,” I murmured.
He continued walking without turning around. But I heard his voice. “Did you beg for my life too? Or is this a special treatment only for Alessio?”
“You know that’s not true. I just don’t want you fighting with each other. Your loyalty was one that I used to admire,” I returned, desperately trying to calm him.
He paused at the staircase, slightly turning toward me. “Like Alessio’s loyalty? Fantastic brother he was, wasn’t he?”
He dug deeper into my heart with his words, taunting me, forcing me to face the truth.
It’s a lie, I reminded myself. He is just angry. He will get over it.
When no reply came from me, he continued his way upstairs. My shoulders slumped down in defeat, and I could only hope.
I just prayed that this encounter didn’t end with either being shot.