Alexei’s wife is despondent and obviously traumatized, but there is little I can do for her. I remain quiet at her side, a steady presence until Nakya returns with Alexei. Rather than seeing the situation for what it is, he flies off the handle as soon as he comes down the hall.
I rise to meet him, but he isn’t in a state to hear what I have to say. He reacts with his fist first. I dodge the blow, but I’m not a man to back down. I’m prepared to set him in his place when Nakya inserts herself between us, palms raised and face stern.
In Russian, she calmly informs us that this is not the time or place, redirecting our focus to Talia. It takes a full minute to register that she’s speaking my mother tongue. My little liar is quite at ease with the language, but articulates as most novices do, slowly and succinctly. She chose an inopportune time to pull her trick out of the hat, so for now, I leave it alone.
She was right to redirect our attention back to Talia, and I hope that Alexei will see it that way too. Like me, his temper often gets the best of him, and he finds it difficult to admit when he’s wrong. Not wanting to further upset Talia, we opt to continue our conversation in a mishmash of Russian and English.
“I should kill you for even daring to look at my wife,” Alexei says.
“Do what you must.” I sigh. “I was comforting her as you should have been, instead of playing this game you continue to play.”
Alexei looks at his wife, and still, his default reaction is to doubt her loyalty.
“If you wish to punish someone, Lyoshka, then it needs to be me. Not her. She has done nothing wrong, yet you treat her as if—”
“Do not tell me how to conduct myself. This is my marriage. My business.”
“I am not telling you as a Vor,” I say. “I am telling you as your brother. This is not the man I know.”
Silence settles over us. Alexei appears bewildered by my open admission of our shared DNA. He believes it to be Sergei’s greatest shame, but he should know it’s not mine.
“It’s time we put an end to this, bratan.”
He thrusts out his chest, and his mouth twists into a scornful smile. “Yes, I believe it is.”
There is no mistaking the words as a threat. He outranks me, and he has Viktor’s favor. It would take very little from Alexei’s mouth to turn Viktor’s opinion of me. If he ever chose to disclose my indiscretion with Katya, the pakhan would order my death without a second thought.
“I am sorry for the way that I went about things with Katya,” I say. “But I don’t regret doing it, Lyoshka. She had you fooled.”
“We are not discussing this,” he answers.
“You have to know that if you married her, she would have ruined your reputation within the Vory.”
“It’s your reputation that should be ruined,” Alexei sneers. “You may have Sergei’s approval, but you are not a man of honor. You are undeserving of the stars you bear.”
If the insult had come from any other man, I would have cut his throat. But this is my brother, and I am tired of this battle between us. I am tired of our wasted words.
“You have always been jealous of me, bratan.”
Alexei is prepared to deliver another equally vicious blow with his tongue when I raise my hand. “And I have always been jealous of you.”
He does not answer, and I doubt he believes me. The worst part of the cruel words Sergei gifted his first son is that Alexei believes them. If his father says he’s defective, it must be true. If his father says he’s worthless, how can he argue that? To compound the problem, Sergei’s affection for me has only added to his troubles.
“I am deeply sorry for any pain I have caused you, Lyoshka. Whatever you choose to do, I will respect your decision as a man and a Vor. If you must send me to my death so that you can have peace, then I implore you to do it. But I am done with this war between us.”
My appeal is genuine, and I hope that Alexei can recognize that. But he does not give me an answer, and we are left without a resolution entirely when Katya makes an appearance. As always, her timing is not ideal. But I refuse to give her one minute of my time or attention as I join Nakya at her side.
“Your wife looks ill,” Katya observes. “You must allow my maid to watch over her so you can come back and enjoy the party, Lyoshka.”
She is dangling the line, but Alexei does not bite.
He looks at Talia, and his eyes soften. “I am taking her home.”
“But you can’t,” Katya insists. “There is still so much more to come. I have worked so hard on the planning—”
“My wife is more important than your party,” he says. “She is the most important woman in my life.”
The car ride home with Nakya is about as pleasant as I expected it to be. She’s either tired or angry, but if I had to venture a guess, it isn’t difficult to decide where the dice fall.
It was not my finest moment, using her in the bathroom, only to abandon her for Ana moments later. There are probably many things I should say in this situation, but there is only one thing I can do.
I can’t afford to give her hope when none lives. I won’t do her the dishonor of lying about our doomed relationship. But it doesn’t change the fact that the thought of her with anyone else blinds me with jealous rage. She has every right to hate me. She has earned that right. But maybe just once, I would like to see honest affection in her eyes.
When we walk through the front door, she is prepared to go her own way. But I take her hand in mine, leading her up the stairs and down the hall.
“What are you doing?” she asks.
Her body is weary. I took her roughly today, and she is probably sore, but I suspect she’s more likely suffering from her indifference at this moment.
“You will stay in my room tonight,” I tell her.
“Why?”
I reach out to touch her face. The face of an enchantress with the eyes of an angel. I have never seen a beauty quite like hers before. Her eyes flutter closed as my fingers learn the line of her jaw, and when my thumb drags over her lips, her breath escapes her.
“If you were my wife, I would worship you every day.”
“But I’m not your wife,” she says. “And I never will be.”
“For tonight, let us forget that it’s true.” I enclose her in my arms, and she does not argue.
Her resistance fades as the minutes pass and I kiss her purely for the sake of kissing her. When my fingers move to the knot of silk at the nape of her neck, she shivers. We’ve been through this already tonight, but this time is different.
I release the straps, and then her zipper. The silk falls around her feet, and I couldn’t recreate this image with all the paint in the world. She looks beautiful in red. But she is a goddess divine when she’s naked.
Her breasts are small and firm, and her ballet practice has given her no use for bras, which I like very much. A woman should be available to her man, and my Nakya is always available to me. Her legs are long and lean, strong enough to squeeze the life out of me when I’m fucking her. She is a canvas unlike any I’ve ever seen, and it pains that she doesn’t know her value. Great pieces of art can be unappreciated, but such is not the case with her. I’ve stolen many priceless things in my life, but nothing as priceless as her.
“Come.” I thread her fingers through mine and lead her to the bed.
Pulling back the covers, I gesture for her to get in, but she hesitates, seeking out the meaning of this. I would tell her, if I knew it myself.
“Stay with me tonight,” I implore.
She does not give in easily. Her eyes are sharp, and her armor is still intact.
“How many women have you brought here?” she asks.
Her jealousy stirs my dick to life, even though I’m too spent to take her again. “You’ll be the first.”
She purses her lips, and I know she doesn’t believe me.
“I do not bring women into this room, Nakya. The only women who have been in this room now total two. You and Nonna. But I’m afraid I must divulge that she does not warm my bed, she only makes it.”
For a few long breaths, she is completely still. When she finally crawls into my bed, I’m tempted to tie her up and keep her here forever. But for now, tonight will have to do.
I undress while she watches, her face propped on her hand, the sheet pulled up just above her nipples. I remove everything but my briefs and lie down beside her.
For a moment, we don’t touch. We don’t move. I’m not even sure she’s breathing, but I know I’m not. It’s more intimate to bring a woman to my bed without the intention of having sex. I’m not even certain I know how to begin.
“I think it’s good what you told your brother tonight.” Her words fill up the cavernous space, and it’s not what I want to discuss, but I suppose it’s better than lying like a corpse next to her.
“We have a strained relationship. I doubt what I said will matter.”
“I think he will forgive you.”
I don’t answer because I’m not as hopeful.
“What were you trying to warn Talia about?” she asks.
I look at her. She is my captive, and rightfully, she doesn’t need to know these things, but I can’t think of any good reason to keep them from her.
“You understand this world. You know that honor comes above all else, yes?”
“Yes.”
“The pakhan did not believe my father was being an honorable man. He demanded that I cut off his ear, and I did. But my father is misguided in his anger, and instead of blaming himself or even me, he finds fault with Alexei.”
“Oh.” Nakya frowns. “Would he ever hurt Talia?”
“Sergei?”
She nods.
“I would like to say that I know for certain, but I don’t. He is a skilled liar, and I have often questioned his true character.”
“He hides it from you?”
“It’s hard to tell sometimes.”
The admission is an honest one, and more than I should give her. I can’t trust that she isn’t just fishing for information to use against me later, but I would like to believe that Nakya has more honor than that herself.
“And what about Katya?”
“What about her?”
“You also made a point to warn Talia about her.”
“Only because she has her sights set on Alexei. She is rabid for a high-ranking Vory husband, and she is delusional enough to believe that she can destroy their marriage and take him for her own.”
“It looked like he was not the only one she was after this evening.”
Her words are tainted with possession, and it encourages me to lean over and kiss her again.
“She only wants me for my rank,” I murmur against her lips. “But it makes no difference now.”
Her eyes fall shut, and I said the wrong thing.
“No, I suppose it doesn’t. Viktor won’t let you marry her when Ana is up for offer.”
Pillow talk extinguished, the room is quiet again. My eyes are heavy, and I can think of nothing else to do, so I pull her into my arms and bury my face against her neck, inhaling her.
“Go to sleep, zvezda. Tomorrow is a new day.”