I felt Alik’s warm body at my back, and he gathered my hair and pushed it over my left shoulder. His mouth moved to my ear. “My sanctuary. Where I can be the man I am. Not the one I’m forced to be out there.”

“And… and what man is that?” I asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.

He pressed kiss after kiss along the side of my neck, sending shivers down my spine. Every part of me was tense. I didn’t understand why he wasn’t screaming at me. This quieter Alik was too unnerving.

“Free,” he replied, making me jump.

My eyes drifted to the unmade bed, and I felt sick. “You fuck women here?”

Alik’s lips froze and in seconds I was spun round by his hard grip on my biceps and slammed against the nearest wall. His harsh stare bore into mine, cold and unfeeling.

“They’re not you, Myshka. They were whores. You’re my woman, my whole fucking life.” Darkness clouded Alik’s crazed red eyes and he leaned so far forward that the back of my head ground against the hard wall. “At least you were. Until you fucking betrayed me. Opened your fucking whoring legs.”

Alik’s voice was quiet, too quiet, the softness deceiving. His head twitched and his jaw ticked as he lifted the Beretta and ran it down my cheek. He suddenly looked broken, completely devastated.

“How could you, Myshka? How could you fuck that cunt, baby? How could you let him into what’s mine?”

“Alik—” I tried to speak, but Alik moved the gun over my lips, shaking his head as his other hand wrenched up my dress and cupped roughly against my pussy.

“Shh, Myshka,” he whispered. “You betrayed me. You opened your legs to that fucker Raze. You made me angry. At you, Myshka. You hurt me. The only one who can keep me calm, the only one who gets me.”

I shook my head, my breath coming too fast. “No! Alik!” I protested and tentatively lifted my shaking hand to rest on his cheek. As soon as my palm met his skin, his eyes closed and he took a deep breath, his head nuzzling into my flesh.

“Baby,” I whispered, needing to keep him calm while my heart thundered to the point I thought it would fail to function from over-exhaustion. “I know… I know what you did… to Rodion… to Luka…”

Alik’s head stilled in my palm and his gaze darted to mine, the whites of his eyes unusually bright. Then, eyes narrowed, he said, “What the fuck are you talking about?”

Tears blurred my vision and my bottom lip quivered. “I know… I know it was you who killed Rodion… I know your papa ordered you to kill him so you could be the heir to the Pakhan.”

Alik’s nostrils flared and his lips set into a tight line. “Really? You found this out?” he asked, his thoughts unreadable through his indifferent tone.

Swallowing, I said, “And you framed Luka, stabbed yourself in the stomach… and your papa faked Luka’s death.” I saw the flinch in Alik’s eyes, and my heart skipped a beat.

He didn’t know Luka wasn’t in that accident… My God! He believed he was dead. That meant…

He didn’t know Raze was Luka.

He didn’t know I’d been sleeping with Raze because he was Luka.

Alik quickly schooled his features. “Luka died, Kisa.”

“But you killed Rodion? Put the blame on Luka?” I sniffed and wiped at the tears on my cheek. “You stabbed yourself to ensure everyone believed Luka had flipped and killed Rodion.” I met his gaze and said, “All because you wanted me to yourself?”

Alik’s stern expression melted and he looked at me again with that disturbingly possessive adoration, his gun-free hand lifting from my pussy to push back my hair.

“You’re mine, baby. You know that. And Luka was getting in my way. He was always there, touching you… touching what I knew was mine.”

I held my breath and squeezed my eyes shut. I felt Alik’s warm breath splay across my skin, and the barrel of his gun ran down my neck to lie over my breasts.

“Rodion needed to die, Kisa. He would never have been a Pakhan. He wasn’t strong enough. I am. And I knew I’d have you by my side. It has made the Bratva feared more than any other mob on the East Coast.”

I dropped my arm to my side, removing my hand from his face. My brother, Luka… Alik had zero remorse. He was proud of what he’d done.

“You are insane,” I whispered, my throat feeling too tight to breathe in much-needed air. “I just never let myself see it before.”

Alik smiled but backed away, aiming his gun in front of him, shifting its target from my head to my heart and back again.

“Insane, baby?” Alik said coldly and stepped forward, my body filling with dread. “You haven’t seen anything. Because, Myshka, until now, you’ve always been my little mouse. My fucking light, the beat to my heart. The only thing I could love as much as killing.”

Alik stepped closer still and ran his hand up my arm, then brutally gripped my bicep, squeezing until I screamed out in pain. Alik’s face was right before mine, his expression blank.

“That was until you fucking betrayed me and fucked that asshole.”

My eyes widened and he nodded. “You thought people weren’t going to realize you were missing? The Byki reported your empty room last night, so I followed you tonight, Myshka. Followed you right to that fuck Raze… and then to Brighton Beach of all places.” His jaw clenched. “I fucking hate that place.”