“I missed you too.” My eyes pan to the other two men staring at us and then Rodion seems to remember we’re not alone.
Clearing his throat, Rodion says, “You remember our cousin Ven and our father Andru?”
“Alyona, a pleasure.” Andru eats the space between us and takes my hand kissing over the knuckles, noting the bruises there but not speaking of them.Yuri had a hard face.Andru’s hand is covered in tattoos, and a silver ring sits on his thumb. The suit he’s wearing was clearly tailor made for him, teasing at the powerful body that lays beneath.
“I hear I have a granddaughter,” he says instead and the bubble of nerves that always comes when my baby is mentioned simmers under the surface of my skin.
Flashes of the man in that cell flicker through my mind and I snatch my hand back, placing it in my pocket. He notices my reaction and tilts his head observing me suspiciously.
“Where the hell were you?” Z demands, completely ignoring the others in the room and directing all his energy toward me.
Andru takes a seat at the table, raising an eyebrow, intrigued and keenly aware of the tension, taking in the dynamics between us. Ignoring him, my thirsty eyes drink in my madmen, capturing every exquisite detail, acutely aware of how much I love them both with every thud of my heart.
Before I can answer, Ven cuts in abruptly. “Yuri is dead.”
My head whips so fast to him a pain shoots up the back of my neck and spreads over my scalp.
“What?” Both twins speak at once and Andru pulls out his phone flitting his eyes over it.
My mind swims and my eyes lose focus for a moment.How does Ven know what I did?
“Diana, just texted me the news. Irina called her. They don’t want anyone to know outside of the family. It happened yesterday.” He looks over at us and begins laughing, loud and boisterous. “The old cunt is fucking dead.”
My heart skitters and I swallow down the dizzying information.
Andru tips a glass to his lips, draining the contents, but I’m highly aware of my madmen. Their intense gaze bores into me like they’re burrowing inside and reading all my secrets.
“Alyona?” Z breathes, searching my eyes for confirmation.
Yes, yes it was me. I killed the evil bastard who stole two years of our lives.
“Heart attack. Of all the possibilities that could have taken him out, it was his own cold heart that ultimately led to his demise,” Ven remarks, his tone casual, utterly unaware of the heavy tension in the air. Ven glances down at his phone, his brow furrowing slightly as he adds, “I should call Vlad. Excuse me for a minute.” With that, he turns and walks out of the room, his footsteps echoing softly on the wooden floor as we remain rooted in awkward silence.
“Where were you? Was this you?” Z whispers, taking my elbow and guiding me to one of the dining chairs.
“Have you been somewhere, Alyona?” Andru asks, still watching the way his sons are acting and the questions they’re asking.
“I had something important to take care of, but it’s done now,” I assure them all.
“It was you,” Rodion says in astonishment. “I can’t fucking believe you risked yourself like that. I want to punish you and please you all at once.”
“How?” Z asks and I place a finger to my lips and jerk my chin in the direction Ven went, because he went to call Vlad fucking Vasilev, his best friend, and Yuri’s son.
“He’s gone outside.” Andru nods to the kitchen window. “You can speak freely.”
Sure enough, Ven is pacing the green lawn, his phone pinned to his ear.
“I find it incredibly hard to believe you could have been involved in Yuri’s death,” Andru states.
I work to control the rising heat of my temper and scoff. “Good, let’s hope everyone believes that.” I feel both offended and disgusted by a man who could keep not just a prisoner, but his son’s brother, under Yuri’s watch for nearly two decades. Allowing Yuri to hold information that could shake the twins’foundation is inexcusable. It’s no wonder he is so cautious about taking action against Yuri.
“You really did it.” Z laces his hands behind his head staring at me like I’m the ninth wonder of the world. “How?”
“I heard it was a heart attack.” I shrug, running my hands through Rodion’s hair enjoying the weight of him and ignoring the fire racing up my leg from the cut Yuri sliced into me. Exhaustion washes over me being in their presence as a peace settles in my chest. Would it be rude to tell Andru to fuck off so we can be alone for some of the punishment and pleasure Rodion mentioned?
“I would have loved to have seen him suffer,” Z comments.
“Yes, it’s a shame he didn’t die from something more befitting, like a beating, some bladed weapon perhaps, or some of the punishments he likes to dish out, likechokingon a dick,” I say sweetly. And Andruchokeson his drink. “Or all of the above.” I wink.
