“You’re my fucking brother! If it wasn’t your place, whose place was it?”
“That doesn’t give you the right to touch my wife!”
“Oh, you don’t give a shit about her, Max. She’s practically throwing herself at you, and you’re so busy hating her. Now we are fucked until one of them gets pregnant.”
“What?”
Lazar hesitated, looking away. “It was part of the deal. The Utkins have a time limit. And since I’m not fucking my bitch wife and you ain’t fucking yours, I had to do something.”
The quiet settled in around them, and Maxim didn’t know how to process or accept the fact that a child that wasn’t even in existence would one day be taken away from him.
“They gave us a year.”
Maxim stepped forward. “Or what, Lazar?”
“They’ll kill us.”
Maxim clenched his teeth, tightening his finger on the trigger. Lazar had never done anything so disappointing. It was a spiral he didn’t recognize, perhaps created by his cheating wife, but Lazar had done nothing like this before.
Kira interrupted. “And you believe that? You don’t think my father would have something to say?”
Lazar glared. “Your name doesn’t always help you. Sometimes it puts a compelling target on your back, and they won’t always be afraid of your daddy.” When Trina made a move for the exit, Lazar called after her. “Where are you going?”
“I’m leaving.” She shot over her shoulder.
Lazar collapsed on the stairs, leaning back. “Got to get fucked by the end of the night,” he mumbled.
Trina whirled around. “I told you it’s over.”
“Doesn’t really matter what you say, does it?”
Maxim didn’t care for their bickering. He pulled Lazar up by the shirt and punched him hard in the face. The man groaned and held his bleeding nose. “That’s for touching my wife.” Maxim grabbed him again and punched him again, letting him drop hard on the floor. “That’s for making a ridiculous bargain. You’re gonna undo it, you hear me?”
Lazar spat blood as he attempted to sit up. “I can’t.”
“That better not be true. And you better fucking fix it. Now get the fuck out of my house.” Maxim only gave Lazar a second to struggle before he lifted the man to his feet, nearly dragging him out. “And if you ever look at my wife again, I’ll shoot you in the fucking cock.” He tossed his brother out and then slammed the door.
The rage wasn’t smothered. He wanted to do more damage, but Kira popped into his head, and he swung around to find her. He darted back down the hallway and saw her picking up the marble horse statue and putting it back softly on the shelf. Herfingers ran over it. The quiet continued, and he wondered what she was thinking about.
He stepped closer, “Kira–”
Her name only brought pain, and she darted for the door, but he had her arm, pulling her in front of him. She fought, twisting and shoving, tears spilling down her cheeks. But he kept hold of her, as gently as he could, unrelenting.
She shook her head, pushing against him. “No. No.”
“Would you please stop?”
“No!” Kira shoved him. “From the very beginning, you believed I was this cold-hearted liar. And all I wanted was to be loved. You twisted me into a monster, and you thought I was capable of horrible things. All because of my name. It’s not my fault my father does what he does. It’s not my fault I was born to this family. But you blame me. You blame me and hate me, and you don’t want me.”
“I want you,” he admitted, and for a moment she didn’t speak, staring wide-eyed at him.
She shook her head. “You almost believed him. I saw it. You almost believed I’d cheat on you. How could you think that of me?”
“Because I’ve seen it before. With Trina and my mother. I put their faults on you. And I shouldn’t have.”
But Kira shook her head. “I don’t care.”
“What would you have me do? I believe you.” He took hold of her face, gripping her cheeks so her eyes could look nowhere else but his. “I believe you.”
