I love you,
Evie
I check my watch, feeling the worry start to rise when I see it’s close to noon. I have no idea what time she left, but I’m guessing she should’ve been back by now. I text her, and when she doesn’t respond, I call. When that goes straight to voicemail, everything inside me grows cold. I run to the bathroom and then throw on some clothes while I text my brothers, telling them what happened and then sending them her address. Before I leave, I grab my gun and the baseball bat that’s propped in the corner of my closet.
Vasily’s text comes right as I step on the elevator.We’re on our way.
I barely register any of my surroundings as I walk through the building and get in my car. The drive to her dad’s is a blur, and when I see the red Mini Cooper in the driveway, I let out the breath I’d been holding. I’ve replayed a million different scenarios on the way over here—none of them good. I don’t know what I’ll do if I walk in there and he’s hurt her, or worse. I know my brothers are going to be pissed I didn’t wait, but I can’t not go in, not when I know she’s in danger. The motorcycle isn’t around, so I’m assuming Lyle’s still at his house. Grabbing my bat, I get out and walk to their front door. Pausing, I press closer and see if I can hear anything. After a few seconds, I hear a man yell, “You stupid fucking whore!” right before there’s a loud smack of flesh hitting flesh and Evie’s scream of pain.
And that’s when I officially lose my shit.
Throwing open the door, I grip the bat and rush inside. My instincts take over, forcing me to give the room a quick scan to make sure we really are alone, and when I see it’s clear, I follow the screams of pain, running past the small living room and into the hall. The sight that greets me is something I’ll never forget. Evie falls to the floor from a punch her dad’s just given her, and after she’s on the ground and trying to curl into a ball, he pulls his leg back like he’s going to kick her. I don’t give him the chance.
“Back the fuck away from her,” I yell, closing the distance between us and punching his surprised face as soon as he turns around. The loud pop of his jaw dislocating does nothing to quell my rage. He falls to the floor like a fucking baby, clutching at his face. Men like him are always so quick to dish out pain and always such fucking pussies when they have to experience it for themselves.
“Evie,” I say, kneeling down by her and brushing her hair out of her face. Her nose is bloody but not broken, and there’s already a couple of new bruises forming on her face. She clutches at my arms, crying so hard I can barely understand her.
“I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have come here alone. I thought he’d be gone.”
I pick her up and kiss her temple. “It’s okay, baby. It’s not your fault.”
Vasily and Volodya rush in a second later, guns drawn, and when they see that we’re okay, Vasily says in Russian, “Are you trying to give me a goddamn heart attack?”
“I couldn’t wait. He was beating her.”
He scrubs a hand through his hair and looks over at her dad, who’s still moaning and trying to get to his feet, and then looks at Evie. “Is she okay?”
“Yeah, he got a few hits, but I was able to stop him before it got any worse.”
“Why do your brothers have guns?” Evie whispers in my ear.
I sigh and ignore the pointed look Volodya gives me when he realizes that I still haven’t told her the whole truth about us. Turning to Evie, I say, “I’ll explain later. First, I need to take care of your father.”
“What are you going to do?” Her eyes are wide when she looks from me to her dad and then to my brothers.
Instead of answering, I say, “He hurt youagain, and if I hadn’t walked in when I did, you’d be in the hospital,at least, Evie. He could’ve killed you.” Just thinking about it has me almost in a rage. I set her down, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her in for a hug as I kiss her head. “I need you to go wait on the porch.”
“What? No.” She shakes her head and looks up at me like I’ve lost my mind. “What are you going to do to him?”
“I’m going to fucking kill him,” I say, hearing Vasily and Volodya give a joined groan at how badly I’m handling this.
“You can’t kill him,” she says, taking a step away from me. Her eyes fall on her dad, and I see the war going on behind her eyes. She hates him, but he’s still her dad, and she can’t just turn her back on him, no matter how much she may want to.
I sigh and shoot Vasily a scathing look when he mutters in Russian “Compromise” in a singsong voice.
Hooking a finger under Evie’s chin, I tilt her face up to mine, groaning at the sight of her beaten face. I run a finger under her nose, wiping away the blood before showing her the bloody finger as evidence.
“He hurt you, Evie, and I will not just walk away and let that go.”
“You broke his jaw,” she whispers.
“It’s not enough.”
“Please don’t kill him,” she finally says, turning those big, brown eyes up at me. “I have my reasons for not wanting him dead. I’m leaving, and I’m never coming back. It’s enough, Valeri. We can just leave.”
“Not good enough,” I repeat, because I need vengeance. I’ll never be able to look at myself again if all this asshole gets is a broken jaw. I run my thumb over her newly bruised cheek. “We’re compromising right now because we’re in a relationship, and I love you.” I resist looking over at my brothers, both of whom I’m guessing are trying to not laugh. They know how badly I want to kill the fucker, and they would be more than happy to end this abusive asshole’s life, but they also know that you can’t just go against the woman you love.
“The compromise,” I continue, “is that I’m not going to kill your piece of shit father, but I am going to break every fucking bone in his hand because he dared to raise it in anger against you.”
