Ineededto deescalate this.
“Fine,” my father said. His shoulders relaxed, and hope bloomed in my chest. I knew that tell.
I could handle this. I’d calmed him down before. Not every angry night with my father had ended in violence, and I’d make sure this one didn’t.
“No,” Dmitri said, his lethal eyes pinned on my father.
My father was too drunk to notice how close to death he was dangling. It was my turn to yank him away from the edge even though I wanted to push him off myself.
“It’s okay,” I said to Dmitri, my voice pleading.
Sour breath wafted from my father as he waited for Dmitri to respond. That was a good sign, when he was patient I could usually salvage his mood.
I took a deep breath. I could do this.
Dmitri’s eyebrows furrowed together as he studied me.
“Five minutes,” he said, his voice final.
I ushered my father into a small white room.
The moment the door closed, I realized my estimates had been wrong. I knew thatexactpinch of his mouth.
It was only because of Dmitri’s training that I was able to dodge his first punch.
“Ignoring your own father?” he snarled. “I never should've had you. You’re such a fuckingbitch.”
The next time, his fist connected with my ribs.
I stumbled backwards, pain lancing through my skin.
“Stop,” I gasped, even though that word had never stopped him before.
He backhanded me, and this time I couldn’t keep my balance. I crashed against a wooden table and slammed onto the ground.
Exhaustion replaced the pain as I stared up at him from the floor. I'd spent my entire life being strong as he’d pummeled me. Always covering up the bruises and ignoring the pang when both my parents refused to acknowledge what had happened.
My head rolled against the cold floor as I looked into the hate-filled eyes of my father.
Weariness stabbed deep into my bones as I imagined continuing to pretend that everything was alright. Lying to everyone that I was fine when I was the furthest thing from it.
Tears splashed down my throbbing cheeks as I thought back to all the nights that I’d wondered if this would be the night he killed me.
After my brother’s death, I’d tried to protect my mother just like he had…
But Icouldn’tshoulder this alone anymore. It was time for me to stop trying to handle everything on my own, and lean on the only person in my life who I trusted with my entire soul.
I sucked in a deep breath, ignoring the ache in my lungs, and yelled, “Dmitrihelp me.”
Chapter sixty-nine
Dmitri
Alisa’s high-pitched cry pierced the chatter in the room before it was swallowed by ambient chatter. The terrified plea in her voice nearly froze me in place, but I pushed through and sprinted towards her voice.
It felt like our hearts were connected by a piano wire, and if anything were to happen to hers, my own would cease to exist. God, I’d been so delusional to have ever doubted that I loved her.
I wrenched open the door. My vision went red when I saw her curled up on the floor with a broken table underneath her.
