Pale green eyes stared back at us from a hollow face.
“Mom,” Alisa said, her voice quivering.
Mariya Solovyova’s lips pinched together as she stared at her daughter for a moment. When she closed the door, I waited for her to come check on her daughter who was still lying on the floor.
Instead, Mariya put an arm around her drunken husband and asked him, “Are you okay?”
Alisa didn’t even react. She appeared far too used to this scene.
Why was I even surprised at this point? After all, I’d grown up with a mother who would’ve killed me as a child if I had failed to live up to her expectations.
Maybe it was because Alisa had never lost her spark despite growing up with two parents who’d completely failed her. How could she still giggle while I taught her a new recipe, or stare at me with so much love in her eyes despite growing up withthem?
She was a wonder.
And mine to protect.
I leaned down and kissed her forehead. When I pulled away, a sad smile was etched onto her lips.
“You can’t kill him,” she said quietly, the pain in her eyes reflected in her voice. “He planned a hit on my mother ifanythinghappens to him.”
Alisa’s shoulders slumped when she admitted the second part, and the pieces clicked firmly into place. This was the reason she’d sustained her father’s abuse. That was the only reason Alisa hadn’t poisoned him yet.
“Saves me the effort,” I said, glancing at that woman who dared call herself a mother. The woman whostillhadn’t bothered to ask Alisa if she was okay.
“What?” Alisa cried, eyes wide. “No, you can’t hurt her. She’s innocent in all of this!”
“Innocent,” I laughed humorlessly.
There were no innocent people in this world, and to call her mother one of them was delusional. I’d noted the complete lack of surprise on Mariya’s face when she’d spotted the bruise swelling on Alisa’s cheek.
No, even if she hadn’t been the one to throw the punches, that woman was complicit in all of this.
“Mariya, how many times has your husband hit her, and you did absolutely nothing to stop him?” I asked.
Mariya averted her eyes.
As far as I was concerned Alisa would’ve been better off being an orphan than being raised by these two terrible people.
And if I had anything to say about it, she would be after tonight.
I took a step towards them, and Alisa grabbed my arm. “My brother and I could always handle his punches better than she can. She’s… fragile.”
“And you aren’t?” I said, ghosting a finger over the bruise on her face.
I gently disentangled from her grip.
“It was my choice!” Panic bubbled up on Alisa’s face as she spoke in a rush. “She only texted me when it got too bad to handle. I could’ve said no. I could’ve-”
“Mariyaasked youto take your father’s abuse on her behalf?” Everyone froze at my tone.
Chapter seventy
Dmitri
“That isn’t a mother, Alisa,” I said, clenching my hand into a fist to keep from strangling Mariya on the spot. “That’s a fucking monster. She might act like she cares, buteven I knowthat someone who loves you wouldn’t treat you like that.”
Tears dripped down Alisa’s bruised cheek. “I owe it to my brother to take care of her. Please, don’t hurt her.”
