When Mariya laced her fingers through Viktor’s meaty ones, Alisa’s strength crumbled as she realized that the person she’d been protecting all these years had never really loved her.
I spun her into my chest, and she shattered in my arms.
“Breathe,” I whispered into her ear when she started hyperventilating. “Breathe with me.”
I stroked Alisa’s hair while Mariya and Viktor stared at me with apprehension. They saw the man who could end their entire existence, but they’d miscalculated. The person they’d always neglected was the only one that could save them.
And she’d finally realized they weren’t worth it.
“What can I do, kitten?” I asked when her breathing synced up with mine, and her sobs had calmed to hiccups.
“I just want to go home…”
Her voice sounded so small and vulnerable. All I wanted to do was wrap Alisa up in a blanket, and give her favorite book to her so she could get lost in another world.
Alisa’s eyes flicked to her parents, and then back to me. Her big blue eyes held my own like I was a lifeline in a turbulent sea.
“...And I don’t want to ever see them again.”
“You won’t have to,” I vowed, already visualizing all the ways they’d suffer.
But the sound of flesh being ripped from the bone, and the pointless screams for mercy wouldn’t disturb her. I scooped Alisa up in my arms and allowed her to leave her past in its soon-to-be final resting place.
Tomorrow, I’d turn that pure white room into a Pollock of blood. I’d make Viktor pay for each and every tear that ever dripped down Alisa’s cheek. I’d make him relive the nightmares that kept Alisa up at night, and I’d drag it out for as many hours as I could keep him alive.
Mariya would be forced to listen to the man she loved beg for me tokill his wife instead. Because at the end of the day, that’s all Viktor was: a coward who loved only himself.
Those sad excuses for parents would pay for their sins, but Alisa wouldn’t have to witness a moment of it.
She’d experienced enough pain for a lifetime, and I’d make sure she’d have no new nightmares.
Chapter seventy-one
Alisa
When we returned to the apartment, Dmitri held me as the weight of the day threatened to crush me. Each brush of his hand across my damp face left traces of warmth. Soon, Dmitri’s shirt was completely drenched by my tears, but I didn’t feel embarrassed or the need to hide.
A couple of times, I noticed him stroking his switchblade with vengeance in his eyes, but he didn’t leave my side.
He kissed my forehead and told me he loved me.
I held onto those three words along with the mumbled promises into my hair. As the tears flowed, I finally allowed myself to acknowledge my pain, and truly mourn for the child they’d hurt.
With each memory, I gripped tighter onto Dmitri. My pain was reflected in his eyes, and I knew that even though it might take time for me to heal, he’d be with me every step of the way.
The next day, Dmitri arrived home late with a new book series for me to read. It didn’t escape my attention that he was wearing a completely different suit than the one he’d left the house in that morning.
I had no doubt, it’d been ruined with the blood of my parents. And yet I couldn’t find any tears to mourn them.
“I love you,” I said, nestling into his safe, warm chest.
“I love you, too. You deserved better than them.”
Both our phones buzzed at the same time, stealing the response from my mind. Reluctantly, I reached into my pocket.
As I read the contents of the text, not even the reassuring feel of his body could keep me from trembling.
The last test.
