And that thought fucking hurts because I love my brother. He’s not just my flesh and blood. He’s my second in everything. We’ve always been by each other’s sides.
I know I can be harsh to him, but I just don’t want him to make the mistake of being vulnerable again.
Protecting him doesn’t excuse the damage I’ve done, no matter what I told myself at the time.
I want Dominik to be happy, and if he’s happy with Alina…I’m not going to stand between them.
Even if I want her for myself.
At least she chose me once.
But she’ll choose him tonight, tomorrow, for the rest of her long, happy life.
I drag my hands through my hair, my eyes closing as I remember the sensation of her fingers pulling on the strands. Being with her felt like being revived. She filled my lungs with air. Made my heart race with purpose.
Now that she’s gone, it feels like I’m deflating a little more with each passing minute.
Getting her out of here was the right move to keep her safe, but was giving them a permanent goodbye the right decision?
Was capturing Alina when Archer betrayed us right? Was throwing her in my cage and Dominik in my prison the best thing to do? Should I have even had sex with her when she loves my brother?
None of my previous decisions feel certain now.
I inhale sharply and leave the room. If I stay still any longer, regret will hollow me out before our enemies ever get the chance.
“Eduard,” I call out once I step into the hallway.
Eduard pauses at the top of the staircase, stopping himself before he can descend. He strides over to me, breathing heavily. He’s been nervous around me since the incident in my office with Alina. Since he never actually laid a finger on her, he’s still alive. “Sir?”
“Give me an update.”
Eduard catches his breath, a glimmer of sweat adorning his brow. “Traps have been laid out in the back field. The gate has been strengthened and laced with barbed wire. All locks have been checked. Old, broken ones have been replaced.”
This is essentially our fort. We need to prepare it for battle as best as we can.
“And the prison?”
“When the doors close, they’ll automatically lock,” Eduard says.
Traps and tricky mechanisms will help us outfight our enemies. We just need to guide them to the right spots.
“Have the rest of our weapons arrived?”
Eduard motions for me to follow him into the meeting room, which has been transformed into a supply room. Different types of guns are strewn across the table, and metal crates of other supplies are stacked along the walls.
“We got these today,” Eduard says as he reaches into one of the crates and pulls out a smoke grenade. “Doesn’t matter how many of them there are if none of them can see.”
I nod. “Anything else?”
Eduard puts the smoke grenade back into the crate before reaching into another one. He pulls out a pair of black goggles and hands them over to me. “Since the attack will probably happen at night, we’ll have another advantage over them.”
I lift the goggles and peer through the lenses, seeing a greenish tint. “Night vision.” As if the Irish and Armenians wouldn’t think of the same.
“Yes, sir,” Eduard replies. “I doubt they’ll be as prepared as we’re going to be.”
Every precaution I take is another promise that my men won’t die because of me.
I can only hope that the Irish and Armenians get overly cocky and leave their fancy equipment at home, thinking their numbers will be enough to defeat us.
