“He’s too proud to apologize, boss,” Renat replies. “You’ll have to either trick or force the truth out of him.”
Amusement flickers within me. He’s not wrong. Gavriil hates anything that has to do with sharing his feelings, which is another reason why he’s nowhere near relationship material.
The thought of him wanting to be with Alina in any sort of romantic capacity is nearly laughable. But concern still stirs deep in my chest at the prospect of that actually happening. If she’s unlocked something in him that’s never seen the light of day. I don’t know how he’s going to react if he falls deeper.
Hopefully things go our way.
“Typical Gavriil.” I sigh. “Of course, the one time he catches feelings… it’s for the woman I love.” I hear a few chuckles to my left and right, but I can hear the sympathy in their laughter.
“What are you going to do?” Petrov asks.
I wrap my fingers around the bars and give the door a light shake, making the metal rattle. “Not much I can do in here but wait.”
“You think Alina can handle him,” Renat states.
“That’s the plan.”
“If she can hold out a little longer, maybe we can figure out how to get out of here and get her away from him,” Renat replies.
But what if she doesn’t want saving when the time comes?
I hate thinking that, but she touched him too. I’ve seen sympathy in her eyes when talking about him. If Gavriil is actually starting to feel things for her, there must be some sort of connection between them.
And if it’s mutual… I may already be too late.
That thought is worse than any kind of torture.
If that’s the case, then Alina might not want to leave him behind. Or let me kill him.
“Unless Gavriil gets us all killed first because he can’t stop the Irish,” Viktor mutters.
As if we don’t already have enough problems to worry about.
“If she convinces him to come to me for help,” I say, keeping my voice low, “you know the first thing I plan to do after he makes the mistake of thinking he’s won.” His men have pissed me off left and right, but we all bleed if the Irish win. And as the newPakhan, I’ll need them all to fight our enemies.
“Finally,” Viktor says making me almost smile. “It’s been a long time coming, boss. He’s been losing support, getting people killed. They’ll all be ready to support you.”
This isn’t about settling a score. It’s about ending a war before it buries us all.
I breathe in steadily, hoping Alina and I are both up for this.
If anyone can get him to break, it’s her. I don’t like what I’m asking of her, but I trust her more than anyone else.
“Alina will come through,” I reply confidently as I step away from the door.
I just don’t know what it’ll cost her to make him bend.
30
Gavriil
I don’t have regrets.
I live with precision and control. There’s no room for error in my life.
The other day proved me wrong.
I regret watching Alina and Dominik.
