The moment Mikhail—thepakhan—finds out.
There won’t be anywhere for her to hide.
My gaze sweeps over her again, catching the bruises, the scratches, the signs of a struggle. A black fury roars up so fast I have to clamp my teeth together to keep from stomping over and putting my boot through his ribs.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what he tried to do to her.
But thepakhanand the rest of the Kovalyov Bratva won’t give a shit about self-defense.
Maybe it’s my lingering rage at him coloring my judgment… But I want to help her.
My mother’s swollen face, as it appeared an hour ago, flashes through my mind. Another set of haunted eyes. A lifetime of watching him break her in a hundred ways. The familiar lifelong rage spikes high and bright.
In a split second, I make the decision that the bastard isn’t worth Sera’s life. I’ll be damned if I let my father’s last act be destroying another innocent girl.
“Sera, right?” I keep my voice soft.
Her eyebrows twitch, a tiny, betraying movement at the fact I know her name.
I keep my hands away from my body, movements slow. I don’t want to startle her. We don’t have time for a full-blown panic spiral.
“We met last summer. At Elite Security.” I watch a faint tremor ripple along her arms. “I was there to help with the clean-up after your brother’s girlfriend was rescued.”
Her shoulders sag for half a heartbeat, then lock again. Her clenched fists float slightly higher, still ready to defend.
“Liev Kovalyov,” she rasps.
She remembers my name. It shouldn’t make me feel anything, but something in my chest loosens anyway.
“Looks like you’re having a bad night.”
Her mouth trembles, and her gaze darts over her shoulder to where my father and Petyr lie.
“He… he…” She swallows hard. The fight drains out of her, and in its place, I see something I hate—a hollow, defeated look. “I didn’t…”
Her eyes flicker, searching for some kind of exit that doesn’t exist.
Then she lets out a hiccupped giggle followed by another, even as her eyes grow luminous with tears.
“Sera.” I snap, and she bites her lip hard enough I’m worried she’s going to be bloody there, too.
She’s obviously on the verge of falling apart. I ignore the unfamiliar sensation inside my chest at her obvious distress.
“I don’t doubt my father deserved what you did and more. But we don’t have much time. We need to get him—and you—out of here before there are any witnesses.”
Her face crumples, and the horrified sound that tears from her—half gasp, half sob—rips something wide open inside me.
I never want to hear that raw, broken noise come from her lips ever again.
Damn it. Alex is contagious.
“Yourfather?” Her voice breaks on the word. She jolts as if she might bolt, and I talk fast.
“In name only.” I hold her gaze. “He was a bastard. I was on my way here to kill him myself.”
It’s an exaggeration, but not much of one. If I’d gotten him alone tonight, I honestly don’t know how it would have ended.
“I need your help. Can you keep it together for a little longer?” I hold her gaze. “We need to get his body—” I cut myself off, glancing at the other corpse. “Sorry—bodies—out of here.”
