“Nah,” Yuri snorts. “That was your brothers.”
My heart tumbles right down into my stomach.
“You knew them?”
“Course I knew them, darlin’. Everyone round here did. They were the life of the party, ever since they were little kids running around here and making havoc out of anything. ”
I haven’t spoken about Fyodor and Pyotr with anyone who knew them in… years.
My parents don’t like to talk about them.
Yuri’s words send hot tears straight to my eyes. He panics as soon as he realizes what’s happening.
“Oh fuck. I didn’t mean to…”
His first reaction is to leave the room. He comes back with a strong cup of black tea and adds a shot of whiskey.
“I don’t drink whiskey,” I protest, wrinkling my nose, but he pushes it across the desk towards me anyway.
“Yeah, but it’ll help. Trust me. You’ve had a strange week, darlin’.”
13
LEKS
This is going to leave bruises. I’m sweating like a pig and we’ve only had one round together.
So. Damn. Worth. It.
Being in the ring with Yuri has me feeling much more alive than I have in months. The pain, the danger, it’s as close to real life as anything has been since I arrived.
Took a while to talk him into it, but he’s certainly not holding back now that we’re fighting.
The usual fight club with the boys on the docks has nothing on this.
I duck a jab from one of those meaty fists.
The next one lands and I know that it’s going to leave a bruise, but the explosion of pain clears my head.
I haven’t told Natalia that it’s getting under my skin. Hearing about what a darling she is with the men at work. When I feel like I’d need a battering ram — actually, make it a fucking tank — to get through one layer of her walls.
That’s what fighting is for.
The pace. The adrenaline. The satisfaction.
When I’m in the ring, there’s nothing but me and survival. I am just an animal who has to get through the next second of existence.
“I like your new wife.”
I already hate where this conversation is going. I twist away, dropping his fist and stepping back. Why don’t I like him talking about her?
“Is that right?”
My jaw is so tense that it’s hard to get the words out.
I go right for his nose, suddenly overcome by rage, but he dodges away. For a giant motherfucker, Yuri is surprisingly light on his feet.
“I know you’re only marrying her for whatever this plan is, Leks. But she’s an attractive girl, no? You can still have a little fun together?”
