Page 91 of Black Ledger

“I am going to kill him. Who was it?” My brother turned to Kaz.

“No, no, it wasn’t him.” My resistance crumbled.

“Then who the fuck was it, Xen?” Ilya asked.

I had to give it to them—they were all protective of me, not just my brother.

I averted my eyes. How the hell was I supposed to tell them any of it?

Severin punched my date. I ran from him—triggering his primal desires—then I hit him, and he took control, dominating me on the grass of the quad.

He touched me, crossed every line, and my body still betrayed me. Because maybe I didn’t have any lines when it came to Severin Volkov.

Maybe I’d let him touch me however he wanted.

Because I fucking wanted it. I craved it. Craved him.

And then I fucking froze and ruined everything.

There was no version of that I could explain—especially not to my brother.

“Who?” my brother snarled, still holding my chin.

Kaz placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “Let her go, Ilya. This isn’t helping.”

Ilya dropped his hand, but he didn’t step back. “I hope to God he looks worse than you do right now.”

The “he” in question probably felt worse, but he was a mountain, and I was sure he barely had a bruise.

“Where’s Severin?” I asked, looking around.

“He’s not home yet.” Maks stepped up to my other side, leaving me boxed in by my brother and my two closest friends.

Because Severin wasn’t a friend anymore, I didn’t know what he was, but he wasn’t a friend.

My eyebrows scrunched together. “He’s not home yet?”

It’d been an hour since he’d left me.

Fuck. Where was he?

“Answer the fucking question, Xeniya. Who do I have to kill?” My brother crossed his arms in front of me.

“No one, Ilyusha, it’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing.” Kaz pulled a twig out of my hair.

“You’re covered in dirt and bruises.” The vein in Ilya’s forehead pulsed.

“I started a fucking fight with Severin because he punched my date.”

The controlled calm splintered into noise, voices stacking, cutting, and refusing to give way.

Ilya stepped back. “You what⁠—”

“He did what—” Kaz cut in.

Maks blinked. “You went on a date?”