Page 42 of Ruby Menace

She pushes me away and stares at me with a mutinous gaze.

“It can wait. Let’s get you out of here first, Ptichka.” I reach for her once more, but she pulls away yet again.

“It cannot wait,” she says. “We’re talking. Now.”

What the fuck is wrong with her?

I’ve just torn through a nest of vipers to get to her, and now she’s recoiling from me like I’m a snake. I’ve been shot at, betrayed, and had my world turned upside down, but none of that matters right now. What matters is that she’s safe. And yet here she is, glaring at me like I’m some sort of monster.

Maybe because that’s what you are, pridurok.

“What’s going on?” I advance a step. She’s on her feet and backing away as I move closer. “Come here. Let’s go home.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you! Not until you tell me the truth about what you did to my family.” Her dark eyes narrow into slits, and for a moment, she looks like a wild animal cornered.

For fuck’s sake!

What is she talking about?

“Your family?” I growl, my patience fraying thinner by the second. “I had nothing to do with your father’s death. You were there. You saw it was Petrov’s men.” I really wish she just obeyed. Every minute we waste here is a minute more for the Petrov gang to regroup. We are wasting time.

“I’m not talking about my father, Kirill.”

My brows pull together. “Then what the fuck are you talking about?”

“What the fuck do you think?” She hisses. “I’m talking about my mother!”

Blyad.

Her mother. I should have known this day would come. Except I was hoping to talk about this in our bedroom, and not in a room full of corpses.

“I never harmed your mother.” I keep my voice gentle despite a sense of urgency building in me. I really want to get the fuck out of here and deal with Petrov’s guys.

“Really? Because your wife seems to think otherwise.” She spits out the word “wife” like it leaves a bad taste in her mouth. It probably does. “She had pretty solid evidence too!”

Evidence?

The world stops spinning for a second. The following second, a burning rage is coursing through my veins like gasoline on fire. My hands clench into fists at my sides, barely restraining myself from going after Zoya and getting her out of my life once and for all.

That bitch!

How fucking dare she?

“Zoya, huh?” The word tastes vile. “What the fuck did she tell you?”

“She told me enough,” she snaps, still backing away from me. I hate that she wants to put distance between us when I’ve just spent the past few hours trying to keep her close. I need to take a few deep breaths to keep my fury at bay.

“Ptichka.” I cock my head, keeping my voice even. “If you are going to convict me, the least you could do is tell me what she said.”

Tiana stops abruptly as she bumps into the wall behind her. Her eyes dart around before she continues, “I’m not convicting you, Kirill. But I need to know the truth. Did you-,” her voice breaks, “did you kill my mother?”

I stop in my tracks as I make sense of her words.

Jesus Christ.

What the fuck did that bitch tell her?

“I did not kill your mother.” With the adrenaline coursing through me, it takes every inch of my will to keep my voice even. I want to snap that bitch in half for deceiving Tiana like this.

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