Page 113 of Caged

“What night? Tell me and I’ll find her.” It’s hard to talk past the pain.

But I learned a long time ago how to shut it off.

I catch a glimpse of Nikolai trying to shake his head at me.

“Nikolai knows it well.” Ivan clinks two more of the heavy nails in his hand. “It’s the night I burned my friend’s house down with my cheating whore of a wife inside.”

A smirk pulls up his cheek. “And his.” He jerks his thumb towards Nikolai.

No way.

He didn’t.

Not her.

Ivan killed Nikolai’s wife?

Elena’s mom?

It takes everything in me to keep my features neutral, but I still glance over Ivan’s shoulder to see the pain etched on Nikolai’s face.

My chest squeezes for him and a knot forms in my throat.

“She wasn’t a cheater,” Nikolai growls. “She was visiting her father.”

Ivan’s brows tighten and his teeth grit together as he turns quickly toward Nikolai. “Well, he was fucking Ofeliya! They both deserved to die!”

I have a headache from this tailspin ride I’m suddenly on.

But, I’m stuck on the fact that Ivan did that to his own son.

He’s a fucking monster.

“Then why was Zoya there?” I have to redirect him before he tries to punish Nikolai.

Ivan turns back, his bloodshot eyes burn into me and he raises another nail over my leg. “She didn’t understand what I was doing. It was for her own good. So she needed some space.” He presses the point against my thigh.

I hate that he knows exactly where to put them to hurt like hell but not kill me.

“She was coming back. But, I know that Ofeliya stopped her.” His lips pull back in a grimace. “And, if it wasn’t for Mikhail, I would have been able to get her.”

“Mikhail had nothing to do with it!” Nikolai tugs at his restraints, his neck strains with the effort.

Jesus. This whole family dynamic is crazy.

“What happened?” I’m not sure I really want to know. But, I have to push him harder.

Ivan tightens a fist until his knuckles crack inches from my nose. “I burnt that motherfucker to the ground,” he growls.

Before I know it, his hand unfurls and wraps around my throat.

He turns to his son, pulling me with him until my pinned arms stop me. “Maybe I should take this one, too. Huh? You and your brother took my wife and my love. It’s only fair that you should pay the same price.”

His fingers tighten, cutting off my air.

This isn’t the same as when Nikolai does it.

Ivan is terrifying.

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