Page 141 of Emerald Malice

Viktor will kill him if he comes in here. Misha is tough, but he’s just a boy. If Misha intervenes, Viktor will hurt him. And tough as I know Misha can be, I also know that he won’t stand a chance against a full-grown man. Especially one with as much rage as Viktor.

Go, I mouth to him. Please.

For a second, I don’t think he’s going to listen.

Then he turns around and runs.

I sigh in relief, and Viktor groans. “I knew you’d like it. I’m gonna fuck my brother right out of your system.”

50

ANDREY

“I’ve dug as much as I dared, boss.” Gedeon is whispering into the phone. I have no idea where he is right now, but there must be other people nearby. “Asking too many questions could raise suspicions. I don’t wanna blow my cover.”

Gedeon is undercover on the far periphery of Nikolai Rostov’s operation, picking up scraps of info that turn out to be red herrings or smoke in the wind more often than not. Still, it took careful planning and some serious stealth to get him even that close. I’m reluctant to jeopardize that for the sake of a brooding teenager.

So, discouraging as that is, it’s what I expected.

“You made the right call,” I say with a sigh. “If there was anything worth knowing, I’m sure we’d know it by now. But keep your eyes open just in case.”

I hang up with Gedeon and try to get back to work, but Remi keeps barking outside.

It’s the first time I’ve heard him all day. Ever since Misha started his tutoring, the two of them spend all of their time in the makeshift classroom I had set up for him.

I turn around, expecting to see Natalia and Misha out there fawning over the beast, but Remi is alone. Weird. Since the moment Remi arrived on the property, he’s been glued to either Natalia or Misha. So where are they?

As if in answer to my question, my door bursts open and Misha careens into my office, sweating and panting.

“N-Natalia,” is all he manages to get out.

It’s enough.

“Where is she?”

Misha turns and starts running again. He’s fast, but I keep up easily, following the boy all the way through the house to Mila’s wing.

I know things are serious because Misha, despite being calm and level-headed since he arrived here, is frantic. Still, I’m expecting a medical episode—low blood sugar or something to do with the baby.

What I’m not expecting is to find my sack-of-shit brother groping the pregnant mother of my child.

Rage like I’ve never known floods through me, turning my vision red.

I’m not murderous. That word doesn’t do it justice. It would make light of the way I want to shred my brother into pieces and burn them. The way I want to wipe him off the face of the Earth so no one will ever remember his name.

Natalia whimpers, angling as far away from Viktor as she can. Her face is ashen, frozen in horror at the hands of the motherfucker I’m forced to call my brother. Viktor is so intent on his prey that he doesn’t notice his audience.

Huge mistake.

I grab his neck with every intention of snapping it in my palm and rip him away. Natalia wilts, crumpling to the floor where Misha hurries to catch her.

She’s safe, I tell myself. It’s the only way I can look away from her and deal with the human scum at my feet.

Viktor is bleary-eyed and dazed. Drunk. It’s no excuse, though. I’ve made too many excuses for him over the years, but never again.

He opens his mouth, perhaps to apologize or beg for his life. I have no idea which and I don’t give two fucks.

Before he can do either, I drag him to his feet, only to knock him down again with a solid blow to his face.

---