Page 84 of Alik

His eyes find mine. “I was born into the brotherhood by my father’s blood.” He leans back in his chair and places his hand on mine while a sigh rushes past his lips. “There was a time when I felt it was an honor to work for the Petrov family, but believe me, running away with you sounds great right about now.”

The Petrov family.

That doesn’t sound familiar.

“Does your father still work for them?” I ask.

“He died when I was a kid.”

“Oh… I’m sorry.”

He shakes his head. “Don’t be. He died a coward. The police had him on charges, and he snitched for a lighter sentence. He deserved what happened to him. It wasmercifulthat the Bratva didn’t kill my mother and I as further punishment.”

“The Bratva?”

He opens his mouth, his eyes widening slightly like he said something he shouldn’t have, but I squeeze his hand and don’t make him confirm. Obviously, he doesn’t want me to know which organization.

But it’s the Bratva. That’s … Russian, I think.

“I’m so sorry you had to experience that.” I frown and scoot my chair closer to him. “You were just a kid.”

He slowly pulls away as his posture grows rigid.

“So youhadto join them then? Even after that?”

He looks toward the door, but I don’t think he’s seeing anything. Seconds pass without him responding, and I regret the question altogether. Clearly, if he had a choice, he knows he made the wrong one.

“I don’t expect it to make sense to you,” he finally says.

It doesn’t.

But I want to understand.

“I would never judge you…”

He runs his hand through his hair and lets more seconds pass.

“My mother was a whore who spent her nights working the street and her days passed out in bed with whatever abusive boyfriend she had at the time. She wasn’t family. Until you, I…” He looks into the kitchen, but this time it isn’t a far-off look. He’sactually focused on something. “I barely remembered her being a mother at all.”

He gives his head a shake. “But after my father died, I made a friend whose grandfather was the Pakhan, which is what we call our boss. We became close. For a long time, I thought he was my brother. He was the closest thing to family that I’d ever had. Because of his bloodline, he was supposed to be Pakhan one day, and he used to talk on and on about how I would be his underboss, which is…” Alik’s face relaxes into a sad, defeated expression, “an incredibly high-ranked position. When I was eighteen, I did what it took to become a made man with the idiotic impression that I was somehow gaining a family as well as power, but uh…” He shows his palms. “A few months later, we did that job, and when it was all said and done, my friend ran off like an even bigger coward than my father had been. I’ve been nothing more than a weapon ever since, and I’ll die serving a crumbling empire under the rule of a…” Alik laughs, but I don’t think there’s anything funny about it. “An absolute psychopath.”

I fold my arms in front of me and lean on the table while I process his words. I want so badly to reach out, but I’m too afraid he’ll pull away.

He’s wounded… The scar on his eye was only the beginning.

“Did you uh…” He looks into the kitchen while rubbing the back of his neck. “Did you bake?”

I turn my head to the plate on the counter and jump up. “Oh, yeah. Here.” I’m halfway to the kitchen before I feel silly getting Alik a cookie. That probably isn’t what he was suggesting. When I bring him one, he doesn’t take it, so I just set it awkwardly in front of him then sit down. “I really love baking. The snickerdoodles are my sister’s favorite. I think I just love the nostalgia it brings.” I smile through an awkward laugh, but Alik doesn’t look at me. He stares at the cookie.

“I could smell it on you when I came to your apartment,” he says, weirdly serious.

I narrow my eyes in confusion and don’t say anything.

He blinks several times, like he’s trying to rid himself of some memory, then looks at me. “I really like you, Olive. I like the way you make me feel.”

I nod, my heart feeling like it’s growing. “Yeah… I really like the way you make me feel too.”

He looks back down at the cookie and carefully picks it up like it’s a bomb. After staring at it a moment, he takes a bite, his eyes closing like he’s reliving something. I think he is.

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