Page 116 of Dmitri

His hair is long and has streaks of grey I never noticed when he’d kept it buzzed. His face sags a little and there’s scruff on his jaw that never used to be there. Mom wanted him clean shaven all the time.

Dad approaches me cautiously, and I see he’s got a limp, a busted mouth, and stitches on his temple. Guess he’s still fighting, even in prison.

He sits down with a wince.

“Mom’s gone,” I blurt out, getting this over with. “She left the day of your trial.”

I came home to an empty house and continued living my life like everything was normal. There was no way I was going to get dumped into the system.

Dad only nods and stares at the table between us. I’m not even sure he’s listening to me.

“I stay at the gym a lot.”

He nods.

“I graduated.”

He nods again.

“I’m still fighting.”

That makes him look up. “You need to stop.”

I can’t. I won’t. He of all people should know what it’s like to have this furious monster living inside you that needs an outlet before it eats you alive.

“That’s not going to happen. Ever.”

“Dmitri,” Dad says in a warning tone. But that shit won’t work on me anymore. I don’t have respect for him, or love for the woman who birthed me. They can both suck a fat dick.

Whatever he’s about to say next slides back down his throat and he chokes on it. This is starting to feel like a waste of my time.

“Why did you want to see me?”

Dad leans across the table. “I wanted to warn you.”

“Of what?”

“Don’t follow in my footsteps, son. I know you looked up to me. I know you thought I—”

“Looked up to you?” I rise from my chair. “You’re not my idol. And you sure as shit were never my goddamn hero. You’re a coward and a shit father who abandoned his son the instant your failures were right in your face.”

Dad’s eyes flash with hurt and rage.

I’m sure mine do too.

“I’mnothinglike you,” I seethe.

“You’re worse. You’re a combination of your mother and me.” Dad’s mouth quirks into a half smile that I’d love to punch off his face. “And she left you because she was finally rid of me, so she could go be with the man she’d been fucking behind my back for years. That child isn’t mine. It’s why we fought so much in the end.”

“I don’t care about her or that kid she squeezed out,” I lie.

I’ve been worried sick about my baby brother or sister, but I haven’t been able to find them. Not that I’ve looked too hard since I can’t take them away from my mother. I have nothing. I sleep in an abandoned warehouse Silas owns anduses for fights, then I help him tear it all down and wipe all the evidence of it away, preparing for the next time.

Between that and helping Ryker and my other friends with their shit, I don’t have the time or the means to take care of a baby. Besides, for all I know, Mom gave it up for adoption, given that she said she had no intentions of keeping it for long. It wouldn’t be a sacrifice if she did. It would be a fucking mercy to that child. She also said to not look for her. She disowned me. Abandoned me.

I tried looking Anya up once, but it was like she’d vanished off the planet. I wasn’t all that invested in hunting her down either, so I left it alone. She cut the cord, and I’ve never been happier to be free of the bitch.

“Dmitri,” Dad says again, and I’d knock him the fuck out if we didn’t have so many cop eyes on us. “You need to watch your back.”

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