Page 44 of Married to the Bratva

I peek around the corner, staying out of sight but close enough to see what’s happening. Maxim stands in the middle of the room, his back to me.

Dimitri is on his knees, his face pale but defiant. Nikolai leans against the wall, arms crossed, watching with the calm detachment of someone who’s seen this a hundred times before.

“You’ve disappointed me, Dimitri,” Maxim says, his voice as smooth and cold as steel. “I trusted you. Paid you well. And this is how you repay me?”

Dimitri’s lips tremble, but he forces a laugh. “You’re paranoid. Why would I steal from you? She’s the mole, can’t you see that? Her and Evan are in this together.”

“I’ve seen the account the money went into. You got greedy, didn’t you? And greedy men get sloppy.”

“Please, Maxim. She faked it. Give me twenty-four hours. I can unlock the file by then, I swear. Let my prove my worth to you.”

“And let you snatch the money while you’re at it. No.” There’s a pause and then he spins around to face me.“Sophie, stop trying to hide and come here.”

I freeze, my heart slamming against my ribs. For a moment, I think about running, but the weight of his gaze pins me in place. Slowly, I step into the room, my hands clenched at my sides.

“What are you doing?” I ask, my voice trembling despite my best efforts.

He gestures toward Dimitri without looking at me. “You found the evidence. You uncovered the truth. It’s only fitting that you deliver the punishment.”

He holds out a gun, the weight of it hanging between us like a threat. “Take it.”

My stomach twists, and my palms go damp. I glance at Dimitri, his eyes wide with fear, then back at Maxim. “I’m not a killer,” I say, my voice shaking but firm.

Maxim’s expression darkens, disappointment flashing across his face before his mask of control snaps back into place. “No,” he says softly to himself. “Clearly not.”

He turns back to Dimitri, his movements sharp now, the cold edge of his fury finally surfacing. “It’s a shame,” he says, raising the gun. “You could have gone far.”

Dimitri starts to beg, the words tumbling out in a desperate rush, but Maxim doesn’t listen. He takes a single step back and then pulls the trigger.

The shot echoes through the room, sharp and final. Dimitri slumps forward, lifeless, and the silence that follows is suffocating.

I can’t breathe. My ears ring, my heart pounds, and my stomach churns. I take a shaky step back, the reality of what I just witnessed slamming into me like a freight train. “What if I was wrong?”

“Were you?”

I freeze for a moment before shaking my head. I force myself to meet his eyes, even as tears sting the corners of mine. “You didn’t have to make me watch.”

“Yes, I did,” he says, stepping closer. “Because you need to know that even words have power in this house. Now go to bed. It’s late.”

“What happens to him?” I ask, nodding toward the body.

He gives me an ice cold smile. “By tomorrow morning, it’ll be like he never existed.”

33

MAXIM

The garden isn’t somewhere I go often. It’s too exposed, too quiet—more my father’s kind of place. He came here a lot after my mother died. Just walking around and thinking.

I tell myself I’m walking the same paths to clear my head this morning. That’s a lie. My thoughts are already full, circling Sophie like a predator tracking prey.

She’s sharp. Unraveling Dimitri’s betrayal was no small thing. But she’s also stubborn, naive in ways that make me wonder how she’s lasted this long in my world.

I should be irritated by her inability to kill him. Instead, I’m curious. Intrigued by her innocence in the face of this world.

I stop near a cluster of roses, their petals blood red against the green. I hear her voice before I see her, drifting through the open window of the library. She’s talking to Nikolai, her tone light but with that edge she always has when she’s challenging someone.

“Honestly, Nikolai, who has a mansion this big and doesn’t stock a single pint of ice cream?” she teases. “Are you serious?”

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