Page 114 of Cruel Honor

“Honestly? I have no fucking clue.”

The motel room door bangs open, and Maxim walks inside, his arm bleeding.

“Oh. You’re alive,” I say.

He levels me with the most exasperated expression I’ve ever seen before. “No shit, I’m alive. No thanks to you. You left me to die back there.”

“Well, you didn’t. So, that seems like a win in my book.”

“No. You don’t get to be witty right now, Dimitri. You left me to die. I managed to make it out but on my own.” He roughly shakes his head. “I don’t know how I ever thought I could trust you. You’re so fucking selfish; it’s ridiculous. You don’t have a selfless bone in your body, do you?”

“I can be selfless.”

He snorts. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

I stand up and stare him down, face to face. Maxim, to his credit, doesn’t back down at all. “I’ve put my life on the line to save Evie more times than I can count.”

“Because you put her there in the first place. We all know how you fucked up with Tatiana and Abram. We all know how you forced Evie to marry you. None of this is secret news among the Bratva. If you call that selfless, then I don’t want to know what you think is selfish behavior. I really don’t. You’ve only ever done things for yourself, Dimitri.And you only ever will.” He huffs and turns away from me. “Now, I need to go stich up my fucking arm. You’re on your own from now on. I’m done.”

“Hey,” I snap. “We had a deal. We help each other.”

“That deal ended when you left me to fight the fightyoudragged me into. Have a nice life, Dimitri. Good luck finding your wife all on your own.” He storms from the motel room, slamming the door behind him.

Katya lets out a low whistle. “He was pissed.”

“He was.”

“And he was right.”

I turn to her. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“You’ve always been self-serving, Dimitri. The entire reason we’re at war is because of you. The entire reason I’m in danger—the reason Evie is in danger—is because of you.”

“Hey, I tried to let her go. Dima would’ve killed her if I hadn’t brought her back into my life. I tried to do the right thing.”

“Key word beingtried. But the only way to truly end this war is by making sure we’re safe. You need to kill Abram before anyone else gets hurt.”

“It’s not my fault he’s a slippery fucker.”

“Dimitri, just end it. And get us out of this gross motel room. Seriously. It’s disgusting.”

“I need to find Evie first.”

“You don’t even know where she is. Until you do, let’s stay somewhere nicer. Please.”

Katya gives me her best puppy dog eyes. She was always good at using them against our father. Never on me.

But right now, it’s her lucky day because I’m tired and feeling guilty over Maria and Maxim and I’m missing Evie.

“Fine. Let’s go.” I open the door and come face to face with Evie herself.

EVIE

When I leave Dima’s house, I have no idea where I am. No idea how to get back to the motel. But I need to try.

My hands are covered in Dima’s blood. I could have washed my hands—I probably should have washed my hands—but I don’t care. All I care about is getting back to Dimitri. Getting back into the safety of his arms.

I don’t see the other girls Dima had kidnapped. They must be long gone by now. They’ll probably call the police, and the police will find Dima and Cassie, and they’ll find my fingerprints on everything, and I’ll be arrested for the murder of the serial killer I was trying to alert the police to in the first place.

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