Page 47 of Cruel Honor

I smile at Anna. “Thank you. You’re pretty, too.” Anna beams under my praise.

Tatiana rolls her eyes and turns back to me. “So, you’re the womanwho stole my Dimitri out from under me. I have no idea what Katya was thinking bringing you here, but I want you to go.”

“We want to talk,” Katya says, placing her hands on the table. “We want you to talk to your father.”

She blinks innocently. “About what?”

“Ask him to call off his crusade on my brother. I don’t want him or Evie or anyone else to get hurt.”

“Now, why would I do that? Dimitri ruined me. He should be punished for it.”

“Fine. Sure. I agree. My brother is an asshole. But Evie doesn’t deserve to get hurt. Dimitri chose her. She didn’t have a choice. You all know how Bratva men can be.”

The other women nod their agreement, but Tatiana goes eerily still. “She did have a choice. When he married her, she could have said no.”

“No, she really couldn’t. Evie is not a Bratva girl. She doesn’t have a powerful father to protect her. Dimitri set his sights onto her, Tatiana. And I’m sorry he hurt you. That sucks. But please, talk with your father and ask him to back off. At least back off on Evie. He said horrible things to her yesterday.”

Tatiana’s eyes gleam with interest. “Oh? Like what?”

“He called me a slut,” I state point blank.

Her laughter is like a donkey braying. “Then you deserved it.”

Katya pounds her hands against the table, making all the women sit up straighter. “Do you want a war?”

“I don’t know. War sounds kind of good to me.”

“Do you know who gets hurt in a war? Women like us.” Katya waves her hand around at all of us. “If your father doesn’t stop causing trouble, Dimitri will hurt him. And he’ll probably hurt you, too, Tatiana. You know he’s capable of it. So, ask your father to make peace.”

“He stole my virginity,” she hisses. “He took it, and now, he refuses to marry me.”

I tense. Dimitri had told me he slept with Tatiana and refused to marry her, but he didn’t tell me she was a virgin. It shouldn’t matter but it does. It changes things.

“A lot of Bratva women aren’t virgins, and they manage to find husbands well enough,” Katya says. “Talk to your father.”

“Oh, I already have.” She lifts her phone up from underneath the table. “I texted him to come here. He has a few words to say to you. To both of you.”

Katya and I share a look. “Should we leave?” I ask.

“Right away.”

We turn to go when an idea hits me. “Tatiana,” I say, “I know you must hate me. I represent what you lost. If I could give Dimitri to you, I would. But I can’t because people cannot be used in other people’s games. I’m sorry Dimitri hurt you. You don’t deserve that. But please, for the sake of peace, talk to your father.”

For just a moment, her eyes soften. Then a wicked grin crosses her face. “Sorry. I don’t listen to bitches who steal other people’s boyfriends. I hope you rot in hell.”

I flinch. Never before has anyone said something so mean to me. Juno can be biting with her words, but she would lace them with kindness. Tatiana is just a mean girl who’s hurting, and that makes it worse.

“Come on,” Katya says, grabbing my arm, and we hurry out of the restaurant. “I thought that would help. I’m sorry.”

“What matter is we tried. That’s all we can do.”

We reach her car, but before we can get in, we’re approached by Abram and two other men.

Everything goes still and silent.

Then Katya tells me to get in the car. My hands slip on the door handle, and I don’t get the door open before Abram is upon us. One of his guys grabs me while the other one grabs Katya.

Abram remains standing there, not breaking a sweat since he doesn’t have to do this himself. His smile sends chills down my spine. “You thought you could talk to my daughter? The second you showed up, she texted me to come here. I didn’t hesitate. You see …” He walks right up to me and trails his fingers down my face. I jerk my head away, but I can’t step back, not when the other man holds me in place.

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