Page 87 of Cruel Honor

“Dimitri,” I gasp.

“But then afterward, I had nightmares. It haunted me for a long time. So, I get it, Evie. And I’m here. Just rest. I got you.”

It’s a strange realization that the only person who truly understands me is the charming yet scary Bratva man holding me in his arms.

My body slowly relaxes the longer he holds me.

ABRAM

I look down at my other daughter, Maria. She’s ten and still so innocent as she plays with her dolls. Soon, she’ll outgrow them and become like her older sister.

I check my watch. Tatiana was supposed to be home by now.

So, where is she?

Hopefully not fucking another man. I hate to think badly of my little princess, but Tatiana has brought a world of hurt onto me.

My phone rings. It’s a call from one of my men—Vlad. “Yes?”

“Uh, Abram, you need to come down to the docks right away. There’s something you need to see.”

“I’m on my way.” I know not to discuss anything over the phone. Who knows who may be listening?

I leave Maria with my housekeeper and then head down to the docks, where I find Vlad bent over a body.

Someone petite. Not a man, I realize.

He looks up at me, a worried expression on his face. What could have him so worried?

And then I see it—the body isn’t just any body.

It’s Tatiana’s body.

She’s soaking wet and bloated, but I would recognize my daughter anywhere.

“I pulled her body out of the water,” Vlad explains. “Good thing I found her before someone else did.”

“Who did this?” I growl. “Who would kill my Tatiana?”

And that’s when it hits me.

I know exactly who.

Dimitri is asking for an all-out war.

And I’m going to give it to him.

Chapter

Thirteen

EVIE

Iwake up in Dimitri’s arms.

It takes me a moment to realize where I am, and then I remember it all: killing Tatiana, my panic attack, Dimitri saving me once more.

He’s always saving me. I’m starting to feel like I don’t deserve him. After what I’ve done, I feel like a monster. I killed another human being. Yes, it was an accident, but I let Tatiana die. She’d tried to get me killed multiple times, but that still didn’t make what I did right.

---