Page 89 of Cruel Honor

“I’m an asshole, Evie. I always have been. Hell, just ask my business partners. Nik tolerates me, but I tried to kill him at one point. Granted, he did the same to me. But now, we work together. That’s the beautiful thing: In the Bratva, you can hold onto grudges, or you can learn to let shit go. I generally never held onto anything. I never cared to. But now …”

Finally, I glance at him over my shoulder. “Now?”

His eyes have so much depth to them—when he wants them to, that is. “Now, I care about you. And I want to be here for you. Not just for myself.” He smiles. “Whoever would have thought it?”

“That’s because you’re not all bad. You’ve saved me more times than I can remember. You saved me again. With Tatiana.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want you to go to prison. Then who would I make blush every day?”

As if on cue, I blush.

“There it is.” He reaches out, gently touching my cheek, and I let myself lean into his touch.

“What are we going to do?” I whisper. “I can’t get her out of my head.”

His eyes light up. “I have an idea. Let’s get out of the city. I have a beach house by the coast. It could be fun. Maybe getting away from New York will help you heal.”

“By going to your beach house?” I shake my head. “Of course, you have a beach house.”

“You don’t?”

We both know I don’t.

Dimitri flashes me a teasing smile. “Come on. It’ll be fun. I could get out of the city, too. I’m getting fucking tired of Abram and Dima and all those shitheads. I could use a break.”

A break sounds exactly what I need right now.

So, I slowly smile back and say, “Let’s do it.”

“You?” Katya says to Dimitri. “You’re actually going to leave this city and your club? I’m amazed.”

“Good thing you’re coming with,” Dimitri replies. “I’m not leaving you here by yourself. It’s too dangerous.”

“Then it’s a good thing I love the beach, too.” Katya throws her arm around me. “Bikinis and cocktails. Sign me up.”

It’s a several hour drive to the Ivanov beach house. Katya regales me with stories about going to the beach as a family on the drive.

“Dad hated the sand,” she says from the backseat. “He would never join us. It was usually just us and Mom on the beach, playing around.”

“I remember,” Dimitri says, smiling fondly. I like seeing that sort of smile on him. It’s not meant to seduce a woman. It’s just genuine. “You would build sand castles, and I would work on my tan.” He slants his eyes at me. “I look good with a tan.”

Katya rolls her eyes. “You were never any fun. I always wanted to play, and you would just ignore me.”

“That’s called being a big brother. We’re obligated to ignore our annoying baby sisters.”

“Well, it’s good thing I have Evie with me this time. I won’t be so bored.”

I turn around in my seat to look at her. “What did you have in mind?”

“We could go for a swim or go shopping. There’s a cute little shopping center near the house. Or …” She trails off. “I mean, really that’s it. I’m looking forward to just relaxing.”

“You always relax,” Dimitri comments. “You don’t do hard labor.”

She stretches out on the backseat. “Why do I need to do hard labor when I have you to do it for me?”

I marvel at the fun sibling rivalry between Katya and Dimitri. As a single child, I never experienced that growing up. It makes me feel like I could have a home here.

Tatiana’s dead face flashes in my mind, and I suck in a breath and turn to look out the window. The passing scenery is beautiful, but it doesn’t help remove Tatiana from my thoughts. She’s wedged into my brain, and I don’t think she’s going anywhere any time soon.

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