Page 44 of Cruel Honor

I want to tell him I hate it and I hate him and I want to go back home, but … I don’t say any of that because I don’t hate the ring and I don’t hate him and I don’t exactly want to go back home to Juno.

The door opens and in walks Abram.

I gasp at the sight of him. He doesn’t have a gun this time, but his presence is still intimidating.

“Abram,” Dimitri says in a forced cheerful tone. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ll be honest with you, Dimitri. I was following you. You’re out ring shopping with your new wife, I see. That should have been my Tatiana you were doing this with.”

“We’re past that, old man. Drop it.”

Abram huffs and turns to me. “Slut.”

The force of that one word hits me and makes me stumble back.

Dimitri steps in front of me. “Don’t say shit like that, Abram. You’re going to regret it.”

“She’s a slut, Dimitri. A whore. She’s nothing like my Tatiana.”

“You’re right. Evie’s better.” Dimitri’s hands clench into fists. “Take back those words.”

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll do this.” Without warning, Dimitri punches Abram in the face. The saleswoman screams while I remain rooted in place.

Abram laughs as he stumbles back. Blood is on his lips, but he doesn’t even seem to notice. “I understand, Dimitri. You’re willing to go to war for this little bitch. Good to know.”

“Get the fuck out, Abram,” he growls, “before I do something I’ll regret.”

When Abram’s eyes flick to mine, a shiver runs down my spine. Then he leaves.

Dimitri’s knuckles are bloody. “Are you ok?” he asks.

I nod at his hand. “You’re hurt.”

“It’s nothing.”

But it’s not nothing. Dimitri just defended my honor. I don’t approve of physical violence, but I’ve come to understand that’s the way Bratva men do it.

“Can we leave?” I whisper. “I don’t feel safe here.”

He nods and turns to the saleswoman, who looks like she might pass out in fear. “We’ll take the ring.”

ABRAM

I hurry out of the store and cross the street to Boris. He’s been my business partner for years. As a fellow traditional Bratva man with a daughter to think about, Boris understands me better than anyone.

Because of that, it was easy to ask him for his help.

“Did you get it?” I ask.

He shows me his phone. On it is a video he took. A video of Dimitri punching me in the face.

“Good,” I growl. “I want to hurt that bastard for hurting me. For hurting Tatiana. Send this video out to the other traditional Bratva men and tell them Dimitri is losing it. Tell them I have been wronged and they need to side with me.”

“Will do,” he says, pocketing his phone. “And what about the girl?”

“Oh, we’re going to kill her. But first, I want to break Dimitri down. Make him understand what it’s like to be made the fool. And once we’ve done that, we’ll take his wife from him, and then he’ll marry Tatiana. He’ll have no choice because he’ll have nothing then, and only I will be able to make his life better.”

---