Page 11 of Corrupted Guilt

4. Katya

There goes my ‘take no shit from nobody, fight tooth and nail’ persona.

I closed the door to my bedroom and let out a long shaky breath.

I should have told my father and put a stop to Yuri, but he was right – I chickened out.

I was selfish.

I was a coward.

I was a traitorous daughter.

I wasn’t going to let my father run my life, the way he did my brother Dmitry. Nor was I going to let Yuri do the same thing to me.

The thought of Dmitry hung heavily in the air. I thought of my brother every day, and it still hurt sometimes to say his name out loud. He’d been Viktor’s perfect son, and I’d just been a spoiled little brat after his death.

But for a moment, I had thought I was now the chosen child. The one to take over for father.

“You think that now that Dmitry is gone, I’ll want you to run the business? You? You’ve never gotten your hands dirty in your life.”

“I’ll be just as good as Dmitry. You’ll see.”

But Viktor was right. I couldn’t put the action behind the words. After Dmitry’s death I ran and cowered, I didn’t fight. I didn’t seek revenge. I gave up.

This wasn’t the life for me.

I know this business is dangerous. But he’s my father, and I love him. I don’t want to be without him. I just want a life that I can lead on my own. That’s all. He’s still family. After Dmitry, he’s the only family that I have left.

It ate me up for three whole days, but none more so than that first night. On the third day, I went to college and moved into my new apartment.

If I had told my father, it wouldn't have changed anything, all it might have done was buy me another slap from father – and have Yuri’s other threats come true.

It’s not like Dad ever put any value into what I told him or cared at all, really. Would he have listened to me that I had uncovered a plot to overthrow him?

I doubt that.

I owed him for my life, but beyond that …

I’m still a traitor.

And it’s not like my treason bought me something grand and worthwhile.

I had a little bit more freedom but not for long. College truly was my only way out. Being Yuri’s wife surely wasn’t.

I know what being a Bratva wife is like – worse than being a daughter.

Nobody is going to come to rescue you.

Or save you.

Or give you your happily-ever-after.

You must take it yourself.

Grab it with both hands.

But I know better than to trust his words at face value. This is a trap of his and he wants me to fall right in, blindly. Not this time. My eyes are wide open.

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