Page 119 of Kings of Cruelty

Yura joins her and rests his head against my shoulder. “I will hate him for you, Kotya. You may feel whatever you feel.”

Nikolai steps up close, onto the other side. “No one’s judging you, Kotya.”

Sierra nods against me, and she reaches up to touch my face and brush at the tears. “It’s only the four of us. No one ever has to know.”

I nod, clinging to her, to them. The people who gave me the strength to break away from my father. The people who gave me the strength tothrive.

None of them complain about how long it takes me to collect myself. My tears have finally dried enough to be explained by rainwater, and I pull away enough to kiss Sierra.

There is so much blood on me, but she doesn’t even flinch away from the taste.

Then I turn to Yura, and I kiss him, too. He gives in easily, bending to me and showing me what I’ve ignored all these years—the devotion that is deeper than loyalty alone.

When we break away, I look at Nikolai.

He rubs his hand across his face, then with red cheeks, he leans in to give me an awkward, clumsy kiss. “Yeah,” he says self-consciously.

Sierra snorts. “No one asked you anything,” she tells him. She kisses him, too, then Yura, and the four of us exchange those kisses as the rain continues to fall around the shed. It’s like we’re in a different world entirely, and everything I have to be responsible for has fallen into the background.

Unfortunately, we cannot stay here forever. A loud ringtone interrupts us, and Sierra laughs self-consciously. “I think that’s Kyran.”

I sigh. “Answer it. Tell him you are alive.”

She nods, pulling her phone out of her pocket and swiping at the screen. “We’re fine,” she says by way of greeting. “Is everything okay?”

While Sierra talks to her brother, Yura comes up to me. He rests his head against my shoulder again. “It’s yours now, Kotya. Everything your father denied you.”

“Yes,” I say. My eyes follow Sierra, and how the shirt clings to her stomach. “We aren’t done though.”

Nikolai shakes his head. “We’re done for tonight. We’ll weed out the stragglers tomorrow.”

I am not naive enough to believe that everybody will fall into line instantly. But this will send quite the message.

I am not a man to be trifled with.

This ismyempire.

They will think twice about crossing me ever again.

THIRTY-ONE

Sierra

I waketo someone slowly stroking my face, and I blink blearily until I see Konstantin. He’s lying on his side next to me. Yuri and Nikolai must still be passed out because they aren’t touching me.

“Hey,” I whisper to Konstantin. I could easily drift back asleep, but after the night before, I’m more interested in finding out if he’s okay.

“Hello,” Konstantin whispers back. He leans in to kiss me gently. “I was afraid it was a dream.”

It would’ve been a pretty gruesome dream.

I know they shielded me from seeing the worst of it, but I’d still seen his father’s body—and the bodies of so many others who had tried to stand against the assault on the mansion.

“Nope,” I murmur against his mouth. “It’s over. Everything… Well. Okay, it’s not over completely. You have a lot of work to do.” I poke him in the side. “But we have another few hours before that, I guess?”

“We deserve to rest,” he agrees. He trails his hand over my bare chest. Somehow, none of us had felt like putting clothes on after we’d showered last night.

I thought I’d feel dirtier, after everything I’d witnessed. I’d walked past so many bodies on my way to Konstantin. I’d seen the crumpled, messy remains of his father.

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