Page 88 of Lethal Alliance

And part of me wishes I never brought it up.

Because I don’t need to ask what this means if it’s true.

Alexei endangered our children’s lives. Then he helped them be kidnapped by sadistic monsters. On top of that, he’s planning to steal Roman’s flagship multibillion-dollar project.

We’re long past questions of loyalty or honor.

We’re also past asking if my brother will die.

He will. Roman will make sure he does.

The only question is when.

I look down to where my fingers are still entwined with Roman’s, at the scarred knuckles and muscular length of the hands that have brought so much pleasure to my body and solace to my heart.

I try not to imagine those hands pulling the trigger on a gun aimed at my brother’s head.

28

OFELIA

Iwake from an uneasy sleep to find our new guard gone and Vilnus standing over me.

I can smell the alcohol and cigarettes on his breath. He’s swaying, and even in the dim light, I can see how unfocused his eyes are.

I ease myself carefully away from Masha’s sleeping body, tucking her safely behind me.

“Roman Borovsky’s daughter.” His fat lips curl into a sneer. “Do you know how long we searched Miami for that little fuck?” He rips open his shirt to expose his enormous belly and points to a thick, gnarled scar that crosses his torso from shoulder to the opposite hip. “That’s what Ilyan Fedorov did to me when I told him we’d killed Roman’s father, Borovsky, the old safe maker. How was I supposed to know that Borovsky senior used his own son’s fingerprints to lock the Petrovsky vault? Or that he’d hidden the key?” He steps closer, his clearly excited groin barely inches from my face. I swallow my revulsion.

Keep him talking.

“What’s inside the vault?” I ask. “Why is it so important to everyone?”

“Ha!” Vilnus’s laugh is without humor. “That depends on who you ask. A fortune in Fabergé jewelry, if the rumors are true.” His hand darts out and tugs one of the earrings I’m still wearing, hard enough to hurt. “Speaking of fortunes, I’m surprised little Darya didn’t pawn these long ago. She and that old bastard Sergei could have been living rich all this time, on the price they’d have fetched.”

He fondles the earring. I try not to flinch.

“Little Darya.” The way he says her name makes my stomach turn. “She got used to the knife, eventually. At the start she’d scream when I used it on her. But by the end, I think she actually liked it. She’d lie there, all quiet, just waiting for me to get to work.”

I can’t suppress a shudder at that.

“That’s where Alexei learned his skills with the knife, you know. From me. From watching me work on his sister. And afterward, when I had to use it on him.”

He actually sounds like he’s boasting. As if he did Alexei some kind of favor by cutting into his flesh.

“Alexei said you’ve been like a father to him.” It’s a lie, of course it is. But it seems to work.

A self-satisfied smile stretches the fat lips. “Old Sergei made a big mistake when he left that one behind. Alexei won’t ever forgive his father and sister for abandoning him. Why should he? Sergei must have known I’d blame Alexei for his escape, but he ran anyway.” Orlov smirks. “I kept Alexei in this room for a whole year after they left. There’s no inch of his body my blade hasn’t touched. Of course he hated me at first, but he came around. He learned to respect me more than he ever did that old cripple of a father of his.”

I nod obediently, as if I’m believing every word of this garbage.

“I tried to defend Alexei, you know. When Fedorov insisted he was lying.”

God, is he actually trying to justify himself?

“I told Fedorov the boy didn’t know where Sergei had gone. No man—especially no teenager—could withstand having his own damned eye carved out of his head and not start talking. But Fedorov has never believed him.” He shrugs, his hand dropping away from my earring, to my relief. “That’s why Alexei is so determined to steal your daddy’s pet project now. He and I take that, and it doesn’t matter what’s in that vault. Fedorov can have the fucking thing. Alexei and I will be rich enough to buy the entire contents of it, and for once Fedorov will be the last to know.” He leers at me. “Everybody gets what they want. We’ll have Darya and Sergei back here soon enough, along with that prick Borovsky.” His face spasms with old anger. “Do you know how many stinking homeless camps I trawled, looking for that little fuck? Fedorov might want the Petrovskys, but it’s Roman I’m looking forward to spending some time with.”

His eyes glaze over, and his hand comes around to grip the bulge at his crotch.

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