Page 116 of Maxim

I shake my head. “My father did not value women. He would never let me be involved.”

“I could tell you all the people he spoke with. I memorized all their names and distinguishing features.” Alek speaks up.

My head swings to him. “What do you mean?”

“Father had me sit in on all of his meetings. His first lesson was about never having anything written down so it could be traced. He taught me to memorize instead. I know everyone he ever had a conversation with while I was there.”

My heart hurts so bad for him.

“Is this necessary? Didn’t you stop them?” I ask.

A female on the screen gives me a sad smile. “Olena, I’m Greer. You have gone through something so traumatic that I have no idea how you are still standing. I want to tell you that we stopped it from ever happening again, but that would be a lie. We stopped your father and his organization, but that only leaves room for another to start up. Unfortunately, we cannot rid this world of evil. All we can do is our best to keep it from overtaking the world.”

I understand what she is saying. My brother needs to give them the information so they can eliminate the men who would see to a new organization taking over.

“I understand. I think I need some air.”

Maxim stands with me, but I shake my head. “Stay with Alek. Support him. I’ll be with Daryna.”

Leaving the room, I realize that this will never truly be over. I will always be looking over my shoulder for the next demon aiming to steal my family from me. They won’t succeed, though. Not with Maxim at my side.

Hearing about all the men Alek had to meet took its toll on me. He spoke in such a robotic way that made me want to find his father and kill him all over again.

The only good thing that came out of it is the truth about the benefactor. Jan really was bluffing about him. He told everyone in the organization that there was this mysterious boss they answered to so that they would be scared to take him out. Alek only found out because Szymon had figured it out and told him. He was planning to use Alek in his plan to take down his father. He had no idea that Szymon was obsessed with Olena or that he had tried to buy both her and Daryna. I’ll never tell him either. It’s a secret that Olena and I will take to the grave.

Once the meeting ends, I ask Alek to follow me. We end up on the back patio watching as Daryna, Olena, and Thea play with the guards watching their backs.

“You’ve been through a lot. I know what your father trained you to do, but that doesn’t have to be your life.”

“It already is. I never wanted to do what I did for him. I did it because he threatened Olena and Daryna. Olena thinks that she is the reason she was sold off. The truth is, I failed him. He wanted me to do things to a woman, and I refused. I didn’t want to touch her. The next day Olena was gone, and I was punished for disobeying him.” Alek looks down at his feet.

“You’re nothing like him.”

He nods, looking up at me with tears in his eyes. “He brought the woman back and said if I didn’t do what he wanted, that Daryna would be next. I did what was necessary to protect her.”

I kneel and pull Alek into a hug. His body starts to shake as he sobs.

“It’s okay. Sometimes you have to do something bad in order to do something good. I bought your sister. I watched women being abused. I had to even do things to your sister I didn’t enjoy, all to keep my cover. In the end, we stopped your father. That’s all that matters.”

“How did you do it? Get over what you had to do,” he asks as he pulls back.

“I don’t get over it. I process it and let myself feel what I’m going to feel, then I focus on the next bad person that needs to be taken down. As long as my good outweighs my bad, then I feel it is worth it.”

“I want that. I want to be part of what you are part of. To take down men like my father.”

“You’re not old enough. Not yet,” I remind him.

“I know, but you can teach me things. Train me so when I am old enough, I will be ready. I won’t be weak.”

“Olena wouldn’t want that for you. She would want you to be a kid again.”

He gives me an incredulous look. “We both know that I’ve seen too much to live the life Olena would want for me. I will never be able to forget the dark side of the world, so let me help it.”

“You’re wise beyond your years. I’ll speak with Olena. I won’t do anything without her permission.”

“You’re good for her. Thank you for taking care of her when I failed her.”

“Hey, you never failed her. There was nothing you could do to stop that from happening. Your father would have found a way.”

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