Page 173 of Bratva's Vow
I’m coming in.
A moment later, the lock disengaged. The house was so still the whisper of the front door opening pierced the air like a gunshot. His footsteps on the floor. I trusted him so much I’d given him a fucking key to our home.
“Maxim?”
His voice echoed down the hall, and I closed my eyes, inhaling deeply. I’d heard that voice for over a decade. Why would he force me to do this?
Why?
I’d put him in charge of my kingdom. Of my fucking life.
“Maxim, I’m so sorry.”
I didn’t turn.
Archie stepped into the kitchen. “I know how much you cared about Wren. Can I do anything?” He approached me from behind, placed his hand on my shoulder.
It was his touch that did it. That drove me over the deep end.
I lost it.
I meant to string him on, to keep up the charade, to find out how far he was willing to go to act the innocent.
But I lost it at the repulsiveness of his touch. A touch that had once been a lover’s, a friend’s, a confidant’s.
I grabbed the knife from the block and drove it into his stomach.
He gasped. His body jerked, and he stumbled, but I held him up by the handle, keeping him close.
His eyes went wide, lips parting in disbelief.
“Maxim…” he whispered. “Why?”
I shoved him up against the counter, my grip unshaking. “I know everything.”
His mouth trembled. Blood bubbled at the corner of his lips. He licked it. Swallowed.
“What do you know?” he rasped.
“That you poisoned Wren.”
His shoulders sagged. “So this is a setup? He’s not dead?”
“No.”
“Leo told you the truth.” He winced, placing his hands around mine, which still had the knife buried in his gut, but as though resigned to his fate, he didn’t try to pull away. Or he’d been with me so long he should know by now if he removed the knife, he would bleed out.
“We already suspected, but yes, he confirmed it.”
He swallowed and chuckled. “Bradley always said he was a simpleton. No wonder he cheated on the doc so much. His one chance to get revenge, and he blew it.”
I pushed the knife harder, and he cried out. He tightened his hand around my wrist.
“Why aren’t you asking me why?”
“No,” I said, voice thick with rage. “There’s no excuse for what you did. All that matters is that I trusted you and you broke it. When I suspected everyone else, you never crossed my mind. There’s no explanation that’ll be good enough for how cruel you’ve been to the man I love.”
He gave the smallest, saddest smile. “I’m going to tell you anyway because you need to know this is your fault. Maxim, you gave him the love I’ve been craving from you for almost a decade.”
