Page 1 of Hateful Vows
ONE
IRINA
“That’s a good boy,” I croon to my black cat, Perceval, who just peed in the feminine white sneakers discarded by the front door of my brother’s flat. My long black hair creates a curtain around my face as I bend down to scratch behind his ear.
My brother had the good sense of placing his own shoes on the rack inside the entrance closet. He learned his lesson early on. Percy’s very peculiar about discarded items. Only dogs and bad lays don’t clean up after themselves. Knowing my brother, the owner of the now-ruined shoes is probably both.
My phone rings and the ominous funeral march tone I chose for the caller sends a shiver of dread down my spine. Though he’s worse than Death itself. Seeing his name on the screen has disgust roiling in my stomach.
I decline the call and move through the expansive open living space towards the kitchen, my black Louboutin heels clacking across the grey marble floor. In a stainless steel cupboard, I retrieve Percy’s food and focus on the task at hand instead of the potential reason why my step-father would call me at eight in the morning.
Aleksei pretends to hate my cat but he always stocks the best pet food money can buy. He’s like that, my ‘brother’. Pretending he hates everything. He does it well, too.
My pet glides in between my feet, meowing with impatience. I set the silver bowl down and he dives for it.
“I fed you two hours ago, you little shit,” I say affectionately before preparing a bowl of yoghurt with the homemade granola Aleksei’s maid freshly baked this morning. His open living room smells like brown sugar and motherly love. Considering Magda is as affectionate as a block of ice, it’s a wild guess. I don’t really know what love is with the parents I have. One dead, one apathetic. And a step-father who threatened to kill and rape me more times than I can count.
“Who are you?” a startled venomous voice asks behind me. I don’t turn nor answer. “And who’s cat is this?”
Percy hisses and the woman yelps, drawing a satisfied, imperceptible quirk of my lips. Smiling is for people who don’t care if they get wrinkles. I’m not one of those. Beauty is a weapon I intend to keep for as long as I possibly can.
I turn and take a bite of my breakfast, observing the woman in front of me with a tilt of my head while I chew slowly. Short, luscious curves, pouty pink lips and rosy round cheeks, green eyes, blond hair. She’s pretty enough.
Most women my step-brother sleeps with usually leave his flat after he’s done with them. But some have no pride. They stay, hoping for a repeat performance and sleeping in one of the two guest rooms while my brother locks himself up in his own bedroom with the triple bolt lock. Like me, he has trust issues.
“You must be the flavour of the day,” I sneer, twirling my spoon for emphasis. “I’d ask for your name, but I really don’t care. And no one will remember it when the clock turns the next hour.”
It’s a gratuitous jab but a satisfactory one, nonetheless. Her jaw hangs open as Aleksei waltzes into the kitchen, a permanent frown on his arrogant brow.
“Why are you and your devil creature here?” he drawls.
“I’m here for Magda’s granola. Where I go, Percy goes.”
He clicks his tongue and moves through his routine, the white crisp shirt taut against his wide chest. I’m fascinated by the tableau in front of me. I can predict his next step, having memorised each one like a memento I keep.
Aleksei picks a terracotta cup, then places it under the coffee machine, pressing the button to dispense his triple shot of espresso. With practiced and controlled movements, he drops frozen fruits into a blender with coconut milk and protein powder. Nothing is out of place, no hesitation in his morning ritual.
He’s close enough that his signature Vetiver cologne hits my senses, a pavlovian reaction almost making me groan. It’s subtle and mixes perfectly with the aroma of the fresh coffee he just made. His favourite olive green suit fits him like a glove and the colour looks like it was created just for him, highlighting his pale skin and cunning heterochromatic eyes. The light coming from the window above the sink hits his ferocious features, the scars going up from the right corner of his mouth and just above his right eyebrow more prominent and inflamed in the morning. I know they bother him sometimes.
A flare of guilt awakens in my gut, smoothly replaced with longing and a visceral need to caress the skin, show him they don’t disturb me or disgust me like he probably thinks they do. It’s my fault he has them and I’d worship them if he’d let me. But wishes are for silly little girls who haven’t lived the life I’ve led.
“Aren’t you gonna say anything?” the girl asks. I forgot she was still here. “This woman insulted me.”
Aleksei stops his movement, uncanny stillness taking hold of his body. He glances over his shoulder. “Sheis my sister. Andyouhave outstayed your welcome. I told you to leave last night.”
It shouldn’t fill me with glee to see this woman humiliated. And mystep-brother defending my honour certainly shouldn’t make me press my thighs together under my tight burgundy leather skirt. I’ve never been very good at doing what I should.
Aleksei fishes his phone from his pocket, his attention on the screen, probably already checking the news and his stocks. He walks to sit on the designer sofa facing the window of his industrial condo, ignoring his conquest entirely.
“I thought—” she starts but I cut her off. “You thought you’d be the one to tame Aleksei Dobrev. Many before you did, little girl. Go run back to where you come from. You’ve served your purpose.”
Discarding my bowl of granola on the counter, I shush the woman towards the front door and revel in the grimace she makes as she puts her shoes on. “But?—”
I open the door and almost throw her out, signalling to Jivko, my brother’s bodyguard, to escort her outside of the building. He obeys without question. After closing the door to her falling face, I pick up my breakfast again, a pep to my step, and sit next to my brother.
“I need to fire Jivko,” he mumbles without looking up.
I snort. “You know I’ll hire him back, five seconds later.”
