Page 21 of Bratva Bride

I kept my eyes to the floor as they brought Maxim to stand in front of us. Aleksandr gave a swift kick to his legs and he fell to his knees with a grunt.

My father circled Maxim slowly. He was the predator and Maxim was the prey, there was no way around that. He came to a stop directly in front of him. "Talk," he demanded.

Maxim said nothing and I silently cursed. Keeping quiet was only going to piss him off more. Father stuck out his hand and Nikolai placed a gun in his palm. With unbelievable speed, he pistol whipped him straight in the face.

Maxim's head flung back, the sound of his nose breaking filled the room and blood spurted onto the floor.

"Talk Maximoff, or what we did to The Triad will seem like fucking child's play," my father growled.

Even though blood was dripping down his face, Maxim smiled. "We both know you're going to do that anyway."

"Maybe," my father shrugged. "But I'll make it hurt a hell of a lot more if you don't talk."

Maxim laughed but otherwise stayed silent.

Father studied him, his eyes moving from Maxim to me and then back to Maxim, his mind working overtime. "The only reason why you wouldn't talk would be if the truth was worse than your silence." Father moved and began circling him again, that evil smile of his getting bigger and bigger. "Lucky for me, I don't need you to talk."

Father pinned me with his icy glare and I knew he was referring to me. I looked over to Maxim, still kneeling on the floor, his deep, chocolate brown eyes begging me to keep quiet, but he should have known that I would always do what my father asked.

“Talk, Illayana. Start from the beginning,” my father ordered, his voice demanding obedience.

Aleksandr and Nikolai stayed beside Maxim, watching his every move while Lukyan moved to my side. He lowered down to his hunches and took my hands in his, offering me his support. His long, brown hair was tied up in a bun on top of his head, a few pieces cascading over his rough, masculine face.

I took a deep breath and started.

"It was the night of my eighteenth birthday party. You and Aleksandr were out of town on business," I said, pointing at my father. "Maxim was left in charge to watch over the party. I don't remember much. I drank a lot, got high with a few friends. You know, the usual," I shrugged.

Father's jaw clenched but he stayed silent and allowed me to continue.

"As the night went on, I got more and more drunk. I remember Maxim coming over and offering me another drink and even though I knew I shouldn't, I was pretty fucking wasted already. I took it. I always thought he was kinda hot and I didn't want to seem like a wimp who couldn't hold her liquor."

"Where were your brothers during all of this? Where were Nikolai and Lukyan?" Father narrowed his eyes accusingly at my two older brothers.

Lukyan tensed at my side and muttered, "Fuck."

There was no way I was going to let either of them get in trouble, so I covered for them.

"They were with me most of the night but when the party started to die down, I told them they could go."

Father looked at me for a few seconds before deciding to believe me. He gave a swift nod for me to continue.

"Like I said, I was having a drink with Maxim when I started to get really tired. It was like all those drinks finally caught up with me at once. He offered to carry me to bed, and I said yes. I don't really remember what happened after that, but I woke up with him in my bed with me. We were both naked. I asked him if we had sex and he said yes."

"Wait," Nikolai interjected. "You don't remember? Having sex with him?" His brown eyes narrowed on Maxim.

"No. Like I told you, I was drunk. Everything is fuzzy."

"What about now? Can you still not remember anything?" Aleksandr asked.

I frowned and tried my hardest to pull any memory with Maxim from that night to the forefront of my mind, but it kept coming up blank. "No," I replied, confusion laced in my voice. "It's like every time I try to reach a memory, it slips from my grasp. Everything is like a haze I can't see through."

A deep roar came from Aleksandr as he pounced on Maxim and started hammering into him, his fists connecting with his face over and over again. Blood dripped down Maxim's face, making a pool of blood on the floor beside him.

Lukyan looked at me and mouthedwhat the fuck?

I just shrugged my shoulders. Aleksandr had a short fuse. Who knows what set it off this time?

Maxim groaned, trying to bring his hands up to block his face but it was useless. Aleksandr wouldn't relent and eventually Maxim went limp but that didn’t stop my brother. He just kept pounding him with his bloody fists.

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