Page 31 of Sins He Taught Me (Bratva Crime Syndicate 3)

“I don’t care about that right now,” I cut him off. I look again over my shoulder at Nikolas, who seems to stir in his sleep. Victoria’s gaze follows mine, and when she sees Nikolas, her eyes bulge.

Before I can tell her to stop, she approaches the boy.

She takes a seat beside him and pulls her jacket off, draping it over him and tucking him in. I don’t know why, but I keep my lips pressed in a tight line. She’s surrounded by men threatening her father’s life and yet Victoria is instead leaning over a little boy she’s never met, making sure he’s taken care of.

The wheels in my mind start turning, and I look to Miron.

“Take the boy to his room,” I tell him. “Get him situated in bed. Then come back.” Miron jumps into action, scooping Nikolas delicately from the couch.

Victoria steps back, lips parted as if she wants to argue, but thankfully, she says nothing. She turns to me, eyes narrowed.

When Miron is gone, I lean forward on the table. “I’m going to need you to tell me everything about the man that broke in and killed Faddei. I don’t have much patience for lies, so I would recommend that you be honest with me. Someone could get hurt otherwise.”

I reach for the switchblade knife and flip it open, staring down at the inscription on the handle. My name in silvery letters. My father gave me this knife when he decided I was old enough to begin working in the family business.

I’ve used it only twice. Once, when I first got it. I foolishly believed it was just another knife. When Father found out about it, he tore into me, telling me that it was a symbol of the family and not something to cut apples with. I took that lesson to heart.

The second was when I needed information from the man that betrayed my father and got him killed.

But it’s looking more and more possible that now might be the third occasion: when I cut Daniel’s fingers off his fucking hand while his daughter watches.

I grip the knife in my right hand and snatch Daniel’s arm with the other, placing his hand flat on the table. The blade just barely grazes the underside of his wrist. I let it hover there.

“Please, no!” Daniel begs, trying to tug his hand free. His eyes are wide with terror.

“What happened?” I hiss, irritation growing inside of me. “Who was he?”

“I don’t know! I don’t know who he was, okay? He came out of nowhere. He shot your guy twice and then he was gone.”

I start to press my knife into the man’s finger when Victoria says, “He’s telling you the truth, Matvei!”

Hearing my name on the lips of Victoria does something to me. She says it confidently, like she’s known me far longer than she actually has.

“And how do I know that, Victoria? How do I know that you two don’t know who the vigilante is? How do I know you didn’t set all this up?”

“I swear to you, I don’t know who he is, but I’m glad he showed up when he did.”

I turn to face her, waiting for an explanation.

She swallows. “You say that your man, that Faddei, wasn’t going to do anything to me, but he was. He was going to do horrible things to me. I’m not stupid. I know men like that. He would’ve done anything to make Dad pay. I’m glad the vigilante showed up and killed him. He saved me.”

“That man isn’t a hero,” I tell her. “He’s a murderer.”

“And what are you?”

I rise from the table, suddenly much more interested in this woman. She stands rigid as I draw closer, one slow step at a time, like a panther in the jungle with a fragile deer locked in its sights.

I’m close enough to smell her now. Floral, bright, the scent of an innocent woman.

Closer, and now I can see the color shimmer in the iris of her eyes. Dark brown. Intelligent.

But scared.

Very, very scared.

The corner of my mouth twitches up in the suggestion of a smile. I like seeing her fear. It lets me know that I have all the control right now.

I reach up to thread my fingers through her hair and tighten my fist. Her heartbeat is thrumming in her chest, a million beats a minute.

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