Page 171 of Shattered Altar (Makarova Bratva Duet)

ALEKS

She’s a wreck.

Her hair is a tangled mess like a halo around her head, but it’s more than that. Everything she’s feeling is emblazoned in those dusky brown eyes.

Every ounce of pain. Every drop of jealousy.

“Get a hold of yourself,” I order after I dump her on the bed.

“You get a hold of yourself!” she snaps back childishly. She puts her hand on my chest and tries to shove me away from her.

I don’t budge, not even an inch. She has to crane her neck up to look at me. She’s sitting on the edge of the bed so close that I can feel the heat coming off her body.

My cock is ramrod straight.

“How could you do this?” she asks, her voice rasping with sobs.

“I did what I had to do to protect my Bratva,” I tell her. “And I’d do it all over again.”

“My brother…”

“Is a man. And he’ll have to move on.”

“She cares about him, too.”

“She’s put that part of her life behind her,” I say firmly. “She’s not going back, Olivia. Not now. Not ever.”

“But—”

“Isabella was a part she was playing. The real woman is a fuck ton more complicated. I’m not sure your brother would want that, anyway.”

Her eyes narrow to angry slits. “Don’t pretend like you know my brother.”

“But I do know your brother, Olivia,” I tell her. “I know him better than he knows himself. You don’t think that I was in contact with Jennifer every step of the way while she was playing Isabella?”

She cringes back at that. “You’ve been watching me that long?”

I shake my head. “You? No. She gave me reports on Robert and that was all. I never needed to get more involved until shit went to hell a year after I pulled her out. The first time I laid eyes on you was in that airport.”

She blinks up at me. “Rob deserves to know. She owes him an explanation.”

“She doesn’t have time for explanations. She’s out there risking her life every day.”

“For you.”

“Not for me. For the Bratva.”

She shakes her head. “Why would any sane woman sacrifice her life and her happiness for that?”

“Because there’s someone out there who’s trying to take me down. Trying to pin their own crimes on me. They’re counting on your brother to come after me, and if he hesitates or pulls back… that stops. Abruptly and violently.”

“He’ll go after Rob, too?” she says, her eyes going wide with panic. “Fuck. Fuck. My family…”

“Your family is under my protection,” I tell her. “They’re safe so long as I’m around.”

She frowns, as though she’s genuinely confused by that statement. “Why would you protect them?”

“Because they’re your family. And you are my wife.”

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