Page 12 of Brutal Loyalty

Elena backed away from the door as if it were on fire and turned to see her friend coming toward her. “Elena! I’m so glad you’re here. Is that the dress fromLegally Blonde? It looks better on you.”

Before Elena could respond, the office door was flung open, and Roman and Viktor came striding out. Alexandra squealed when she saw her husband and rushed into his arms. He enveloped her in a hug and kissed her, and then kept kissing her. Elena briefly wondered if this was for show, but when her friend moaned, Elena decided that show or not, she needed to put a stop to it.

“Do you guys need a room or something?” Okay, that was a terrible dig but seeing her friend appear that happy was making her chest hurt.

When they finally broke apart, Alexandra’s cheeks were flushed and she was all smiles. Grabbing Elena’s arm, she tugged her down the hall toward the stairs. “Who needs a specific room when we have the whole house?” Alexandra announced and both Viktor and Roman laughed.

Elena looked over her shoulder at the men, and she caught Roman slapping Viktor on his shoulder. “Wait. So you guys have been fucking all over the house?”

“Every room,” Alexandra told her before she launched into something about the chandelier hanging over the stairs. Her commentary had shifted over in Elena’s brain to white noise. Elena couldn’t concentrate on what her friend was saying as she found herself imagining having sex on every surface in this place. Just not with Viktor. She looked back at the men again and found Roman staring at her as if he was imagining it, too.

When they entered the dining room, Alexandra leaned toward her and stage-whispered that this room was one of her favorites. Elena’s eyes swept the room, looking at all the potential surfaces for a wild sex fest. Dragging her to the table, Alexandra pushed her down into a chair before leaning down to hug her. “I’m so glad you’re here, Lena.” She kissed her cheek before whispering, “Don’t worry, the chairs and table are cleaned regularly,” before laughing and stepping over to take the seat Viktor was waiting behind.

Roman took the seat to her left and Elena caught him looking at her legs, which were on prime display in this dress.Okay, I did choose the right dress.She was about to say something to him when Kostya and Niko joined them. Neither of the brothers looked happy to see her, but Kostya in particular looked as though he might want to rip her apart. Judging from the size of him, he might just succeed. Seriously, that man was a beast and woe any woman he might try to seduce.

There were quiet murmurs of conversation as staff brought out glasses and began pouring wine. The entire time, Kostya glowered at her, and Elena could feel her temper rising. She knew it was a bad idea to goad the pakhan’s chief enforcer, but his animosity toward her was rolling off him in waves.

Finally, Elena couldn’t take it any longer, and she leaned toward Roman. “Do you have your phone on you? I left mine in my room.”

“Yes, why?”

Tilting her head to stare at Kostya, she said, “Because I’m thinking you need to take a pic of me to send to Kostya so he’ll stop staring at me as if I’m about to become his next meal.”

“Suka!” Kostya roared as he lunged to his feet and sent his chair flying back. “Why is she here and not in some dark cell somewhere?”

Elena flinched at the malevolence but before she could do anything, Roman pulled her chair back and shifted so he was blocking her from the angry beast-man who clearly wanted her dead.

“She’s here because she’s my guest,” Viktor said calmly. “And she’s Alexandra’s best friend. If you can’t be civil, then perhaps it would be best if you didn’t dine with us this evening, brother.”

Kostya froze and looked around at everyone. Viktor had also shifted to protect Alexandra, and when Elena caught her eye, Alexandra gave her a small smile letting her know it was okay. Kostya looked like he was going to sit down again, but then he shook his head and shouted, “Privinti eto!” before storming out.

Niko then stood up and gave everyone an apologetic look. “If you will excuse me, I will see that he doesn’t do anything too rash.” Nodding to Viktor, he also left the room.

As soon as they left, someone immediately removed their place settings and things quieted down while the food was brought out. Elena hadn’t realize how hungry she was until she saw all the delicious-smelling platters. Pelmeni had been a favorite of hers growing up. Her mother would make it on special days. The shashlik made her mouth water. She saw Roman grabbing a second skewer, and she wasn’t sure why that pleased her so much.

Alexandra and Viktor sat side by side at the dining table, joking and laughing, and even, on occasion, finishing each other’s sentences. The air in the room was definitely lighter without Kostya glaring at her, freeing her to really observe Alexandra and her husband. From everything she was witnessing, it was clear that the pakhan loved his wife and she him. Dread built inside Elena over how much she was going to hurt her friend—but she was more terrified of her father. She tuned out the conversation as she ran through different potential scenarios to get herself out of this situation.

She knew that if she didn’t finish the job herself, her father would send someone else to do it, which risked Alexandra getting caught in the middle of it. As much as she dreaded hurting her friend, she worried even more about what one of her father’s men might do to her. Rape and serious injury would likely be a part of it. Elena also knew that the very same thing could, and probably would, happen to her if she failed.

No. The safest thing for everyone would be if she was the one to kill Viktor Solokov.

“What did the eggplant do to you?” Roman asked her, breaking her out of her thoughts.

“What?”

Roman gestured to her plate where she’d been pushing the vegetables around with her fork to the point where they were now barely identifiable. She shook her head and smirked. “What can I say, I much prefer to eat…meat.” She followed that up with pointedly staring at the napkin in his lap before slowly raising her eyes to his face.

He grinned in return and skewered a piece of beef with his fork, holding it up to her mouth. “Then, by all means.”

Challenge accepted.Leaning toward him, she opened her mouth to delicately take the offering but at the last second, she snapped her teeth and jerked the meat off the fork. She tilted her head up, giving him a show and when she swallowed, she caught him watching her throat. Reaching for her wineglass, she took a hefty sip. “Definitely better than eggplant,” she told him, and she could have sworn she saw his cock jerk under his napkin.

Well, if she was going to ruin the lives of everyone in this room, she might as well have a bit of fun in the process.

CHAPTER10

Elena

The next morning, Elena woke up groggy and hungover. The more Viktor and Alexandra cuddled and acted like love-sick newlyweds, the more she drank last night. At least she’d kept it to wine. Dressing in anotherLegally Blondeoutfit—pink sparkly skirt and a matching top with her favorite boots—she headed downstairs to see if the kitchen offered soy mochas. To her surprise and delight, it did. Elena sipped on her drink and wandered around the mansion to see if she could find Viktor to subtly determine his daily schedule.

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