Page 29 of Brutal Loyalty

“I’m here for you, Elena,” he told her as he drove. “I don’t know what happened, and it’s your prerogative to keep whatever happened to yourself, but I want you to know that, if you want to talk, I’m here to listen. Or if you don’t want to talk to me, there’s Alexandra. Understand that you aren’t alone.”

Elena sobbed harder than before. She covered her face with her hands and curled up, resting her elbows on her knees while she remained seated. Every time she sobbed, her body trembled. The pain she was suffering was real, so strong it was physical, and, for a moment, he wondered if she’d gone into the nursing home to find she was too late—that her mother had already passed.

“H-how am I not alone?” she managed to demand through her sobbing. “I went in there a-and…and you don’t know what I saw!”

“I would if you’d tell me,” he answered too quickly.

“You jerk!” She sat up straight again, tears rushing down her face. “You’re so insensitive. Even my father has more tact than you, and you know what? Today, I found out he’s a monster!”

Roman fell silent. He came to a stop at the end of the driveway and yielded to traffic before merging. “You’re just learning this now?” he couldn’t help asking. “Your father was the man who killed Boris and kidnapped you. You defected because of him, Elena.”

“He…he was a good man to me most of the time, and that was what mattered!” Elena shot back. “He took care of me. He made sure I had everything I wanted. He was my father. But…”

“But?”

She glared at him. Mascara had streaked down her cheeks. “But what he did to my mother—the woman he claimed he loved—is inexcusable. How could he treat his own family like that? I don’t understand it...”

Roman focused on the road, but he glanced at her from time to time from the rearview mirror. “Some men are bad men. There is no reason for what they do. Those are the men who are most likely to deceive—who will make you believe they’re something they’re not. Manipulation is a fearsome skill, Elena.”

“I…” Elena trailed off. She no longer sounded angry, only defeated. “I wish he hadn’t done what he did to her, locking her away in a place like that while my sister and I were away. I thought I knew him better than that.”

“Then use the anger in your heart to solidify your stance against him.” Roman wished he could brush the tears from her cheeks and wipe the smudges from beneath her eyes. “You already know that your father took another man’s life…and now you’ve seen that his evil is not neatly contained. A man like that doesn’t only lash out against his enemies. Take this moment and hold it close. Always remember it. The ones we trust the most are sometimes the least deserving of our loyalty.”

A look crossed Elena’s tear-glossed eyes, like a cloud parting to reveal the sun. Then she turned her head away, focusing her gaze on the window. Roman let her be. He didn’t need an answer. If silence was what she wanted, he would give it to her.

“Where are we going?” Elena asked after a long while.

Roman found it in himself to smile. She sounded better. Having a cry had taken the edge off, and now it was his duty to make sure she was comforted the rest of the way. “Home; I’m only taking the long way to give you time to…recover some, from what you saw.”

“To the Sokolov estate?” Elena brushed at a stray tear on her cheek. “I don’t…I don’t want Alexandra or Viktor to see me like this. I don’t want to have this conversation with them. It was hard enough talking to you, and you’re…you.”

“They won’t see you,” Roman promised. “No one will see you. You won’t be bothered.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I’m taking you home, to my room.” Roman looked at her one last time through the rearview mirror, marveling at how strong she was. “No one will bother you there. And for as long as it takes—as long as you want—you’ll have sanctuary there.”

“With you?” Elena asked, something a lot like longing poorly masked in her voice.

“With me.” Roman smiled. “Always with me. I meant what I told you before—you don’t have to be alone. No matter what, I’ll keep you safe.”

CHAPTER22

Elena

Soft morning light streamed through Roman’s bedroom window. Elena opened her eyes to the rays and let them warm her through the blankets. Bleary-eyed, she blinked away the last remnants of sleep, then stretched and sat up in bed. Yesterday had been hard—harder than she cared to admit—but Roman had seen her through it. Annoyingly so. How was it that she’d managed to go the last several years without letting anyone get under her skin and in just a few days, Roman Garnovich knew her better than she knew herself?

True to his word, he’d managed to get her back into the Sokolov mansion and up to his bedroom without running into anyone. She’d caught him texting someone. When she’d asked who it was, he’d told her that he had let Viktor know that they weren’t to be disturbed, which had surprised her. If this were her father’s house and one of his underlings had given an order like that, her father would be breaking the door down in anger. Then Roman had wiped away her tears, cleaned the smudged makeup from her face, and made love to her until her mind had been clear and she’d been able to sleep.

A good man like that was rare. If only he’d worked for her family, she found herself thinking, maybe she could have avoided all this mess and seen the truth sooner.

She glanced at Roman where he lay, observing the peace on his face as he slept. During the day, he was a brick wall—immovable, unemotional, and sturdy as anything. But when they were alone in the privacy of his bedroom? And when he slept? She saw the man he was deep down, and she knew his loyalty wasn’t just for show. Roman was the kind of man who would care for her even when she couldn’t manage to care about herself. When hard times hit—like they had yesterday—and she shut down, he was there to put her back together.

Elena allowed herself to smile as she looked down at him. She reached out and traced her fingers along his cheek, keeping her touch so gentle that it was barely there. Yesterday, she’d discovered the extent her father was willing to go to in order to get his way. If he could do that to her mother…she shivered at what he might do when he found out she wouldn’t be following through with his plans to have her kill Viktor. Maybe once her father realized that his plan wasn’t going to work, he would back off and give her enough time to figure out what to do next. Whatever she did, she couldn’t do it alone. She’d need help.

Elena decided to place her loyalty where loyalty was due—in the man who’d been there for her even when she’d lashed out at him. He believed in her enough to endure her abuse and stick by her through her worst day. He was the one who deserved her loyalty—not her father.

And she could not forget those who had been deceived in a similar way. Her poor mother, trapped and in such poor physical and psychological health, needed help, too. Elena would make sure she received the help she so desperately needed. Somehow. She had money squirreled away. Enough to run and hide if she needed to, but would it be enough to see to her mother’s needs? Medical care was expensive, she knew that much.

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