Page 27 of Wicked Knight 2

“Like I said, mind your own business. If you’re getting lonely because Maxim is gone, Boris Jr. can step in.” He grabbed his junk. “Fuck your brains out, better than Papa’s boy.”

“I seriously doubt that.” I grimaced.

When I turned to leave, he grabbed my arm and made me face him. The beer stench in his breath triggered me. Dad would lock me in the cellar every time he came home drunk. Mom was too sick to even know what was going on. Most nights he’d leave me there for hours. I stayed alone in the dark for a long time until Aunt Vittoria saved me.

I fisted my hand and clocked him square in the face. “Don’t you ever touch me again.”

“Or you’ll what?”

“Boris.” Papa’s stern voice called from the entrance. “Don’t you have a delivery?”

“Yes, Boss.” Boris spat blood to the side, then strode across the courtyard toward the long corridor.

“The kitchen might be a better place for you. Safe.” He gestured for me to go inside.

I opened my mouth to tell him what I thought of his safety precautions, but then thought better of it. Papa wasn’t someone I wanted to cross. This was the guy who kidnapped me, knowing full well what it could mean. He got away with it for now. I was married to his favorite son. But sooner or later, my family would find me. He had to know the kind of bloodshed the Society would bring to their doorstep. Of course he knew. He was just stupid enough to think he could win.

“Right. The kitchen.” I strode past the vestibule toward the downstairs access in the back.

“I can’t believe you did that.” Belinda rushed toward me the minute I strolled into the kitchen. “Boris is very dangerous. He’s worse when Maxim is gone. What were you thinking humiliating him like that?”

“I guess I wasn’t thinking. It was sort of a reflex.” I rubbed the tender spot on my arm where it was already turning blue and a little green.

“Well, now you’ve done it. He won’t leave you alone. Watch your back. Papa should’ve kicked him out after what happened with Dominic.” She shook her head.

“What do you mean? What happened with Dominic?” Maybe Boris and Dominic were the chink in the armor. Boris seemed to be the hateful type. His disdain for Maxim was written all over his face. When Papa showed up earlier, Boris didn’t seem afraid like the others. He was pissed.

“I told you about Dominic.” She stepped closer when Galina rolled her eyes. “She doesn’t like it when I gossip. But if I didn’t keep my eyes peeled and ears opened, we’d never know what’s going on around here. The guys don’t tell us anything. Even Maxim won’t tell me. Not even after we have sex.”

“Oh.” I smiled at my hands. This time I did a good job of keeping a naked Maxim and Belinda out of my mind. “So what’s the deal with Dominic?”

“Dominic was Boris’s cousin. Maxim killed him.” She pointed at her nose. “Not before Dominic beat his face to a pulp.” Her eyes watered. “It was so scary. For a minute, I thought Maxim was a goner. But he came back and put Dominic in his place.” She did the sign of the cross.

“Is that why Boris hates Maxim? Because he killed his cousin?”

“Yeah that too, but mostly Boris hates Maxim because he thinks Maxim stole his promotion. You see, Boris was next in line to be Papa’s spy. But then Maxim came back from Russia. And boom. No more Boris.” She beamed at me then pointed at Alexei sitting at the end of the table in front of a bowl of porridge. “Anyway, I think you’re right. He did something to Alexei.”

“Did you ask him?” I pointed at the kid.

“Yeah, but he’s terrified.” She ran a hand through her hair. “He reminds me of when I first came here. Boris isn’t wrong, there’s no room for weakness here.”

“That’s how you came to be here?” I studied her pretty features. She had to be a few years younger than me.

“Yeah, I was an orphan too. Papa has a soft spot for us because he also grew up without parents. He only asks that we make ourselves useful.” She gestured in the general direction of all the house chores waiting for her.

“Boris is a bully.” I patted her arm.

“And a coward. He’s taking it out on the kid because he knows he can’t fight Maxim. I wish he would, so we could be rid of them.” With a smile, she grabbed a crepe off the table and took off.

When Alexei winced in pain, I sat next to him. “Do you mind if I take a look at your arm?”

“That’s okay, I guess.” He gave me a one-shoulder shrug.

“How old are you?” I lifted his wrist then turned it left and right.

“Ten.”

“Do you go to school?”

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