Page 23 of Bratva Prince

“Make it up to me? You helped orchestrate my family’s murders and you think that somehow that you could ever make it up to me.” I turn to Alek and say, “The gall of this piece of filth.”

“I’d say your prayers, father,” Alek adds, knowing there’s nothing that will save him from my wrath. He does and as soon as he does, I put a bullet in his head.

“No sacred burial for him,” I say. Alek nods and the other men come into the room to handle the cleanup. I send up a silent prayer for my own soul which has been forever damaged by this.

Unable to see Katya with the blood and sins on my hands, I decide to get to work on destroying the rest of Volchek’s properties. With more intel gathered, I return late into the night only to learn that Katya hasn’t been interested in eating and from the last check by Angelina.

Frustrated, I sneak into our bedroom to find her asleep on the chair in our room.

Snagging up some boxers, I jump in the shower to scrub off the grime and blood from the rampage I went on. Once I’m out, dried and dressed, I take all the bags off the bed and put them in the closet to be put away later. Needing to put my princess to bed properly, I scoop my sleeping beauty, pull back the covers, and tuck her under them.

“I’m sorry for everything but loving you.” I brush my lips against her temple and then lay there for an hour before my phone vibrates in my pocket. A sinner’s work is never done.

Chapter Seven

Katya

I wake up in the bed we’ve shared since I came here, but Roman isn’t there and the pillows beside me are cold. Still, I’m not sure how I got into bed. Sitting up, I see all the bags of clothes are gone, so he must have had them removed.

Reeling with sadness, I roll back around in the covers, not wanting to wake up. For the next hour I sluggishly move around the bedroom, feeling broken. Roman’s my captor and not the savior I thought he was, and yet, I can’t find it in me to hate him. If anything, the feeling is the exact opposite.

The way he made me feel in such a short time has been more intense and real than the entire lifetime I’ve had in the cottage without a soul who actually cared what happened other than I was still alive at the end of the day. Does that make me a fool? Probably, but I don’t care. I want to go back to how it was yesterday before everything went bad.

A knock on the door takes me by surprise. “Come in,” I choke out through tears, swiping them away quickly before they can be noticed.

The three girls come in and gasp. “Oh no. We hoped things would be better this morning. Ivan said we were to leave you alone.” The trio rushes into the room, closing the door behind them where Ivan stands guard just outside. I catch a frown on his face before the door completely shuts. Great, so everyone knows I’m a wreck. I suppose the cat was out of the bag yesterday, but I’ve never been around this many people at once, and it’s unnerving and comforting at the same time. Still, there’s only one person I care to hear from, and he’s not coming near me.

“Mr. Semyonov said the clothes should be put away properly,” Mariska says, looking at the boxes of shoes next to the closet door.

“They’re all going back. I’m not going to be staying here much longer. In fact, I need to find a way out of here,” I say, trying to climb off the enormous bed that I’m way too comfortable in.

“Seriously, girl. So, he’s pissed about his father’s watch. He’ll get over it.” Anya smacks Anna this time. They have a habit for letting things slip out. What does she mean his father’s watch?

Anna glares at her sister and says, “Come on. She has to know what’s going on by now. I overheard Mr. Semyonov say she knows the truth.” I stare at them, completely dumbfounded.

“Knows what? He killed my brother, my father’s men, and soon my father.”

Anya blows a harsh breath before dropping to the bed beside me. Anna sits on the other side and runs her hands through my hair. “I’m sorry, but they all deserve it andsomuch more. They killed Mr. Semyonov’s parents and little brother, who was only ten.”

“What do you mean?” I gasp, grateful that I’m sitting down because suddenly, the blood feels like it leaves my head.

Mariska comes out of the closet with a hanger in her hand with a look of pain on her face, matching mine. “They were only laid to rest two weeks ago.”

“We were there at the service in the back while your father was boldly upfront with your brother. I heard your brother stole the watch off his body after killing Mr. Semyonov’s father. It was an anniversary present from his wife.”

“So that’s why he wants me dead,” I mutter.

Anya takes my hand and sits by my legs. “He doesn’t want you dead. Maybe he wanted his revenge, but you’re so sweet. I bet as soon as he saw you, he couldn’t think of hurting you.”

Mariska adds, “But he’s hurting pretty bad. We all know we’d be devastated if it was one of us. Still, if he’s not careful, he could lose everything.”

“What do you mean?” The thought of something terrible happening to Roman sends pain straight to my chest like nothing else.

“Your father won’t be satisfied with anything less than Mr. Semyonov’s death. Along with taking control of all Mr. Semyonov’s businesses, of course. He didn’t mind killing a little kid, so going after another grown man won’t mean a thing to him.”

Suddenly I remember the picture that we passed on the way to the kitchen yesterday had been Roman’s family and my family had taken that away from him.

“Wow.” I don’t know what else to say as a pawn in a war that my father started, and that Roman wants to end.

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