Chapter 24
Dominik
“Fuck!”
My shout ricochets off the concrete as something inside me finally snaps.
As much as I want to believe that my brother was just being an asshole to spite me…I think he was telling the truth.
Alina was acting odd when he first sent her down here. I thought it was because she was as confused and shocked by his decision as I was, but I was wrong.
She had intentionally kept something vital from me.
And now I can’t stop seeing it—his hand between her thighs, his name on her lips.
When we were together just minutes afterward, according to Gavriil, was she still thinking about him?
My stomach violently twists before I slam my palm against the shampoo and conditioner bottles on the ledge of the sink, knocking them across the cell. If I could tear this place down with my bare fucking hands, I would.
I’m sick and tired of being stuck in here, separated from what’s going on beyond the prison walls. Separated from Alina.
I think I’m already starting to lose her to Gavriil.
She let him touch her.
After all that he’s done to her, I thought that she would hate him.
That was the lie I’d been clinging to, that his cruelty would protect me from losing her.
He locked her in a cage. Took away her clothes and mattress. Ordered me to kill her brother.
And she still let him get close enough to unravel her in one of the most intimate ways.
What if he’s left to go do it again? Or to go even further?
What’s stopping him from taking what’s supposed to be mine?
“Fuck,” I breathe out again as I storm over to the cell door to rattle the bars as hard as I can.
I need to get the hell out of here.
“Hey! Cut it out,” Simeon snaps at me as he looks up from his phone.
“Fuck off,” I bite out.
Simeon pushes off the wall with a scowl to cross over to my cell. “Don’t make me knock your ass out.”
If my men didn’t have what I assume are blindfolds over their eyes and earplugs in their ears, threats would be raining down on Simeon right now. They wouldn’t let him get away with talking to me like that. Not without him fearing for his life at least a little.
He should know that we won’t all be stuck in here forever.
I glare at him through the bars, my hands itching to take a swing at him. At anyone who is stupid enough to stand between me and Alina. “Go ahead and unlock the door. Try it.”
He scoffs. “I could just shoot you through the bars.”
“Gavriil would have your head,” I remind him. My brother is enjoying torturing me too much for him to let someone kill me.
That’s why he came down here tonight. He warned me not to trust Alina, not to fall for her. And I foolishly didn’t listen to him.
“Traitors shouldn’t be in cells. They should be dumped in a ditch where no one will find them,” Simeon spits out. “Or have their throats slit like the Pakhan did to that bastard earlier.”
He’s got some nerve. I’ll give him that.
And to hear about Gavriil killing someone with his own hands is…surprising. He usually lets me and others do all the dirty work.
“Do what you think needs to be done then,” I tell him as I take a step back from the door, motioning for him to come through and act on his words. I’ll gladly take some of my anger out on him.
Simeon glances behind him at the staircase before huffing. “You’re not worth the trouble.”
“Coward,” I mutter. “Just like my brother.”
His expression darkens. “Gavriil is nothing close to a coward.”
A cold laugh breaks from me as I shake my head. He’s a fucking fool. “He’s not man enough to even have a conversation with me without these bars keeping him safe.”
“He has better things to do than deal with you,” Simeon replies as he crosses his arms.
All that he seems to be doing lately is losing this conflict for the Bratva and fucking around with my girl. He’s slowly wrapping Alina around his finger.
“Getting his men killed and tormenting an innocent woman? Sure.”
“You’re just jealous,” Simeon says, amusement glinting in his eyes. “She’s become quite…friendly with Gavriil.”
I don’t even want to know what exactly he means by that. My ego has already taken enough of a hit today and imagining Gavriil and Alina together makes me damn near nauseous.
“She’s just trying to keep him happy so that he doesn’t do anything fucked up to her,” I mutter, trying to convince myself that there was some other motive for why Alina did this and then kept it from me.
Simeon shrugs. “If that’s what helps you sleep at night. They spend a lot of time together now. Just ask Petrov.”
I want to strangle the bastard, but his words still slam into me like a train. If Petrov is back down here, he hasn’t said a word about seeing Alina, which is worrisome.
My stomach sinks at the thought of her turning her back on me for Gavriil. I’ve risked my life for her. Bled for her. Jeopardized my reputation and relationships for her.
And I would gladly do it all again for her and more but…what if none of that is still enough? What if Gavriil lures her away from me, and I’m left with nothing?
“Fuck!”
“Stop pitching a fit like a child and be quiet,” Simeon growls at me before stalking back to where he was standing.
I don’t answer. The weight in my chest steals the words from me.
Gavriil thinks he can take Alina from me and toss her aside once he’s proven his point.
But I bet she’s already getting under his skin too.
The bastard with a life-sized canvas of her on his wall is already just as obsessed with her as I am.
One day soon, I’m going to make him fucking regret trying to take what’s mine.