Chapter 18 – Val
I sat on a couch across the bed in my master bedroom, watching her sleep peacefully, snuggled beneath the sheets. She looked so innocent and gorgeous with her eyelids shut—so fragile.
She almost lost her life last night. Again. And it was all because of me. Again. Ever since I dragged her into this world of violence, death, and destruction, she’d survived one chaos after another.
Perhaps it was true that I ruined her life, because it’s clear that she was safer before she met me. At least then, her biggest problem was how to pass an exam, get good grades, and raise money for a better camera. She’d never had to worry about someone trying to kill her until I came along.
I sat down there in silence, absently rubbing my bruised knuckles as I blamed myself for every bad thing that had happened to her since she met me. I watched her chest rise and fall with even breaths, my eyes tracing the perfect curve of her lips.
Last night, I tended to her wounds myself, and although she didn’t speak to me, I knew she had a lot to say.
Neither of us said a word. I cleaned up her bruises, wiped the traces of blood on her skin, and while she was in the shower having a warm bath, I went to the kitchen and fixed her some vegetables.
She didn’t feel like eating and was sluggish about it. After a few bites, she set the tray on the nightstand, slipped under the sheets, and fell asleep shortly after.
I hadn’t left the couch ever since, hadn’t closed my eyes to sleep even for a minute or two.
She was so valuable to me, so precious that I couldn’t bring myself to snooze when I was supposed to be watching over her.
It didn’t feel right. She was my responsibility, and I wasn’t going to let her down.
Not the way Luka let me down.
The mere thought of his betrayal made my skin prickle, and my blood boiled.
He almost outsmarted me and almost got away with his manipulation.
Luka knew that I was attracted to the new girl—the stubborn girl who wouldn’t yield to anyone.
His hatred for her ran so deep that he aligned with the enemy and orchestrated her death right under my nose.
He planned all of that successfully because he knew that I was so focused on the girl and I wouldn’t see it coming.
It wasn’t a hidden fact that he hated her for being such a tough nut to crack. A good number of my men felt the same way, too. But going the extra mile to plan her death…. That was extreme, even to me.
When he failed and I defied the council by making her my wife instead of discarding her like they proposed, they were all pissed off. Luka wasn’t pleased with my decision to make her a boss over him and the rest of my men. So, he planned on attacking her again.
What he didn’t know was that I was already suspecting him.
After the first attempt on her life—the invasion of my house—I knew there was a mole within these walls. At first, I wasn’t sure who it was and didn’t even mention my suspicion to anyone. Not even him, Luka.
However, the day he brought Mikhail to my study, all beat up and weak, was the day he pointed me in the right direction. Him.
First, he claimed that Mikhail was the mole who leaked the information about the right time to attack. He handed me a burner phone with implicating text messages and call logs—all of which Mikhail didn’t deny or attest to.
Initially, I thought Mikhail was so overwhelmed by his own guilt, and that was why he didn’t say anything. However, it wasn’t until after I jabbed that knife into his neck that I realized something.
Right before Wren had made that noise outside the door, my eyes caught something distinct about the dead body at my feet. There were severe burns on his tongue and throat.
I recognized what that meant because it was a form of torture that I personally had used a few times. Especially when I didn’t want my victims to speak.
And then it hit me: Someone wanted Mikhail silenced. They didn’t want him to speak and probably defend himself. So, they severed his ability to talk. No wonder he just kept shaking his head and pleading with his hands.
Luka had even told me that Mikhail wouldn’t speak because he knew where his loyalty was. That statement was a manipulation to drive me off the edge. He wanted me to snap and kill the man without further questioning.
And I did. I fell right into his trap. I played his game.
It wasn’t until I saw the burns that I started putting the pieces together. Why send him to me with an allegation when he knew Mikhail couldn’t defend himself? Why take away his ability to speak in the first place? And ultimately, why wasn’t I informed before he began torturing the man?
When I received that email from an anonymous sender saying that the mole was within my close lieutenants, my suspicion grew even stronger.
I knew there was a mole within the walls of my mansion.
But after the anonymous tip that narrowed it down to a specific sample size, it was easier for me to fish out the enemy within.
I called that meeting with Anton, Sergei, Yakov, and Dmitri on purpose. Excluding Luka from my suspect list was a deliberate act so he wouldn’t know that I was on to him. While he stood there at the door, his gun drawn out and ready to fire, I was busy studying him.
He was my main target that day, not the four men. Despite my interrogation and subtle accusations, I knew deep down the mole wasn’t any of them.
Luka confirmed my suspicion after he approached me when the meeting was over, claiming Anton was guilty. He gave his reasons, but that singular act was what sold him out.
Luka’s manipulation became sloppy, and I saw right through him. He wanted to shift my attention toward Anton, so while I’d be busy focusing on the man, he’d have the time to plan his next move. Because I wasn’t sure when he would act, I had to do something to speed up his schedule.
So, I set a trap and he walked right into it.
I told him he’d be in charge of the mansion while I left for something important the next day. He was so desperate to complete his mission that he didn’t realize I just handed him a rope long enough to hang himself. And he did exactly that.
I never left the building, even though everyone thought that I did. It was all part of the plan to smoke him out.
However, I didn’t anticipate Wren’s escape plan. I wasn’t sure why she chose last night to try to run away, but she did. Luckily for her, I was somewhere in the mansion, watching everyone and everything. I knew something funny would go down, and that was why I never took my eyes off the screen.
The second Wren left her room in the dead of night and began creeping through the hallways, I knew something wasn’t right. She was lucky because shortly after she left, Luka had snuck into her room wearing a black outfit and a hoodie that covered his face.
When he didn’t find her there, he rushed out of the room, glanced both ways, and then withdrew his phone.
I watched him from my secret spot with clenched fists and a tight jaw. He stared at his lit screen as if waiting for the live feed to reveal her movement. Seconds later, he sprinted as if he’d already spotted her.
From my monitor, I saw exactly where she was headed, and he was right behind her. That was my cue, and I didn’t waste any more time before rushing to her rescue.
I killed Luka myself—beat him to death with my bare hands. Betrayal was unforgivable, and he knew that when he turned on me. The man had worked with me for years, and I trusted him more than anyone else in this world because he earned it.
This was a man who took a bullet for me, risked his life on several occasions to keep me safe.
Yet, a little misunderstanding, and he turned on me without thinking twice.
He attempted to kill Wren when she was just an ordinary prisoner in my mansion.
He failed and tried again when she was my wife. My wife!
How dare he betray me like that?
If he had fuckin’ problem with the girl, why didn’t he bring it to my notice? Not that it would’ve changed my mind anyway. But at least, I might have let him see things from my own point of view.
But no. He did no such thing.
Instead, he decided to work with the council against me. His actions only proved one thing: His loyalty was never with me. It was with the Bratva. He only protected me because I was a Bratva leader. So, the second I turned against the council, I became a threat to him.
Luka was dead. Yes. But this was far from over.
He was just the tool, the muscle behind last night’s attempt on my wife’s life. Luka was the one who nearly pulled the trigger. Figuratively. Meaning, the one who pointed the gun, the brain behind all of this, was still out there.
My money was on Akim.
Wren’s body moved on the mattress, her groan snapping me out of my thoughts. I blinked back to reality, my gaze settling on her as she wiped the back of her palms over her eyes. She adjusted, sitting with her back against the headboard.
“Morning,” I said, my gaze unwavering.
She squinted, her expression shifting from soft to dark. Her hair was a mess, locks tangled in one another, and her skin glistened in the morning sun streaming in through the windows. She looked absolutely stunning, and her beauty stirred up a flutter in my chest.
With the way she glared at me, I knew there was an impending argument about to break out any moment now.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
“How do you think I’m feeling?” she began, her voice low but venomous.
Alright, here we go.
She continued, “I almost got killed last night. Again.” Her eyes bore into mine, anger etched on her face.
“Will you just calm down?”
“Calm down?!” she snapped, furious. “Are you kidding me right now?!” Wren hopped out of bed and rose to her feet.
“You knew this entire time that one of your men was compromised—that one of them was after my life, and you said nothing!”
“I was trying to protect you!”