Chapter 14
Dimitri Morozov
As soon as we were alone, Alexei slammed me against the wall.
His forearm pressed hard against my throat, pinning me.
He was bigger than me, built like a fucking tank.
I was faster, better with a gun, and I could hold my own in the ring, but when it came to pure brute strength, Alexei had always had the advantage.
And right now, he was using every inch of it.
“Are you fucking insane?” he growled. “You just announced to the entire fucking school that you’re the one who had that boy on his knees in the woods. Do you have any idea what you just did?”
From the side, Ilya spoke up, though he did not sound particularly urgent.
“Alexei. Let him go.”
Alexei’s arm locked against my throat like he was seriously considering choking the life out of me.
“I’m not letting him go until he explains what the fuck is wrong with him,” Alexei snapped, not even looking at Ilya.
“That video was already spreading. People were already talking. And instead of handling it quietly like a normal person, you decide to stand in the middle of the hallway and claim him like some kind of trophy? In front of everyone?”
I smiled, even with his arm cutting off my air.
“Are you worried my father’s going to disown me and hand the position to you?”
Alexei’s jaw tightened. I knew I had hit the nerve I was aiming for.
“Don’t start that shit with me, Dimitri.”
I kept smiling, even as my vision started to get a little hazy around the edges.
“Come on, Lex. You’ve always been the responsible one.
The one who actually gives a fuck about keeping things clean.
If I get thrown out, who else is my father going to give the empire to?
You’re his brother’s son. He raised you.
You’re the spare he’s been keeping warm just in case I fuck up too badly. ”
Alexei’s arm pressed harder for a second before he suddenly released me with a frustrated growl. I dropped back against the wall, coughing once as air rushed back into my lungs.
“He’s not wrong, Dima,” Ilya said, his voice unusually serious for him.
“You went too far today. That wasn’t just you being possessive.
That was you setting fire to the whole fucking house while standing inside it.
Your father is going to hear about this.
Ivan doesn’t like surprises, and he especially doesn’t like when his only son starts making public declarations about some random boy. ”
I rubbed my throat, still smiling faintly as I looked between them.
“Random boy?” I repeated. “That’s cute. You both know he’s not random.”
Alexei ran a hand through his hair, pacing a few steps away before turning back to face me.
“You’re playing a dangerous game,” he said.
“That video was already bad enough. Now the entire school knows it was you. That means it’s only a matter of time before it reaches your father.
And when it does, he’s not going to be happy.
He’s been trying to keep you in line for years.
This is going to make him think you’re losing control. ”
I pushed off the wall and rolled my shoulders.
“I don’t give a fuck what my father thinks,” I said flatly. “He can be disappointed. He can threaten me. He can try to control me like he always does. But I’m not backing down on this.”
“This obsession with the Kurosaki boy is getting out of hand. You’re drawing too much attention.”
I tilted my head, studying both of them.
“You’re both acting like I lost control,” I said. “I didn’t. I made a choice. That video was already out there. People were already calling him names. I wasn’t going to let that shit continue.”
Alexei’s eyes narrowed.
“So instead you decided to claim him in front of the entire school? That’s your idea of protecting him?”
“Yes,” I said simply. “Because now they know. Now they understand. If anyone so much as looks at him wrong, they know exactly who they’re dealing with. And they know what will happen.”
Ilya pushed off the ring and walked closer.
“You think that’s protection?” he asked. “That’s not protection, Dima. That’s painting a target on his back. And on yours. Your father is already paranoid about you getting distracted. This is going to confirm every single fear he has.”
“You’re going too far with this boy,” Alexei said. “You’re not thinking about the consequences. You’re not thinking about what happens when your father finds out. And he will find out. Ivan always finds out.”
“I know he will,” I said with a shrug. “And when he does, I’ll deal with it. But I’m not giving Rei up.”
Alexei shook his head, looking disappointed.
“You’re being fucking stupid,” he said. “How good is his hole that it’s worth all of this?”
My eyes snapped to Alexei.
“Watch your fucking mouth.”
“I’m not trying to piss you off,” he said. “I’m trying to make you see what’s actually happening. You’ve always been reckless, but this is different. You’re forcing his hand. And I don’t think you’ve thought about what happens if he decides you’re no longer fit to take over.”
I looked between the two of them. Alexei was the brother I never asked for but ended up with anyway. Ilya was the crazy angel who was far more sensitive than he let be seen.
They were worried.
And maybe they had a reason to be.
But I did not care.
“I’m not stepping down,” I said. “And I’m not giving him up. So if you’re both done lecturing me like I’m a child, I have somewhere to be.”
Ilya raised an eyebrow.
“Where?”
I smiled.
“To collect flowers for my fairy.”
***
I tried not to think about what Alexei and Ilya had said.
It was true, all of it. I had made sure everyone at school would keep quiet, so I knew Rei’s parents would not find out.
But my father was a different situation.
Ivan Morozov did not raise me to be sloppy, and he certainly did not raise me to make public declarations about boys I had on their knees in the middle of the woods.
He had people watching me constantly. I knew that.
I had known that for years. But right now, I did not give a single fuck.
My priority was elsewhere.
During Rei’s panic attack, I had noticed something.
Every few seconds, his hand would fly up to the side of his head. Like he was looking for something that was not there anymore.
The flower.
He kept reaching for it like it was oxygen, like if he could just find it again, he would be able to breathe.
I understood that kind of thing.
Ilya had his knife. The silver one he spun between his fingers. Without it, he started to unravel. I had seen it happen more times than I could count. The second that knife left his person, his entire body language changed.
Rei’s flowers were the same.
They were not just decoration. They were the thing that kept the panic from swallowing him whole. And today, someone had taken that from him.
I was not going to let that stand.
I did not have a destination at first. I just needed to move. Eventually, I found myself pulling into a street lined with small shops. One of them had its lights still on even though it was late.
A flower shop.
I parked and got out.
The bell above the door chimed softly when I stepped inside.
I walked slowly between the aisles.
Roses. Lilies. None of them felt right.
They were too ordinary.
Rei was not ordinary.
I stopped in front of a small section near the back. Dark flowers. Almost black in the low light. One in particular caught my eye.
A Phantom Orchid.
Almost ghostly in appearance with a silver sheen when the light hit. It looked fragile, but I knew better. Orchids were stubborn.
It reminded me of him.
I bought it.
The woman behind the counter gave me a strange look when I paid in cash and did not ask for a vase.
I drove straight to his building.
Rei’s room was low enough that I could reach it without much trouble if I wanted to.
The curtains were not drawn.
I could see inside clearly.
Rei was sitting on the edge of his bed.
He was wearing black pajamas. His silver hair was messy, falling into his face. Even from here, I could see the way his shoulders trembled. I thought he was crying.
He looked small.
So frail.
I watched him for a long time.
It was a strange feeling. Unwelcome. I had felt many things toward Rei since the beginning. Obsession. Lust. Possessiveness. Even irritation. But this… I had no words to describe it. It made me want to break something. It made me want to fix something. Both at once.
I did not go inside.
One look at him was enough. He wanted to be alone.
I could feel it in the way he sat, curled slightly into himself, like he was trying to take up as little space as possible.
If I went in now, I would only make it worse.
He would put his walls back up. He would stop crying.
And for some reason, I did not want that.
I wanted him to feel whatever he needed to feel, even if it hurt.
So I stayed outside.
I carefully unwrapped the Phantom Orchid and placed it on the wide window ledge. I made sure it would not fall.
I wanted to go in.
I wanted to pull him into my arms and tell him that no one would ever touch him again. That I would burn the entire school down before I let anyone make him feel like this again. But right now, he did not need me.
He needed space.
And I was willing to give it to him.