Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
QUINN
His fucking brother.
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry as a deep weight of realization settles on my chest. Aleksei’s bite tingles in confirmation, both comforting and terrifying.
I risk a glance at them both, searching for anything that could tie them together.
I just don’t see the connection; it’s not there in looks nor temperament.
Perhaps I’m blind to what’s in front of me because Aleksei is my scent-matched Alpha, but I trust my judgment too.
It’s so shocking that they’re related, when they’re so diametrically opposed in presence, scent, and heart.
Where I see Sergey as an Alpha full of malicious bravado and ego, Aleksei is very different in temperament. Being born of the same parents, they’d have to share something, wouldn’t they?
As undeniable as I know Aleksei is mine, I know Sergey is scheming and spiteful. All this pomp and ceremony is proof of that. Sergey could have easily done this privately, but he wanted everyone in this room involved.
“Jesus, Sergey.” Aleksei’s voice cuts through my racing thoughts.
“Is there an issue?” Sergey asks plainly, like he’s asking about the weather. The sardonic smirk on his face is at odds with how he speaks, and it has me dropping my eyes to the floor.
“I don’t think that is something I should be doing,” Aleksei says softly.
Sergey takes a moment, acting like he is thinking, when all he is doing is drawing out the tension.
As he speaks, he keeps emotions in check, which frightens me more.
“I told you, Aleksei. I warned you time and time again. You returned from America different, and that makes me wonder if I can even trust you anymore. Perhaps if you had fucked the shlyukha I sent to your room…” Sergey’s voice echoes and bounces around me, ringing in my ears while his suspicion adds a tartness to his scent.
“Your option was to take the shlyukha in the privacy of your own room or in front of my council. You do remember that chat we had in my office before this blyad arrived in my home, don’t you? ”
Sergey looks at me whenever he says something offensive. I won’t rise to the bait. I’ve been called worse than a blyad or whore. Name-calling isn’t a concern; what he is suggesting is.
I stay as slight as possible, hoping not to incite any more of Sergey’s cold volatility.
It crackles the air like static, and it’s clear by the way he keeps moving ever so slightly that he’s looking for a target.
None of the other people in the room speak or move a muscle, which makes me think this behavior isn’t anything new.
Aleksei buries his hands in his suit pants and stands at full height, but his presence isn’t slamming out of him like Sergey’s is. The one saving grace is, by simply being next to me, Aleksei is keeping me calmer than I probably should be, given the conversation.
“Brother, now is not the time.” Aleksei has this way of speaking; his voice is ooey-gooey comfort food. Seriously, he should be an actor or singer.
A shotgun-like noise shatters my focus on Aleksei, my husband the cause as he slams his hand down on the table.
I stumble, shaken by the blast of his anger.
Sergey grabs my arm and shakes me like a rag doll, snarling furiously.
“I am in charge. Me. Sergey Petrov, and I say now is very much the time for you to fuck my wife.”
I shrink in on myself. Now is not the time to fight, and I hope Kade and Santiago can see I’m okay, or everything is about to go from bad to worse.
Aleksei’s mood alters, not enough for the room to notice or to incite Sergey even more.
I feel his emotion spilling through his bite.
His scent changes and becomes more pronounced, and it mixes with the rush of emotion and scent coming from Kade and Santiago too.
The three of them need to contain their reactions; all it will do is feed Sergey’s obvious dark pleasure in whatever games he’s dragging us all into.
As much as it pains me, I stay submissive and try to give Sergey something else to focus on, as well as trying to defuse Kade, Santiago, and Aleksei. “Please, let me serve refreshments to your guests.”
He answers with a shove hard enough to land me on my ass. From the shadows, Roshka suddenly appears. He stands at full height in front of me while Nalla goes behind me.
Sergey grabs a hold of Aleksei’s shoulder, digging his thumb into the top of it so hard, his hand turns white, threatening him in Russian.
Aleksei stands like a statue, taking the spray.
Not because he's weak; it’s because he’s got endless more experience in dealing with Sergey and knows what works best.
It takes a few tense moments as Sergey goes on and on in emotion and Russian, but eventually, Aleksei says something, and it seems to appease Sergey.
My husband looks at me, excitement in his eyes.
His smirk grows when he starts to speak to me in that slow, condescending tone of his, like I am stupid.
“I told him, he either fucks you, or he fucks Bambi. If he fucks Bambi, I’ll kill his fucking dogs, then your guards, then you, but not my brother.
He’d live to see the consequence of his decision.
” He barely takes a breath. “Take your panties off and give them to your guard. I will serve drinks to my friends.”
He walks over to his friends, talking in Russian again. Once he’s far enough away, I climb to my feet.
Kade rushes over and ignores the low growl of warning from Roshka. “What sort of fucking man is he?”
I grab his hand, unconcerned if Sergey sees because the reality is, he’s about to see a whole lot more.
“Kade, I need you to calm down. It won’t help if he sees how wound up you are.” With our hands linked, I lean against him like I’m recovering from the fall. I don’t need the time, I’m fine, I just want to feel the effect of Kade’s calmness and to breathe in his scent. “Look at me.”
There’s so much turmoil in his beautiful eyes, it hurts more than Sergey’s crushing hold on my wrist before or his disgraceful plans. Kade turns my hand, and his mood drops dangerously low when he spies the ring of vibrant red bruises where Sergey grabbed me.
I pinch his hand, snapping him out of wherever his anger took him. “Stay with me. I can do this. I might not want to, but I can. Can you?”
He nods his head, his voice so low, only I can hear it. “Of course, Quinny. I just don’t want this for you, it kills me.”
I squeeze his hand once in warning of what I’m about to do. Behind me, Aleksei whispers something, and the dogs shuffle together, giving me a better sense of privacy.
Santiago moves to stand in front of me, his fortitude and presence impossible to ignore. He doesn’t move a muscle to help me take off my panties; instead, he talks slowly and intimately. “No wasted moments on things that don’t matter, bebe.”
In a handful of words, I’m back in that hotel room with him. And because Kade’s close by, I give in a little bit and let their scents swirl together, blitzing my senses and acting like a lover's embrace, protecting me even now.
Santiago, I think, knows what I’m doing, and he intentionally keeps me in a place far away from here.
“You might have gotten on that plane, but you left behind so many reminders. Each touch lingers even after all this time. Every exhale I heard when you rode my knot is the sound I fall asleep to at night. I breathe, and your vanilla scent sweetens my lips. I want you to remember that, bebe, and not get lost.”
I wonder if I have any time to explain that is the least of my worries, but before I can reply, the doors behind us crash open.
Kade, Santiago, and Aleksei each react in a split second, their weapons drawn and aimed at the distraction.
Bambi races inside, and in her haste, completely misses how close she came to being shot dead. She’s changed out of the dress she wore to my wedding into a red wool bodycon dress that hugs her body like a second skin.
It’s weird, or maybe not, but it’s her appearance that snaps my control. There’s no fucking way I am letting her watch.
Sergey, of course, is on board with the drama, and his attention keeps shifting between her and me. His shit-eating grin grows when she reaches where he’s standing. The malicious gleam in his eye is pure challenge as he lifts his arm and invites her to snuggle.
I paste on the fakest smile I can and adopt his quiet, patronizing way of speaking. “No.”
“You don’t get to speak to me like that,” he snarls back with an angry hiss, hidden behind a smile with lots of teeth.
I let my eyes fall to the floor in fake submission, giving him the space to pull his act together before I look at him again, still talking calmly.
“Oh… husband, I would never speak to you like that. I was talking to her. But now I will address this to you, since you are the Alpha. I will not allow my wedding day to be marred by any disrespect toward your mistress. I have no issues with you two being together, but her being here is where I draw the line.”
The tension rolling off Sergey continues, but at least he keeps his goddamn mouth shut for a few moments, letting me take a breath. Until he can’t, of course. He lashes out into a tirade, full of hand gestures and impossible-to-understand dialect delivered again in cold, punchy words.
I refuse to budge an inch, because his mistress watching as his brother and I consummate my vows to Sergey is manipulative as fuck.
Santiago and Kade stay quiet and calm, but they back me up with the small discernible clicks as they unlock the safety on their guns.
Aleksei stays next to me, but he lowers his arm and reholsters his gun. He’s not relaxed, by any means, but he’s not on edge either. I risk a look at him and am struck once again by how goddamn gorgeous he is.
“Anything I should be worried about?” I ask with a cheeky grin.
He looks at me, and there’s a sparkle of something in his eyes.
It’s fleeting, but I saw it. When he blinks at me, the hint of humor is gone, replaced by a solemn expression that matches the mood.
Except, he doesn’t manage to grab a hold of his scent as quickly.
It layers and cocoons around me like cuddles on a cold day.
“Don’t push him like that,” Aleksei warns under his breath.
“You don’t have an issue?”
“I have lots of issues with what he is doing, but I know now is not the time to provoke him.”
“I think I’ve done pretty well, all things considered.” My lips barely move when I answer, and since I turned to face Sergey again, I miss watching his reaction.
But I lean into Aleksei’s scent and his presence.
And then I take my fill of Kade and Santiago, too, before I touch their shoulders lightly as a sign to drop their guns.
Sergey watches suspiciously, so I keep my hands to myself and lock up my emotions before I look at him again, standing in surrender.
“I did not intentionally set out to upset you.” I have to pretend I’m sucking on a hard caramel to stop from pulling a grimace at the lie.
I honestly just want to get on with this day before I can crash out in my rooms. “I’m sorry if I offended you.
Sometimes our traditions clash, and the very nature of our world makes us overly suspicious, anyway. ”
He stays simmering in his quiet rage, despite my overdone apology.
I stay quiet and unmoving as he speaks with Bambi. His emotions and mood still fluctuate, but this time, it’s not directed at me.
As he talks, my thoughts drift to Victor, and I hate that I’m spending so much time thinking about my father.
He’s a disgusting human being and an abhorrent parent.
I guess it’s because I see so much of his behavior in Sergey that I think of him.
All it does is confirm to me, once again, that power really does corrupt the weak.
It takes a lot of coaxing, but eventually Bambi leaves. The death glare I get as she struts towards the door has Roshka growling softly.
She surprises me, though, by not slamming the door.
Sergey didn’t watch her leave. Instead, he goes and speaks to his guests quickly before making a call. I use the time to lock myself away in a safe place in my mind, where I remember times with Kade, and the one afternoon with Santiago, and fantasize a little about Aleksei.
I feel a touch on my shoulder before Aleksei leans down to whisper in my ear about being careful. I knew how close he was because of the one-sided bond I have with him.