Chapter 21
Kelly
My head won’t stop pounding from where it hit the pavement.
I’m sitting in Alexei’s car, trying not to throw up, and I’m so embarrassed he had to come get me from the hospital.
I let things go too far, let my pride get the best of me.
I didn’t reach out for help, and I could’ve died because of it.
I should have known better by now. Should have learned from the first time that trying to handle things on my own just makes everything worse.
Maybe if I hadn’t been so stubborn, so determined to prove I could take care of myself, none of this would have happened.
Maybe if I’d just swallowed my pride and asked for help instead of thinking I could deal with David on my own, I wouldn’t be sitting here with my head split open again.
David was right about one thing—I am pathetic. Can’t even protect myself from one drunk asshole with daddy issues. What kind of man does that make me?
I keep making the same stupid mistakes. Keep thinking I’m stronger than I actually am, that I can handle more than I can. It’s like I never learn.
I’m starting to think there’s something fundamentally wrong with me that I keep ending up in these situations. Normal people don’t repeatedly put themselves in danger like this. Normal people know when to ask for help before things get this bad.
Alexei probably thinks I’m stupid … And he would be right.
I glance over at him, then down at our tangled hands resting between the car’s armrest. His thumb brushes against mine, and I close my eyes again. The brightness streaming through the windows is making my head scream.
We’ve been driving for almost an hour in Alexei’s Escalade.
A sudden movement makes me flinch. I open my eyes just as Mikhail leans forward from the backseat and punches his brother in the shoulder.
“Yellow car.”
“You motherfucker,” Alexei snaps. “Did our mother drop you on your head as a baby? That actually hurt. Fuck you. And stop yelling, you’re going to make Kelly’s headache worse.”
“It’s two to nothing now,” Mikhail says proudly.
“Yeah, because you and Daniil are the only idiots playing this stupid game. Beat on each other, not me,” Alexei mutters, rubbing his shoulder before sighing.
A smile tugs at my lips. Now I get what he meant when he said they drive each other crazy.
His brothers seem surprisingly okay with me being here. They left to pack up my things and get Clover while Alexei stayed with me, and now here we are.
Apparently, they live on the same land, not in the same house but close enough. There’s space between them, but still. It makes me nervous. I don’t know how big the property actually is, but it sounds like some family compound situation.
Mikhail’s the one I recognized from the club that night.
Makes sense now that it was a setup. The gene pool in this family is borderline insane.
He’s twenty-four, just as tall as Alexei but with slightly bulkier muscle and way fewer tattoos.
Ridiculously hot with a buzz cut, dark eyebrows, and piercing blue eyes.
I get why Camilla’s been losing her mind over him.
He seems more open personality-wise too, talks constantly, doesn’t know how to be quiet.
Daniil’s different. He’s adopted, which makes sense now that I think about it. He’s beautiful in a softer way. Delicate features, about an inch shorter than me, none of that intimidating bulk. Black hair sticking out messily from his hoodie. Hazel eyes. Nose ring.
Alexei slows the car down. I glance out of the window as we turn onto what looks like a dirt road. Trees everywhere. The pavement gives way to crunching gravel, and then he stops.
A little further ahead, a massive black gate with guards carrying guns standing outside. There’s a huge golden wolf in the middle of the gate, curled and heavy-looking, with a skeleton key in its mouth. I’ve seen that symbol before on Alexei’s ring and Daniil and Mikhail’s necklaces.
“Put this over you for the cameras.”
He gives me a blanket, helping pull it over my head and shoulders.
The car moves forward again, then stops. Everything’s still throbbing, so I lean on my other senses. Metal grinds somewhere close, something heavy opening, and then he drives through.
He removes the blanket, and I lift my head and look out of the window.
The land is massive with endless trees. We’re back on smooth asphalt now with fields stretching out on both sides. We drive past one enormous mansion, then another, both with their own gates.
Is this like a mafia suburb?
We keep going, then turn left down another tree-lined road. Then a full-blown mansion comes into view. Modern architecture with floor-to-ceiling glass windows, and wood panels mixed with white stone. Huge, tinted windows wrap around the entire structure.
This is where he lives? And he’s been staying at my tiny shoebox apartment this whole time? Sleeping in my bed with the uneven frame and broken heater, listening to street noise all night?
He stops the car and both his brothers jump out immediately. Alexei comes around to my side and opens the door, putting his hand out. I take it and get out, still feeling lightheaded and just stare.
This place must have cost millions to build.
I watch Mikhail try to grab Clover’s cage, but Alexei hip-checks him out of the way and takes it himself without a word. Mikhail flips him off in response.
I follow them to the front door where Alexei types something into a keypad. The doors open with an electronic click, and he pushes them open, walking inside.
I stand there for a second.
The interior is all open layout with expensive wood floors and cream-colored walls. Everything smells clean and warm. Cozy in a way I didn’t expect from the exterior.
I glance toward the wall by a mirror near the entrance and notice a long crack running through the drywall.
“I bet you’re wondering what happened there,” Mikhail says. “Your asshole boyfriend had a tantrum and punched the wall. Right next to my head.”
He walks off, flipping Alexei off again. I blink and turn toward my boyfriend, who mutters something in Russian, hands me Clover’s cage, and immediately takes off after his brother.
I hear them yelling down the hall, doors slamming, then Mikhail yelling something back in rapid Russian.
I glance over at Daniil, who’s still standing near the entrance. He sighs and shakes his head like this is completely normal.
“Is it always like this?” I ask.
He nods and strolls into the house. I follow him with Clover’s cage.
There’s a sunken living room with massive black sectional couches arranged around a low glass table.
I don’t have words for this place.
The kitchen flows seamlessly into the living space. Beige marble covers the island counter, the kind that cascades down the sides like a waterfall.
On the floor, Alexei has Mikhail in a headlock—arms locked tight, their legs tangled.
Mikhail then shifts his weight, grabs Alexei, and slams him into the floor with a hard thud, twisting him into an armlock that looks painful.
Alexei yells and taps out frantically on his brother’s arm. Mikhail laughs and releases him immediately. They both stand, brushing themselves off like nothing happened. Alexei slaps the back of Mikhail’s head.
“They’re going to leave now,” Alexei tells me. “Say bye to Kelly.”
Mikhail walks past me. “Bye, Kelly. Feel better.”
Daniil trails after him without a word. He leans in and says something too quiet for me to hear, and Mikhail laughs in response.
I don’t think Daniil likes me, or maybe he just doesn’t talk to people much. He only ever seems to speak to Mikhail. Weird.
“Can I crawl into your bed now? My head hurts so bad,” I say.
“Yeah. Follow me.”
The entire left side is floor-to-ceiling glass, looking out over a covered pool and open fields that stretch into the distance.
He leads me into his bedroom. The same wall of glass faces the fields, making the space feel wide and exposed at the same time. A huge bed sits at the center, dark covers pulled tight, matching nightstands on either side. An en suite bathroom opens off to the right.
The room is warm. Comfortable. It smells like him.
Alexei walks over and kisses the top of my head.
“Get some rest. I’ll set up Clover’s space and let you sleep.”
I nod and hand him the cage. He takes it without a word and walks out of the room.
I strip down slowly, every movement making my head throb harder, then crawl under the covers and sink into the mattress. It’s soft but firm. I place my hand over my eyes to block out what little light filters through the windows, and sleep drags me down before I can think about anything else.
Warmth pressed against my back and arms wrapped around my waist—that’s how I wake up. I sigh and close my eyes again, letting myself sink into it, into him. The heat of his chest, the slow rise and fall of his breathing against my neck.
My head still hurts, throbbing behind my eyes like something’s trying to claw its way out. The hospital gave me pain medication and told me to watch for certain symptoms. If it gets worse, I’m supposed to go back immediately.
Lips press against the back of my neck. Then his arms tighten around me.
“Morning,” he mutters, voice groggy. His accent’s heavier.
“Thank you for everything,” I whisper. “I’m sorry I lied to you.”
“You do not need to apologize, zaychik. I got you.”
I lean into him. Another kiss lands against the back of my neck, soft and careful.
There’s a low sounding noise from somewhere near the floor. I open one eye to see Clover sniffing around the edge of an expensive-looking rug.
“We need to bunny-proof this house,” I mumble. “Get rid of loose cables and anything she might chew.”
“No,” he says instantly. “She is a good rabbit. She will not chew anything.”
I squint at him through my headache. “She’s an animal. She’s going to chew through every cable and probably destroy something expensive.”
He looks at me with mild offense. “Do not speak like that when she can hear you.”
Then he flops down on the pillow.
I stare at him for a second. I think he’s getting genuinely attached to her, which is weirdly sweet and also mildly terrifying. She absolutely will destroy his things, and he’s about to find that out the hard way.
His breath hitting the back of my neck soothes me, and I close my eyes, finally letting myself relax. The second I do, I’m back on the ground, concrete slamming into the back of my head. Something thick lodges in my throat, and I try to swallow, but it won’t go down.
Panic starts clawing through me, and I can’t breathe.
My heart pounds so hard it hurts, hammering against my ribs.
The taste of copper fills my mouth from where I’ve bitten down on my tongue, and my hands start shaking uncontrollably.
I try to make them stop, but they just shake harder, trembling against my will.
Alexei notices, and I feel him loosen his grip on me, pushing himself up to look at me.
I’m not okay. I’m really not okay.
All these months of being in constant fear finally crash down on me.
It hits me like a freight train, and I can’t control the full-body panic and sobbing that tears out of me.
My chest heaves as I struggle to breathe, everything around me feeling both overwhelming and strangely numb.
I’m so tired. So tired of being scared all the time.
“I’m here. Tell me what you need.”
His voice cuts through the mess in my head, but I can’t answer him.
The words are trapped somewhere between my lungs and my mouth.
Instead, I turn around and bury my face into the crook of his neck, breathing in that familiar scent and letting his solid warmth steady me.
His arms tighten around me, and his lips press against my temple.
“Breathe with me,” he murmurs against my hair, his voice low and steady. “In. Out. Just like that.”
I try to follow his rhythm, my sobs slowly turning into shaky, uneven gasps. His hand moves in slow, comforting circles on my back, and something in me cracks open. Relief mixing with grief.
“No one will ever hurt you again. I will make sure of it.”
The rational part of my brain knows that’s impossible. He can’t control the whole world.
“I’m not going anywhere, Kelly.”
My breathing evens out, the panic slowly retreating like a wave withdrawing from shore.
Instead of pulling away, I cling to him desperately, arms wrapped around him like he’s the only thing keeping me from drowning.
He’s become my anchor without me even realizing it, the only thing that makes sense in a world that’s been trying to destroy me slowly but surely.
“Better?” he asks after a few minutes, his thumb gently brushing over my cheekbone.
I nod against his neck, still not trusting my voice to work. Still afraid I’ll start crying again if I try.
“Good.” He presses another kiss to my temple, gentler this time. “Do you want to eat something?”
My breath catches, and I shake my head against him. He hums in response, the sound vibrating through me. His breathing evens out beneath me and exhaustion hits all at once. The panic attack drained everything out of me, leaving me hollow and wrung out.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
“For what?”
“For not letting me fall apart alone.”
For holding me together when I couldn’t do it myself.
For making me feel less alone.
His arms tighten around me. “You don’t have to go through any of this alone anymore.”
My eyes drift closed, and I let sleep pull me under again, knowing he’ll be there when I wake up.