Chapter 69
Chapter sixty-nine
Dmitri
Alisa’s high-pitched cry pierced the chatter in the room before it was swallowed by ambient chatter. The terrified plea in her voice nearly froze me in place, but I pushed through and sprinted towards her voice.
It felt like our hearts were connected by a piano wire, and if anything were to happen to hers, my own would cease to exist. God, I’d been so delusional to have ever doubted that I loved her.
I wrenched open the door. My vision went red when I saw her curled up on the floor with a broken table underneath her.
Alisa’s drunk father, Viktor Solovyov, swung his leg back. Before his foot could even start its descent towards my kitten, I grabbed him around his soft middle.
Viktor grunted as I lifted him effortlessly into the air. One moment I was smelling the acrid scent of his breath, and the next I hurled him against the wall.
At the sound of his head cracking against the solid surface, I smiled. My pleasure deepened when Viktor landed on the floor and stared up at me with pain-filled eyes.
Good. He hadn’t passed out from the impact.
He didn’t deserve a single moment of rest.
I swung my foot backwards and kicked him hard in the stomach. Viktor sputtered on the floor, and the ferocity of my blows increased. How dare he even think of hurting her?
Bloody vomit exited his drunken mouth, but my kicks didn’t subside. They merely found new places to strike.
The bloodlust roaring through me wouldn’t be sated anytime soon.
It was obvious this was far from the first time that Viktor had hurt her, and even if it had been, it would’ve been a death sentence for him.
I looked forward to watching the expression on his face when he realized that he wasn’t leaving this room breathing.
I grabbed Viktor by his beefy throat and hauled him into the air. He gasped as I tightened my grip, but it wasn’t his wheezing that made me pause.
Alisa was grabbing her ribs and breathing heavily. If that asshole had reaggravated her wounds…. I dropped him like the worthless sack of potatoes he was, and kneeled before Alisa.
“Are you okay, kotenok?” I asked, desperately checking to make sure her ribs weren’t broken, or worse.
“I am now that you’re here,” she said, her big blue eyes filling up with tears.
Viktor grunted as he stumbled to his feet.
“Take another step, and I’ll cut your foot off,” I said, not taking my eyes off Alisa for even a moment. I gingerly felt around her ribcage, watching her reaction carefully.
At my words, Viktor stilled. But I debated cutting it off anyway. After all, he’d been about to kick my love with that very foot.
“Breathe in,” I said softly to Alisa, and leaned in to listen.
“You know you can’t kill me,” Viktor slurred.
Fury raced through me as he interrupted my examination of Alisa.
“Shut the fuck up, or I’ll cut out your tongue next.”
When Alisa glanced around me to look at her father, her lip trembled. Terror built on her face, and her body quivered like a leaf. It took all of my self control not to start tearing her father limb from limb.
Although, something told me that even if I cut every appendage off his body, it wouldn’t be enough to soothe this feeling.
Instead, I gently grabbed Alisa’s chin, and tilted her head up. Still her eyes remained glued to her father.
“Look at me, kotenok,” I said, my voice steady despite my rising emotions.
The moment her eyes locked back onto mine the tension released from her body.
“Good girl,” I said, stoking her cheek. “You’re safe.”
“I love you, Dmitri.” Alisa smiled softly at me. “So much.”
Once I finished examining her, it was my turn for the muscles in my shoulders to relax.
She was okay. Thank fuck.
The door behind us whined open. I turned towards the intruder, ready to handle whoever had dared disturb us.
Despite the scene, it wouldn’t be difficult since this business was paying for my protection. No one who worked here was dumb enough to defy me after seeing my handiwork.
Pale green eyes stared back at us from a hollow face.
“Mom,” Alisa said, her voice quivering.
Mariya Solovyova’s lips pinched together as she stared at her daughter for a moment. When she closed the door, I waited for her to come check on her daughter who was still lying on the floor.
Instead, Mariya put an arm around her drunken husband and asked him, “Are you okay?”
Alisa didn’t even react. She appeared far too used to this scene.
Why was I even surprised at this point? After all, I’d grown up with a mother who would’ve killed me as a child if I had failed to live up to her expectations.
Maybe it was because Alisa had never lost her spark despite growing up with two parents who’d completely failed her. How could she still giggle while I taught her a new recipe, or stare at me with so much love in her eyes despite growing up with them?
She was a wonder.
And mine to protect.
I leaned down and kissed her forehead. When I pulled away, a sad smile was etched onto her lips.
“You can’t kill him,” she said quietly, the pain in her eyes reflected in her voice. “He planned a hit on my mother if anything happens to him.”
Alisa’s shoulders slumped when she admitted the second part, and the pieces clicked firmly into place. This was the reason she’d sustained her father’s abuse. That was the only reason Alisa hadn’t poisoned him yet.
“Saves me the effort,” I said, glancing at that woman who dared call herself a mother. The woman who still hadn’t bothered to ask Alisa if she was okay.
“What?” Alisa cried, eyes wide. “No, you can’t hurt her. She’s innocent in all of this!”
“Innocent,” I laughed humorlessly.
There were no innocent people in this world, and to call her mother one of them was delusional. I’d noted the complete lack of surprise on Mariya’s face when she’d spotted the bruise swelling on Alisa’s cheek.
No, even if she hadn’t been the one to throw the punches, that woman was complicit in all of this.
“Mariya, how many times has your husband hit her, and you did absolutely nothing to stop him?” I asked.
Mariya averted her eyes.
As far as I was concerned Alisa would’ve been better off being an orphan than being raised by these two terrible people.
And if I had anything to say about it, she would be after tonight.
I took a step towards them, and Alisa grabbed my arm. “My brother and I could always handle his punches better than she can. She’s… fragile.”
“And you aren’t?” I said, ghosting a finger over the bruise on her face.
I gently disentangled from her grip.
“It was my choice!” Panic bubbled up on Alisa’s face as she spoke in a rush. “She only texted me when it got too bad to handle. I could’ve said no. I could’ve-”
“Mariya asked you to take your father’s abuse on her behalf?” Everyone froze at my tone.