Chapter 74
Chapter seventy-four
Alisa
Relief swarmed through me that Dmitri wasn’t going to fight this. I wanted to live more than anything, just so I could have more time with him. But I knew how this ended if he tried to defy the Pakhan.
I loved Dmitri enough to die for him.
The Pakhan shrugged and put the knife back in its sheath.
Dmitri stepped in front of me, blocking out everything else with his towering frame. He glared over my shoulder at the men surrounding me, and they moved away to give us privacy.
“Are you okay?” he whispered, brushing his finger across my cheek.
I couldn’t help it, I laughed. He was about to end my existence, and he was worried if I was injured.
Fuck, I loved this man even if he was literally about to be the death of me.
His brows furrowed. I could sense a follow up question coming, but we didn’t have time for that. I wanted to forget all of this for just one more moment. Pretend that nothing existed except for us.
“I will be if you kiss me, Dmitri.”
Something rippled across his face, but then all I could focus on was the feel of his hands possessively grabbing my waist. He dragged my body into his tightly coiled frame and slammed his lips against my own.
Dmitri’s pace was frantic, almost possessed as he owned my mouth in front of the entire room.
I ran my chained hands across his broad chest, savoring the feel of him one last time. All too soon he pulled away from me, and I couldn’t help the small whine that escaped my throat.
I just wanted more time. Just a little bit more.
“Stay still, kotenok,” he said into my ear, his tone brokering no room for questions.
“I will.”
He nodded. When he removed his hand, pain deep in my chest lanced me. I fought down the instinct to frantically grab for him.
“I love you, Dmitri,” I said, my voice breaking around the words. “And I promise I’m okay with this... I just want you to live.”
Emotion flickered over his face. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then the cold mask slipped back on, and he turned away.
“Once I take the knife, I become your heir,” Dmitri said to the Pakhan in a flat tone.
The Pakhan nodded his affirmation.
Slowly, Dmitri took the wicked-looking knife out of his hand, and raised it into the air. The Pakhan smiled at him, and it sent a shiver down my spine.
The room filled with cheers as Dmitri lowered it and flipped it over in his hand.
“Congratulations, my heir,” the Pakhan said, his sadistic smile growing wider. “Now, go ahead and kill that bitch-”
Dmitri plunged the knife straight into the Pakhan’s temple.
The Pakhan’s eyes rolled up into the back of his head, and he collapsed into Dmitri’s arms, completely still.
“He’s dead,” Dmitri said, pressing his finger against the Pakhan’s throat before dumping him unceremoniously to the ground. “And now I’m your new Pakhan.”
Guns were immediately aimed in his direction, but he just raised an eyebrow.
“Betraying your new Pakhan? Lower your guns before I kill you all.” Dmitri’s voice was ice, and I spotted a few quivers from the hands holding the guns.
“Fuck you,” spit my guard with a long scar on his face. When his finger trailed towards his gun’s trigger, my body wanted to rush him before he could pull it.
Dmitri shot me a sharp glare before inclining his head. One of my guards plunged a knife into the scarred man’s throat.
“Anyone else in the mood to defy me?” Dmitri asked while the dead guard slumped to the ground.
The remaining men lowered their weapons.
“Good.”
Dmitri closed the space between us, and I collapsed into his arms. Tremors shot through my body, and my fingers gripped him hard. How was this real?
He squeezed me in close and smoothed my hair back.
“There are snipers hidden if anyone changes their mind,” he whispered. “Don’t move out of my arms.”
“Has anyone seen Roman Komarov lately?” Dmitri called to the crowd watching us embrace.
Silence greeted him.
“You haven’t seen him, because I broke every single bone in his body, and pulverized any remaining brain cells he had.” The ice had melted from his voice, and become pure violence. “I destroyed him because he hurt Alisa. He got off easy, because I wasn’t Pakhan yet.”
Fuck, if that brutal take down of Roman was his version of going easy on someone….
Goosebumps ran up my skin. If the frozen expressions of everyone around me were any indication, I wasn’t the only one feeling that way.
“Alisa is mine.” Dmitri’s fingers gripped my waist possessively. “If any of you even look at her wrong, I’ll saw out your eyes and make you listen to the dying screams of your bloodline.”
Even from some of the more hardened men, I caught a few tremors.
“Now, leave us. We’ll reconvene in the morning.”
The group didn’t need to be told twice. In moments, the room was completely empty.
Dmitri leaned his head against my forehead and took in a long breath. I savored the sound of each of his inhales, amazed that I was still alive to hear them.
“This feels like a dream,” I said.
Dmitri shook his head. He sat down heavily on a nearby chair and settled my chained body on his lap.
There was a desperation to his touch as he inspected every inch of me.
“Felt more like a nightmare than anything,” he muttered.
“But everything worked out. We’re safe now.”
“You could’ve died, kotenok,” he said, his voice haunted. “The moment I found out you failed your mission….”
Dmitri brushed his finger across my pulse point as if looking for reassurance that I was still here. “Nothing else mattered, but keeping you alive.”
I swallowed as the words sent warmth through my veins. I nuzzled my head against the crook of his shoulder, so grateful that I was still able to do that.
“I know how hard you worked to reach this point. How much you deserved to become the Pakhan.” I said quietly. “Even if this isn’t how any of us imagined it going, I’m happy–”
“The only thing I care about is that you’re safe. If something happened to you….” His voice broke off on the words. “My life, my ambition, none of it fucking matters if you aren’t there.”
There was something so vulnerable in his expression that I fell impossibly more in love with him. I didn’t think that my heart could grow any fuller, the depths of my adoration could swell up larger.
And yet every day, my soul proved how wrong I was.
Dmitri reached into his pocket and pulled out a small metal key. He immediately went to work on the chains around my body.
“When’d you get that?” I said, furrowing my brows.
Dmitri tsked. “Did you really think I left any of this to chance? The moment I found out the Pakhan had captured you, I activated all my undercover men. They had one mission: keep you alive.”
“That was risky.” A shiver ran down my spine as I thought about what would’ve happened to Dmitri if the Pakhan had caught on.
“It was worth it,” he said without a shred of doubt in his voice. “I’ll always keep you safe, Alisa. I promise.”