Chapter 12
Dimitri Morozov
My knuckles were split again, and the ache in my ribs felt good after I fought Alexei in the ring. The motherfucker had not held back, but that was good. I had not wanted him to.
Ilya was already sprawled across the bench, spinning that damn silver knife between his fingers. He never went anywhere without it. It was like a fidget spinner to him, some kind of stress relief.
Alexei leaned against the lockers, watching him with that blank expression, but I could tell he was annoyed. Probably because Ilya would not stop yapping.
“I’m telling you,” Ilya said, “if that whore shows up near my sister one more fucking time, I’m going to put a blade through his throat and watch him choke on it.
He’s been sniffing around her like a stray dog.
Every time I turn around, there he is. At the gallery.
At that stupid café she likes. He even showed up at one of her exhibitions last week. ”
Ah. “Whore” meant Kento Kurosaki. Ilya had deep beef with that one. They had been going back and forth ever since Kento joined the school at Goldcrest, where Ilya’s sister also went.
Alexei grunted. “You already threatened him once.”
“I threatened him twice,” Ilya corrected, flipping the knife faster. “The second time I told him if I saw him within ten feet of her again, I’d make sure he’d never be able to fuck anyone with whatever’s left of his dick. He laughed. Laughed. Like I was joking. I was not joking.”
“You were probably smiling when you said it,” Alexei muttered.
“I was being polite,” Ilya shot back. “Next time I won’t be.”
I dropped onto the bench beside him and started wrapping my hands again. “If you want him dead, just say it. I’ll handle it.”
Ilya gave me a grin. “Tempting. But I want to do it myself.”
Alexei rolled his eyes but did not comment. He knew better than to get between Ilya and one of his moods.
We moved into the ring a few minutes later. The gym was mostly empty this late. Just the three of us. I went at it hard with Alexei again while Ilya leaned against the ropes, offering commentary like the annoying little shit he was.
“Left hook’s sloppy today, Dima.”
“Fuck off.”
“Your footwork’s off too. You keep dropping your guard when you’re thinking about something. Or someone. A flower boy, perhaps?”
I ignored him and drove a hard body shot into Alexei’s ribs. He absorbed it with a grunt and answered with a straight right that snapped my head back.
We circled. Traded blows.
Until Ilya’s voice cut through it.
“Oh,” he said suddenly. “You’re not going to like this.”
I stopped mid-step, gloves still raised. Alexei lowered his hands and turned toward him.
I pulled my mouthguard out. “Like what?”
Ilya was staring at his phone, thumb scrolling slowly. His expression had gone from bored to something else.
“Ilya,” I said. “What the fuck are you looking at?”
He finally looked up and turned the phone around without a word.
The video was already playing.
It was dark. Grainy. Shot from what looked like a distance, through trees. The sound was muffled at first, but then it cleared enough for me to hear it.
Wet, choking sounds.
A figure was on his knees in the dirt, head tilted back, throat working. Someone was fucking his mouth. The person on their knees had silver hair, pale skin, and a flower clipped near his ear that had fallen sideways.
It was Rei.
The video angle did not show the face of the man standing. And it did not show what was actually in his mouth.
Because it was not a cock.
It was my gun.
But from this angle, in this lighting, with the way Rei’s throat was bulging and saliva was dripping down his chin, it looked exactly like someone was throat-fucking him with a dick.
Ilya let out a low whistle. “Well. That’s something.”
Alexei stepped closer to look.
Ilya grinned, but it did not reach his eyes. “Are you jealous, Dima? Aww. Someone else got to play with your favorite toy in the woods?”
Alexei took the phone from Ilya and squinted at the screen. He watched for a few more seconds, then said flatly, “That is him.”
Ilya leaned in again, squinting. “Wait. Fuck. You’re right. Damn. I didn’t recognize him at first. Good eyes, Lex.”
Alexei rolled his eyes and shoved the phone back at him. “You’re blind.”
Ilya shrugged. “Who the fuck filmed this?”
I had the same question. That part of the woods was abandoned. There was no one there.
Ilya tilted his head, watching the video loop again. “Could be some random pervert who got lucky with the angle. Or…” He glanced at me. “Someone who knew exactly what they were looking for.”
My hands were shaking inside the gloves.
I ripped them off and threw them to the floor of the ring.
Ilya kept talking. “We need to find out who has this. How many copies are floating around. If this gets out properly, it’s going to be everywhere. Your father may recognize you the same way Alexei did.”
“Could be anyone,” Alexei said. “Someone from school. Someone who saw them leave together that day. Someone who followed.”
I was already climbing out of the ring.
He hated attention.
I had noticed that much about him. He shrank from it. Tried to disappear into corners and shadows. This was going to rattle the shit out of him. He was going to see this and break. Or worse, he was going to think I let it happen. That I allowed someone to film him like that.
I grabbed my shirt off the bench and yanked it on.
“Find out who the fuck filmed that,” I said. “I want a name.”
Ilya raised both eyebrows but did not argue. “And what are you going to do?”
I did not answer him.
I needed to find Rei.
Before he saw that video.