Vik gives Aleksander a snotty look before following me up the stairs.
When I glance back down, I see Mikhail looking up at me, an unreadable expression on his face. A part of me wants him to stop me, to punish me for acting out.
But he doesn’t.
He lets me walk away with my sisters.
And the moment I’m alone in Vik’s room with them, I break down in tears. Mila looks scared while I cry. Vik takes a moment, then wraps her arms around me.
The three of us hold each other as I cry. I cry over my lingering loneliness. I cry over Mikhail hurting my heart and choosing his men’s desires over my sister’s safety. I cry because I’m not sure Mikhail can ever let himself fully open up to me enough to love me.
Because I’m already falling in love with him, and if he doesn’t feel the same, then my loneliness will eat away at me until there’s nothing left.
MIKHAIL
I send all my men home and head upstairs to check on Sofiya. I’m angry with her for embarrassing me in front of my men. She needs to be punished.
But she’s not in our room.
It’s then I hear crying coming from the guest bedroom. I’ve heard Sofiya cry before. I recognize the sound.
I rest my ear to the door and listen. She’s sobbing while her sisters softly comfort her.
That should be my job. I should be the one comforting my wife right now.
Instead, I’m the reason she’s crying.
I should have stopped Aleksander from humiliating Viktoriya. But the reality is I just don’t like Viktoriya one bit, and it’s hard for me to care for those I don’t like.
But she’s Sofiya’s family. I have to remember what that feels like—family.
I had a family until it was ripped away from me. The moment Alexei died, all the joy left my life. And then, when Natasha died, the last shreds of happiness disappeared.
On the day of Alexei’s funeral, I shut my heart off. I explored relationships with women, but I never formed personal attachments. It’s how I was able to kill Irina so easily. She meant nothing to me.
No one did.
Not until Sofiya.
Not until I saw her dancing on that stage and knew I had to have her.
She’s slowly opened my heart back up, but I don’t know what to do with that. Being emotionally available has never been my strong suit.
Now, she’s crying with her sisters because I didn’t save Viktoriya from embarrassment. The natural part of me wants to say Viktoriya is a big girl and can handle herself. But Sofiya is my wife now. I care about what happens to her.
Which means I need to care about her sisters, too.
With a deep sigh, I resist the urge to grab Sofiya and drag her into the playroom to punish her. That can wait until another day. For now, I’m going to be a good husband and let someone else comfort my wife, even though it hurts my entire being to walk away.
Chapter
Seventeen
BORIS
Before the party …
I fucking hate Moscow. Dirty streets and dirty homes. New York is similar, I’ll admit, but at least New York has that something special quality. Moscow is just a poor man’s New York.
I can’t wait to get out of this fucking city and return home to New York with Mila by my side. Ever since I laid eyes on the Morozova sisters, I knew I had to have one of them. Viktoriya seemed the obvious choice at first. She’s the oldest and arguably most beautiful with her white blonde hair and intense blue eyes. But that bitch has a mouth on her. She thinks she’s too good for me. I wanted to put her in her place, but instead, I chose to go after Sofiya.
Sweet Sofiya.
She was easy to capture. She would have been mine if that bastard Mikhail hadn’t stolen her away.
So that leaves me with Mila. The most innocent of the bunch. Fine by me. I can easily put that bitch in her place and make her mine. No other man is coming for her. Mila will be sucking my cock soon enough. I’ll have her bred and giving me strong sons to carry on my legacy by the end of next year.
Mila will be mine.
But I have to get her first, and to do that, I’ll need help.
I don’t know Moscow that well. I need a place to smuggle Mila until I can get her back to New York where Mikhail can’t reach her.
That leaves me with only one obvious choice—the one man who’s no longer loyal to Mikhail.
Andrei.
I find him in a bar, nursing a drink. Sunglasses cover his eyes. I heard about what Mikhail did to him. Nasty stuff. Bastard is lucky to be alive—and it’s lucky for me, too.
