side when I take over the organization and become vor. You are the only person in my life who’s ever understood what it’s like to be abandoned. To live alone on the streets. Together, kotyonok, we can rule Russia. And we will never want for anything ever again.”
Tears sprang to my eyes.
It was the first time tonight that Dimitri sounded like my Dimitri. The skinny teenage boy who used to make me laugh after my nightmares with amateur magic tricks he’d learned on the streets. Could I bring that version of him back? It was obvious that he’d been damaged, brainwashed, misled. He was consumed by hatred and revenge.
But perhaps I could pull him out of the darkness.
“Please, Dimitri,” I whispered. “I’m begging you to stop this. There are other ways.”
His face hardened to stone. “You will sign them, Alexia. Or you will watch your beloved father die slowly in front of you.” He pushed the second document forward. “And be quick about it. That fucker Rossetti took what didn’t belong to him, and I’m sick of him having it.”
Signing that document would legally separate me from Nico forever. God, that idea was almost as bad as Dimitri threatening to kill my father. Those annulment papers might as well have been my death certificate because tying myself to a merciless tyrant like Dimitri would have only one ending for me.
Still, I tried to keep him talking.
I didn’t want to think about what was going to happen once he stopped.
“Other members in the syndicate won’t take kindly to you killing their vor. My father has more comrades left than you might think. And ones with enough influence to resist you. They won’t appreciate such an abrupt transition in power.”
He pulled at his shirt collar with jerky movements, his eye twitching in annoyance. “Why do you think he is still alive? Proving that I am the long-lost son of Sergei Kozlov will solidify my authority in the organization, as well as gain the loyalties of those remaining members of a bygone era. Not to mention, secure my inheritance. And marrying you will only cement their trust and confidence in me.”
He just showed too many of his cards.
He needs us. For now anyway.
But he was going to kill Batya no matter what. Eventually, once he’d gained enough syndicate allies and stolen my father’s empire, he would dispose of the former vor, probably making it look like some tragic accident.
Signing those documents now would keep us alive for a little while longer. But in what state? What was Dimitri truly capable of? What kind of existence would Batya and I be living until the moment he decided we were no longer of use to him?
And my God, I was pregnant.
What would Dimitri do when he found out and knew the baby was Nico’s? I didn’t want to even think about it. I’d not only be taking my life in my hands by allowing this man to drag me back to Russia, but my baby’s, as well.
Nico’s baby.
I would never see him again. He would never know that I carried his child. Our final words to each other on this earth would have been spoken in anger. Wails of agony were already clawing up my throat at the realization.
But what awaited me in Russia… My child would suffer right along with me.
I couldn’t abide that.
With one last squeeze of my father’s hand, I slowly rose to my feet. I prayed so hard that we would somehow come out of this alive. And if not, I prayed our endings would be quick and painless.
Dimitri kept his menacing gaze locked on me as I closed the distance between us. His eyes lowered, tracking down my body, and darkened. I took the heavy pen in my hand and reached for the first piece of paper.
He loomed over me like the devil as he watched me sign over my soul to him. “Do you know how long I’ve wanted to fuck you, kotyonok?” He groaned. “So many times I’ve spent in my own hand while I imagined coming between your thighs. I doubt I’ll even be able to wait until we get to the plane. I promise I’ll make it good for you.” His tongue snaked out and licked up the length of my neck.
I shuddered.
His words made my skin itch, like it was covered in a rash. I tightened my hold on the pen, gripping it the way Nico had once shown me with a dagger, pointed end