Fractured Ties by Bethany-Kris Page 0,19

you would appreciate the sight of your father flayed open on a pool table.”

Jesus Christ.

Just like that, he reminded her why she should probably be scared of him.

Then, he slammed the door closed.

Damn.

Maya had a strange urge to peer around the inside of the Hummer and see what she could find, but instead, she looked back out the window. It wasn’t Kolya approaching the two men coming around the side of the building that drew her attention, but the small black dog tripping over its own too-big feet at the mouth of the doorway.

Black as night.

Big yellow eyes.

He—or maybe she, Maya didn’t know—was skin and fucking bones. The pup was maybe a couple of months old, but possibly older, depending on how malnourished it had been. It could possibly be some breed of pit bull if the look of its short, small ears and stout snout were any indication. It wasn’t uncommon for the dogs in the kennels to mate, and then have pups if the female survived the fights.

The pups rarely lasted, though.

They were typically killed by the other dogs when they tried to eat, or they starved when their mother died and didn’t come back to feed them.

She hated everything about this place. Everything her father did—it had not just been to her, after all.

What kind of luck did this pup have to survive this hell?

Maya rolled down the window of the Hummer to call out to Kolya—although he probably wouldn’t give a shit about the dog. It wasn’t his responsibility, now. She didn’t even have to move, apparently.

A final big dog came rushing out of the doorway and ran over the pup in its haste. The pup went head over heels over the threshold. Even inside the Hummer, Maya heard the pups cries for help. A horrifying, heart-clenching yelping that made her sick to her stomach and want to cry.

Kolya had been thoroughly engrossed in his conversation with Konstantin and Kaz, but instantly, his attention sought out the noise. His gaze landed on the black-as-night pup, and Maya swore she saw his shoulders loosen momentarily.

Then, the pup looked up.

Big yellow eyes.

Just like the moon high in the sky.

Kolya stared back.

“Brat,” Konstantin said. “You’re sure that’s what you want to do with the Anatoly mess, then?”

Kolya waved a hand at his brother, and Maya wasn’t sure if he was agreeing or dismissing. He didn’t say a thing as he walked away from the conversation altogether, and moved closer to the little pup still trying to stand up on his wobbly legs.

The pup saw Kolya coming.

He growled.

Or tried.

Kolya laughed.

Maya swore she fucking heard it.

He laughed.

Bending down in front of the pup, Kolya scooped it up with one big hand, and brought the whining, wiggling dog face-to-face with him.

“Privet,” he said to the pup. “You wouldn’t last a night, hmm?”

The dog growled again in its barely-there way.

Kolya smiled.

Not a sneer.

Not a smirk.

No, a real smile.

“Not afraid, either,” he said.

Maya couldn’t drag her gaze away, but she knew the other two men were probably just as flabbergasted by the scene as she was.

Without saying another thing, Kolya stood, and tucked the dog into his arm as he turned to face the others waiting on him. “I’ll call you tomorrow, yes? Make sure this is … done here.”

Konstantin glanced down at the pup. “What are you—”

“Mind your own.”

Kolya headed for the Hummer with the pup still firmly tucked into his arm, although the dog had stopped wiggling and was now quiet. Even as Kolya climbed inside the driver’s side of the Hummer, and set the pup down on the armrest between them, the dog didn’t make a peep.

He started the vehicle and pulled away. Maya didn’t even think to watch her past grow distant. She was too busy staring at the dog.

It really was small.

“It’s probably hungry,” she said.

Kolya didn’t look away from the road. “It’s a he. I saw what was between his legs.”

“Oh. Well, then, he’ll need a name.”

“He has one.”

As though Kolya had picked it the moment he’d laid eyes on the dog. Like there was nothing else for him to say about it.

“What is it, then?” Maya asked.

“Sumerki.”

Maya blinked.

She peered back out the window at the sky. Black ink dotted by light stars. A yellow moon hung high.

“Nightfall,” she said.

Kolya nodded. “Good things seem to happen to me at that time. It fits, yes?”

4.

THE STREETS of Wicker Park were quiet and dark, only lit by the lamps on the sidewalk. Maya wasn’t surprised—this part of the city was