to Konstantin. “He was a mean man. A violent man. He would come home and beat my mother to a pulp. I still remember scrubbing the floors before the neighbors visited to get the blood out.”
I didn’t look up to see his expression, but I could feel Konstantin’s wrath. He said darkly but softly, “I see.”
“I…He never laid a hand on me. My mother bore the abuse. Until…until one day he hit me. I don’t remember what over. I just remember the feel of his fist colliding with my cheek.” I took a deep breath.
Warm hands enclosed around my arms, and Konstantin pulled me to his chest. He let me take control over how I sat in his arms, offering me my agency, but his comfort was needed. I rested my head in the crook of his neck, breathing him in and continuing with my story.
“He shouldn’t have hit me,” I murmured.
“No, he shouldn’t have,” Konstantin growled.
“Not because it’s wrong, obviously,” I said. “But because I had inherited his viciousness. He should’ve kept his hands to himself…Do you know that if you poison someone slowly over a long period of time it doesn’t show up on a toxicology report?”
Konstantin pressed his lips to my head, breathing deeply. “Is that so?”
“It is.” I traced one of his tattoos; a spider in the center of a web. An ode to his niece, most likely. “I poisoned him slowly. I used to crush up the foxglove leaves with the tea leaves and serve them to my father. It took a few months, but eventually he died of a heart attack. Nobody was any the wiser.”
Konstantin rubbed his hand up and down my arm slowly, “He deserved it.”
“Yes, he did.” I swallowed. “I only killed him because he hit me. I didn’t care when he hit my mother, Kon.”
“You were a child.”
“I was a murderer.”
Konstantin pressed another kiss to my head. “And Thaddeo?”
“I don’t like being hit,” was all I said. Konstantin had seen the foxglove plant and heart medication. He knew if he hadn’t killed Thaddeo, it would’ve been me.
There was nothing more to say.
“Do you not worry, lyubimaya,” he said. “I have done much worse things in my life. Things that would make you run for the hills.”
“I’m sure they were all for your family,” I replied. “I have never protected anybody else. My entire life has been an attempt to keep myself safe.”
Konstantin ran a hand down my back. “I will let you to continue believe that,” he murmured. He didn’t say which part of my sentences he was objecting to.
Voices sounded outside the hall, the byki discussing something with a bit too much emphasis. They didn’t know that Konstantin had woken up yet.
“You need to go and be their pakhan again,” I said. “Everyone is very worried about you.”
“Later,” Konstantin said. “Right now, there is only one thing I want to do.”
I lifted my head, “And what is that?”
Konstantin pressed his lips to mine. Gentle, at first, waiting for my response. His lips were soft and warm, and fit perfectly against mine.
I kissed him back, feeling heat flush through me at the feel of him against my mouth.
We were slow, teasing. Our first kiss—late, but worth the wait.
Slowly, Konstantin pushed me back down into the bed, stretching out over me. I could feel the press of him against my stomach and thighs, his hands holding me steady and in position.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, twisting my fingers through his hair.
“Lyubimaya,” he breathed, breaking away from the kiss. His lips trailed down my neck, so light and sweet yet igniting hot fire in my veins.
I tightened my grip on his hair. “Kon—”
The door swung open, almost flying off its hinges. “Boss, you’re alive!” Roman cheered, then laughed. “Shit, you’re really fucking alive, huh?”
Konstantin didn’t speak, just sent Roman a look that could’ve peeled his skin off. I wiggled beneath him, trying to send Roman a glare as well.
“Roman,” Konstantin said patiently but coldly. “You have three seconds to leave.”
Roman’s grin was huge. “God, am I happy you’re alive—”
“Two,” Konstantin warned.
The byki didn’t take the hint. “You really had us for a moment there, Boss. I thought Artyom would be Pakhan and I was really freaking out—”
“One.”
Konstantin grabbed my book and flung it at Roman. It zoomed through the air, smacking the bodyguard straight in the forehead.
“Next thing I throw is a bullet,” Konstantin hissed.
Roman got the message, hand to forehead. “I’ll be right outside when you need me.” His