Chapter 22

As the life fades from Nikolai's eyes, I twist the blade, taking no pleasure in it. I'm not sure why I thought I'd get any sense of relief from this. I've never enjoyed violence. I've never hated it either, but it's never excited me. Even when I was torturing that prick, it felt right but not good. This is the same, only on a larger scale.

"Even Mila doesn't know the full extent of your crimes," I tell him. "All the women you've abused. All the children. Oleg told me, Nikolai, and it was all with my father's blessing. Not anymore."

He croaks, collapsing against the wall and sliding down it.

Moving away from him, I look down at the mess of his body, then toss the knife to the floor. There's nothing good here. Only the stench of blood. Only ugliness.

I need to look toward the future and think about how I can help my woman heal instead of using hurt as a weapon, which won't make anything better.

Taking out my phone, I shoot a text to Denis. It's done. Send cleanup.

Then I take off my shirt and go to the corner of the room. As I requested, there's a change of clothes for me and some cleaning wipes. I wipe myself down, clean the blood, and then change into a hoodie and jeans. Denis and a few other men walk toward me with grim expressions as I leave the room.

I don't say anything. None of them will meet my gaze. At first, I think I must've done a shitty job at cleaning the blood. Then, I catch sight of myself in one of the hallway mirrors. I'm clean as far as I can tell, but there's something in my expression—something terrifying.

As I walk down the hallway, I try to fix it. I don't want Mila or her kid brother to be afraid of me. Oleg is waiting for me outside the room, his hands crossed over his middle.

"What was that crap in there?" I ask him. "Why did you tell Dimitri you'd give him three weeks to marry Mila? You know he's not the one who's going to marry her."

"She needs to wed a Sokolov," Oleg says matter-of-factly. "It doesn't matter which one."

I walk right up to him. At first, I think he'll stand toe-to-toe, but he must be able to sense the darkness in me. He cringes away from me, seeming to become physically smaller.

"I'll marry my woman," I tell him, "when we're ready. Got it?"

The truth is, I'm ready right now. I was ready the moment I saw her, but what if she's not? What if she needs more than three weeks?

"I did not give that timeframe for amusement," he says. "Three weeks is my best guess for how long I can keep control without an alliance. It might even be less."

"You can leave now," I tell him.

"What about the Pakhan?" he says, meaning ten-year-old Drake.

"I'm taking care of my woman and her brother," I snap. "So either step aside, or we'll settle it like men."

After a moment, Oleg swallows and steps aside.

"And Oleg," I say before he leaves. "If Mila, Drake, and I decide to take a trip to escape all this madness, don't follow us."

Then he sighs and walks down the hallway, shaking his head. I knock on the door. Mila calls, "Yes?"

I smile, taking a moment to savor the sound of her voice. She's been so stressed and tense ever since this started, but there's something different in her tone now.

"It's me," I say.

"Come in. There's someone who wants to meet you."

I take another moment to compose myself. I don't want to scare the kid. I try to remember the man I was before this all started, and I laid eyes on my woman, but it's impossible. It's like the world didn't exist before her.

After everything that's happened, the last thing I want to do is scare an innocent child. As I push the door open, something changes in me when I see Mila standing there with one hand on her brother's shoulder. She looks so different, flooded with fresh energy. She looks like how she does when she's absorbed in her programming, her attention completely fixated on it and nothing else.

"Drake," she says. "This is Mikhail, my … boyfriend?"

She makes it a question, but I smile and shake my head, and then she repeats it with more confidence. "Mikhail is my boyfriend."

"Whoa," Drake says, looking up at me as I approach. "You're really big."

I grin, somehow forgetting what I just did to this boy's father, but that's what this world is. As much as I'd prefer it to be as clean-cut as lines of code, that will never be the case. There are always going to be tradeoffs, ugliness, and evil. However, I can make the world better and brighter for these two people.

"Just wait until your growth spurt hits," I tell him. "You'll be towering over me."

He beams up at me.