Chapter 159 159

Chapter 159 159
WILLOW

Somehow, he’s not dead yet.

I stare at the old man. My grandfather, though it’s still hard to think of him as that. His eyes lull sightlessly in his head. Against all odds, he’s still in there.

I know he doesn’t deserve it. But in his last moments of life, I decide to do the only humane thing. I kneel down beside his wheelchair and take his hand.

“He would have married you off to a powerful fuck with a lot of money and the ambition to match,” Spartak says, watching me intently. “Be thankful I got rid of him for you.”

As if on cue, Semyon’s head slumps forward. His hand goes limp in mine.

He’s gone.

“Right,” I say, releasing the old man’s hand and stepping away from his body. “And in contrast, you’ve done so much for my benefit.”

He shrugs. “In a way, I have. I’ve restored a crumbling Bratva. And one day, I will deliver it to your son. He will have my name, but what will it matter?”

In a way, I’m relieved. He is planning on keeping Pasha alive.

I glance towards the woman who killed Semyon. I’d always thought she had a kind face. Guess I was wrong.

“You took care of him for years,” I say softly. “Why waste your time keeping him alive only to kill him in the end?”

She looks at me with a bewildered expression, like the question simply does not compute. “I was hired to obey.”

Spartak laughs and moves forward. “You see, my beauty? That’s how you survive in my Bratva. You obey.”

There’s so much more I want to say to him, but I bite down on my tongue until the combative words retreat. I didn’t come here to argue with him or prove myself.

I came here for one reason only: to protect my son.

“I did obey,” I point out. “I came here. I accepted your deal. I will obey. But only so long as my son stays safe.”

He rolls his eyes. “I’ve already promised that.”

“I want to see him.”

“Jesus,” he mutters. “Fine. You can see him. Come on.”

I head to the door as Belov gives the killer nurse instructions on what to do with Semyon’s body. In the hallway, he takes the lead.

The house is a labyrinth. The last time I was here, I spent a week trapped in one dank, dark little room with no one but a blonde nightmare for company.

It’s strange that I find myself back here now, longing for that blonde nightmare to be at my side again.

When he finally stops at a door, I rush forward. But Spartak throws out a hand and stops me before I can even touch the handle.

“Not so fast, my pretty girl,” he says with a sickening smile that makes my insides twist with disgust. “After you finish squealing over your fat baby, I expect to see you in my… our bedroom. Is that understood?”

I stiffen immediately, as much as I try to avoid it.

“Did you or did you not promise to obey?”

“What do you want from me?”

“I want to fuck Leo Solovev’s wife.” His eyes spark with cruelty. “The next time I see him, I want to be able to tell him how you felt clenched around my cock. I want to tell him how you tasted.”

I now perfectly understand the expression “made my skin crawl.” Because standing in front of Belov now, I feel like I’d rather skin myself alive than be touched by him. My entire body revolts at the fact that I’m even standing next to him, let alone discussing having sex with him.

“I said I’d obey. I never said I’d make you happy.”

The smile slides off his face, and his expression turns intense. He takes a step forward until we’re nose to nose. I want to back away, but I know that if I do, he’ll make me pay for it.

My son is on the other side of this door. If I can hold my ground for long enough, I just might see him.

“Do you want to know what I did to her?” he hisses.

He doesn’t say her name, but he doesn’t have to. I can see the fury in his face. The anger he’s suppressing at being duped.

“No.”

“No?” he repeats. “That’s too bad. Because I think it’s important that you know what I did to her when I found out she wasn’t working for me. You see, I had special cameras installed in the baby’s room. Cameras no one but me knew about. Imagine my surprise when I came home, sat down in front of my monitors, and heard her talking to Leo Solovev on a burner phone.”

“Enough,” I say.

“No, it’s not enough,” Spartak lashes out. “It was the worst betrayal I’ve ever experienced. She was with me for years. Fucking years.”

“She was good at her job.”

He shakes his head, still dumbfounded. “She fucked me like she meant it.”

“She did mean it,” I tell him. “She meant it because she needed to convince you of her loyalty in order to kill you one day.”

“Is that your plan, too?” he snarls in my face.

I flinch away from him and try and look as scared as I possibly can. “I’m no spy,” I say. “And despite what my birth name suggests, I’m not Bratva either. I’m just here for my son.”

“Does that mean I won’t have any more trouble from you?”

I nod and look away.

“And what about when I present you with your husband’s head?” he ponders. “What then?”

I stiffen again, but don’t say anything. It’s too horrible to think about, even though I don’t believe that will ever happen.

Leo is far too stubborn to die.

Belov tips his head to the side. “Do you love him?”

I stare at this monster in front of me. This question, I have no trouble answering. “Yes,” I rasp. “I love him.”

“Even after all he’s done to you. He plucked you from your life and threw you to the sharks.”

“You can’t choose who you love.”

He nods. “It’s true. I know the feeling.”

“You?” I scoff. “You know nothing about love. You claim to have loved Ariel, but if that were true, you would never have been able to kill her.”

He laughs. “This is the Bratva, princess. Love means nothing after betrayal. I would have killed my own mother if she’d dared to cross me.”

“That’s because you’re an evil piece of shit.”