Chapter 26 Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Dimitri's POV
The convoy moved slowly through the city streets.
Behind me, a black hearse carried her coffin. Simple and elegant, just like she would have wanted.
My guards surrounded the vehicles in perfect formation. Their heads were bowed. Their faces were grim.
The city seemed to know. Even the people on the streets stopped and stared as we passed. Some made the sign of the cross. Others just watched in silence.
I sat in the back of my car, staring at nothing.
I had not slept. I had not eaten. I had barely moved since we left that cursed beach.
Mikhail sat across from me. He looked tired and worried. He kept trying to say something but I did not want to hear it.
"Dimitri," he finally said softly. "You need to eat something. You need to rest."
I didn't respond.
"She would not want you to destroy yourself like this," Mikhail continued. "Irina would want you to..."
"Do not say her name," I said. My voice was hollow and empty. "Do not dare say her name."
Mikhail closed his mouth immediately and looked down at his hands.
The convoy continued moving. We moved through the city gates, past the guards who saluted, and finally through the iron gates of my estate.
The main house loomed ahead. I was dark and quiet, like it was mourning too.
We pulled up to the front steps and I got out slowly. My legs felt like they belonged to someone else.
The staff were lined up. All of them. Maids, cooks, gardeners and guards. They all stood with their heads bowed as the hearse pulled up behind us.
Mikhail had sent the news to them before we left the beach.
They all knew how much I cared for Irina. They all knew I was in love with her.
I watched as my men carefully lifted the coffin and carried it up the steps and into the house.
I followed them inside, dragging my legs.
The entire house had been prepared.
Black curtains covered every window, candles burned in every corner, flowers filled the hallways.
They carried her to the main hall where they had set up a platform and they placed the coffin there gently and stepped back.
I walked forward slowly and placed my hand on the dark wood.
My Irina was inside this box.
"Would you like us to open it?" One of my men asked quietly. "So you can see her one last time?"
"No," I said immediately. "No. I do not want to remember her like that. I want to remember her alive."
He nodded and stepped back.
I stood there for hours. Just standing there with my hand on her coffin.
People came and went. Maids brought food that I did not touch. Guards checked on me but I ignored them.
Mikhail stayed close. Always watching and always worried.
"Dimitri," he said eventually. "You have to let them prepare for the funeral. The burial is tomorrow morning."
"I know," I said.
"You need to rest," Mikhail continued. "You need to prepare yourself. The other families will be watching. They will want to see how you handle this."
"Let them watch," I said coldly.
"Dimitri, please," Mikhail said. "I know you are hurting. I know this is destroying you. But you cannot let them see you like this. You cannot show weakness. Not now."
"She is dead, Mikhail!" I roared. I turned to face him and I saw him flinch. "My Irina is dead! Alexei killed her! And you want me to pretend I am strong? You want me to put on a show for the other families?"
"I want you to survive this," Mikhail said firmly. "Because if you fall apart now, everything you built will crumble. And Alexei will win."
His words hit me like ice water.
Alexei will win.
No. I could not let that happen.
I took a deep breath and straightened my shoulders. "Fine," I said. "Fine. Tell them to prepare everything. The funeral will be tomorrow at dawn."
Mikhail nodded. "Thank you."
He left quickly to give the orders.
I turned back to the coffin, placed both hands on it and leaned my forehead against the wood.
"I am sorry," I whispered. "I am so sorry I failed you. But I promise you this. Alexei will pay. He will pay for what he did to you. I will hunt him down. I will make him suffer. And I will make him beg for death before I grant it to him."
The night passed slowly. I did not sleep. I just sat beside her coffin and waited for morning to come.
When dawn finally came, my men began to gather.
They carried her coffin outside to the garden where we had prepared her grave under the old oak tree as instructed. It was the place where she used to sit and read when she had a free time and I would watch her from my window.
I followed them outside. The sky was gray and heavy with clouds. Like even the heavens were mourning with me.
My entire household was there. All of my guards, all of the staff and Mikhail standing at my side.
And then they came. The other families.
Black cars pulled up one by one.
Mafia dons from across the region. They came dressed in black with serious faces.
They did not come because they loved Irina. They came because they wanted to see me. They wanted to see if Dimitri Volkov would break.
I stood tall as they approached. I shook their hands. I accepted their condolences with a cold, and empty face.
"My deepest sympathies, Dimitri," Don Petrov said. His eyes were calculating. "Such a terrible tragedy."
"Thank you," I said flatly.
"If there is anything we can do," Don Sokolov added. "Anything at all."
"I will let you know," I said.
They nodded and stepped back. They joined the others standing in a semi-circle around the grave.
The priest arrived. An old man with kind eyes. He began the ceremony with a prayer.
I did not hear the words. I just watched as they lowered her coffin into the ground until it rested at the bottom.
Then they began to shovel dirt on top of it.
Each shovel of sand felt like a knife in my chest. Each sound of dirt hitting the wood made me want to scream.
But I stood there like a statue.
Mikhail stood beside me with his hands on my shoulder.
"It is okay to cry," he whispered. "It is okay to let it out."
"No," I said. "It is not."
The dirt piled higher until the coffin was completely covered. They shaped it into a mound and placed flowers on top.
The priest said a final prayer. Then it was done.
Irina was buried.
Gone forever.
The other dons approached and shook my hands last time then they left.
Only my men remained.
They stood in silence, waiting for my orders.
I looked at them then at Mikhail.
"Dimitri," Mikhail said carefully. He glanced at the men around us. "The underworld is watching. They are all waiting to see what you will do."
I looked at him for a long moment.
Then I looked back at Irina's grave.
"What will I do?" I repeated softly. My voice was like ice. "I will burn everything Alexei loves. I will destroy everything he has built. I will take everything he has ever cared about and I will turn it to ash."
I turned to face my men. They all straightened immediately.
"Alexei took the one thing in this world that mattered to me," I said. My voice was loud and clear. "He killed the woman I loved. And now he will learn what it means to make an enemy of Dimitri Volkov."
My men's eyes burned with anger.
"Find him," I said. "Find Alexei. Find where he is hiding. Find out who is helping him. And bring me that information. I do not care what it takes. I do not care what it costs. Find him."
"Yes, boss," they said in unison.
"And when we find him," I continued. My hands clenched into fists. "We will make him wish he had never been born."
T
hen I turned to Mikhail. "Tell the underworld," I said coldly. "Tell them that Dimitri Volkov is coming. And I will tear apart anyone who stands between me and my brother. Tell them that I will show no mercy, no forgiveness,no peace."
Mikhail approached slowly. I could see the pain in his eyes. "What will you do with Alexei?"
"Alexei," I said. My voice dropped to a whisper. "Alexei is already dead. He just does not know it yet."