“Afterwards, I knew I’d made a mistake. Rob is a federal agent, Liv. And me? The farthest thing from it. We’re just too damned different. He fell in love with the version of me that I gave him. But if he knew the real me, he’d never have looked twice.”
“Am I supposed to feel bad for you? You’re not the victim here.”
“I’m not claiming to be a victim, just like I’m not claiming to be a hero. To be honest, I don’t believe in either one of those things. But I do want you to understand why I did what I did. He was a job at first. Then, as the months slipped by, I lost myself in the dream of him. For a moment, it even seemed… possible.”
I glance towards Aleks to see what he thinks of this. His expression is impassive. His body language gives nothing away. But he stays close to Jennifer, like he’s ready to catch her if she falls.
Jealousy rages through me. It’s burning hot. And no matter what I do to push it back, it keeps coming up.
I turn away from both of them.
“Liv—”
“Don’t!” I yell. “Don’t talk to me like you know me. You’re an imposter and a fraud.”
“I’m all those things and worse,” she says gently. “But that doesn’t mean I’m lying now. Your brother may have started out as a job, but he became something more to me.”
“What does it even matter?” I ask. “You broke his heart all the same. Ripped it right out of his damn chest.”
“I—”
“If it weren’t for you, he might have dropped the case. But after you disappeared, that’s when his obsession with the Bratva really doubled down.”
“Because the FBI’s anonymous tipper told him that my disappearance had something to do with Aleks,” she explains patiently. “The case was dying, and he was desperate to jumpstart it again. And desperate to find me. It gave him a second wind.”
“Rob,” I whisper. “He… he has to know about this. I have to tell him.”
She looks frightened suddenly for maybe the first time. “Liv, please… I don’t know if I’m ready for that.”
“Why not?”
“For one, I’m still undercover on a mission. For another, it just wouldn’t be the closure you think it would be. Some things are better left buried.”
“We all wrote you off as dead, you know?” I seethe. “All except Rob. He kept saying it over and over again, even when no one else believed him. She’s alive. She’s out there somewhere. If she were dead, I would feel it in my bones. That’s how much he loved you. He still does.”
A tear slips down her cheek. My heart tugs, but I shush it. It’s just an act. Pure fiction. Another facet of her role. Another part of her miserable, life-ruining job.
“He loves Isabella,” she corrects. “But Isabella was only ever a creation. She never really existed, not in any way that matters. And she’s gone now.”
“No! No. You exist. You have a name and likes and dislikes and a home. You have to take up space somewhere! Where do you live?”
“Between missions, Jennifer lives here,” Aleks tells me. “In the room you found upstairs.”
My jaw drops. “You knew I found the room?”
“The room, the scarf, all of it.”
“And you didn’t say anything?”
“I didn’t need to. I knew you’d find out about Jennifer eventually.”
I want to storm out of here so I don’t have to look at either one of them, but I still have more questions. “I thought you were kidnapping women and murdering them. Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“I did tell you,” he reminds me. “I told you again and again. You just weren’t listening.”
I roll my eyes. “Forgive me for not taking you at your word. It’s a little hard to build a trusting relationship, seeing as how you abducted me from my home.”
“And you know why,” he counters. “Plus, you’ve been treated well. Taken care of.”
“Yeah, I feel really fucking loved,” I spit. “If this is your love, Aleks, I don’t want a single goddamn drop of it. That goes for you, too,” I add, jerking my chin towards Jennifer.
Aleks sighs. “I think it’s time for you to get to your room,” he says. “You’re looking a little pale.”
I shake my head. “I’m not a child. You can’t just send me away when it’s convenient for you.”
“No, moya zhena, you are not a child anymore. But neither are you Bratva. Jennifer and I have things we need to discuss. Business things.”
I glance between them and feel my stomach turn sour.
Jennifer is the epitome of everything I’m not. She’s more experienced, more calculating. She’s stronger and more confident. She knows how to manipulate men and women alike. She’s the kind of woman who doesn’t look out of place standing next to Aleks.
Not the way I do.
And God, that enrages me.
I don’t think about what I’m doing before I do it—I just close my hand around the first thing I touch. In this case, it’s an ornate vase sitting on the circular desk next to me.
I grab it and fling it forward. I don’t know if I’m trying to hit her or him or both of them. Whatever the case, I scream and hurl the vase forward.
I just want to hear something crash.
I want to see it break.
I want to see the beautiful, broken pieces on the floor and have the satisfaction of knowing that for once in my life, I’m the one who did the damage.
Aleks throws himself in front of Jennifer and turns a shoulder. The vase shatters against his broad back and erupts everywhere.
And then he rises amongst the carnage, tall and terrifying.
“Aleks, leave her alone!” Jennifer is yelling.
But he ignores her. He scoops me up and throws me over his shoulder, carrying me out of the room.
I want to yell for him to put me down. To let me go.
But at this point, I know better than to ask for things I know I won’t get.
37
ALEKS
She’s a wreck.
Her hair is a tangled mess like a halo around her head, but it’s more than that. Everything she’s feeling is emblazoned in those dusky brown eyes.
Every ounce of pain. Every drop of jealousy.
“Get a hold of yourself,” I order after I dump her on the bed.
“You get a hold of yourself!” she snaps back childishly. She puts her hand on my chest and tries to shove me away from her.
I don’t budge, not even an inch. She has to crane her neck up to look at me. She’s sitting on the edge of the bed so close that I can feel the heat coming off her body.
My cock is ramrod straight.
“How could you do this?” she asks, her voice rasping with sobs.
“I did what I had to do to protect my Bratva,” I tell her. “And I’d do it all over again.”
“My brother…”
“Is a man. And he’ll have to move on.”
“She cares about him, too.”
“She’s put that part of her life behind her,” I say firmly. “She’s not going back, Olivia. Not now. Not ever.”
“But—”