“I need you to put your dick away and stop spreading her legs,” he growled.
Surging forward, I didn’t think. All rational thoughts had now escaped me. I grabbed Alessio by the collar, my lips pulling back into a snarl. He didn’t even budge. He didn’t blink. He stared at me, blankly.
“She is not a fucking whore,” I snapped into his face. “Stop talking like you know everything. You. Don’t.”
“I didn’t say she was a whore. I was stating that you were.”
Bastard. For the first time, I had a newfound hatred for my brother.
“You have no control of your emotions. That will get you killed. Solonik will strike you, right into the spot where you are weak. Remember that.”
“I know what to do. I don’t need your fucking lectures,” I hissed, releasing his collar and pushing him back. “As if you were any better.”
Alessio glowered at my words, and he fixed his collar again. “I love Ayla. There is a difference. Are you saying you love her?”
“I—”
Fuck.
The Devil laughed, laughing off my shoulders because he couldn’t hold himself up from his laughter.
Alessio seemed to be waiting for an answer.
I didn’t have one.
I couldn’t…
My lungs squeezed, and I suddenly felt like I couldn’t breathe. There was an ache in my chest, and I hated it. Hated feeling like this.
Without control. Too many emotions. Unwanted feelings. It was all indescribable.
When I didn’t answer, my tongue feeling too heavy to form any word, Alessio sighed and stood up. He gave me a dark look, but I saw something else. Understanding. Maybe sympathy.
“I’m not saying this to be an asshole. I say this because I care. You’re going to hurt yourself, and you’re also going to hurt her. You can’t save her. You need to focus on Valentin. He is your target. To do this job, you can’t have any weakness. Let her go.”
“She is mine.”
The words slipped past my tongue before I could even stop myself. My eyes widened, realizing that I had confessed this out loud, to Alessio.
He looked…shocked. Then there was a look of satisfaction, like he’d won something. There was a hint of smugness. But it was so brief that I convinced myself I was mistaken. It couldn’t be right.
Alessio blinked, his eyebrows furling, and then the look was gone once again, replaced with a blank expression. But I saw anger swirling into the depth of his eyes.
All these years I have lived my life protecting Alessio, serving this family. He was my King, and I was a loyal warrior. He commanded and I heeded all his demands.
I thought that maybe…just maybe, when the time would come, when I would need his understanding, his help, he would give it to me. He’d trust me and he would support me, like I had done all these years. I had blindly given him my loyalty.
Was it too much to ask for him to return the favor? At least once…
I thought this moment would be it. The moment he’d clasp me on the back and tell me he was on my side. I had never asked for something for myself. But I thought maybe this time he would understand. After all, we were brothers? Right?
But Alessio Ivanshov…
I forgot he was ruthless and his heart only worked when it came to his wife and kids.
Everyone else?
We were dirt under his feet.
“Choose, Viktor.”
“What?” I asked, taking a step back. My heart hammered, and it felt like it would break right through my chest.
“Your family or her.”
The ache in my chest intensified. The world to me was no longer black and white. I was now lying in the grey, forced to make a choice.
“You are asking me to make a choice? To pick a side? My loyalty is to you but she is—”
“Then this choice shouldn’t be hard. Us or her. You can’t have both,” he said.
“She is innocent. Don’t drag her into this game,” I whispered.
“You dragged her into this when you started something you shouldn’t have,” Alessio shot back.
My hands shook, and I had to clench them again, my nails digging into my palms. The tinge of pain kept me focused.
“I can’t support a relationship that will hurt my family and put us in danger. Solonik is our enemy. His mere existence is a threat to us, to this family. One little distraction could get you killed and ruin us all. Our lives lay in your hands, Viktor. Remember that when you make a choice.”
I stayed silent, my throat burning. I wanted to scream. I wanted to break something. Anger swirled inside me, a tsunami of emotions.
Alessio sighed at my silence. He walked around the desk, looking at his watch on his wrist. “It’s late. Ayla will probably come looking for me if she wakes up and doesn’t see me in bed. And I think you need some time. Go to sleep. We will talk in the morning.”