Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 43787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 219(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 219(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
I just don’t know if I’m ready for them.
CHAPTER 13
DAMIAN
There’s a fine line between control and chaos, and tonight, it’s razor-thin.
I can feel it in the way the strip club is too quiet, in the way the air seems thick with something unsaid. The weight of unspoken truths presses against my ribs as I lean against the worn leather of my chair, watching Alaina and Konstantin by the wall. Asking for a moment of privacy with her grandfather, I moved a few feet away as did Konstantin’s men.
She’s tense, arms folded tightly over her chest, eyes flashing with barely contained fury. Konstantin stands across from her, his expression carved from stone, but I don’t miss the way his fingers twitch against the table by them, the way his jaw tightens every time she speaks.
She wants answers. She’s about to get them. And she’s not going to like what she hears.
I stay quiet, letting it play out. Because this? This is between them. I can’t shield her from this. All I can do is pick up the pieces as he’s going to shatter her world. The information recently given to me by Nitro, our tech guy is mind blowing. Truly, I struggle to believe it. I hope Konstantin gives her the truth. And in a loving way. I’ll let her handle this for herself. But that doesn’t mean I won’t step in the second I need to.
“Talk,” Ally snaps, voice sharp enough to cut. “You owe me that much.”
Konstantin exhales through his nose, staring at her for a long moment before shaking his head. “I’m sorry, solnishko.” His voice is quieter than I expect, but there’s an edge to it—like he knows this will break something between them. “But this debt—it isn’t mine, but it is tied to me.”
Alaina frowns, shaking her head. “What are you talking about?”
Konstantin looks away, rubbing his temple like he’s trying to find the right words. “The debt is to your father.”
The room goes still.
Alaina sucks in a breath, confusion flickering in her eyes. “My father?” She lets out a hollow laugh, shaking her head. “The father who left me? The one who didn’t give a shit about my mom or me?”
Konstantin looks at her then, his gaze heavy. “That’s the truth you were told. But it’s not the truth.”
Alaina stiffens, her breathing turning shallow. “What the hell does that mean?”
Silence hangs between them like a noose. Then, finally, Konstantin speaks.
“Boris owed Dimitri a debt. A debt he couldn’t pay.” He exhales sharply, his gaze unreadable. “So, he traded your mother for a clean slate.”
Alaina jerks back like she’s been slapped. “No.” She shakes her head violently, like denying it will make it not true. “No, that’s not—”
“It is,” Konstantin cuts in, his voice rough. “Dimitri owned her. But when she got pregnant, she hid it from him, kept you from him.”
Alaina’s chest rises and falls too fast, panic creeping into her expression. “She—she hid me?”
“She knew what would happen if Dimitri found out,” Konstantin says, leaning forward. “So she ran. She stole you away through Boris—sent you to us because we had established ourselves in the United States before Dimitri could find out. And for a while, she got away with it. We did paperwork to make it look like we adopted you from foster care if someone did a deep dive for him.”
Alaina grips the edge of the table, her knuckles white. “For a while?”
Konstantin nods. “Eventually, Dimitri did find out. When my Sasha died, Dimitri got word of it. He watched as your mother came to the funeral to watch from afar. He got to her. I don’t know what he did, but she told him the truth before he ended her. He sent her back to me in ashes bagged inside an urn. I buried her with your grandmother. Knowing the lengths he would go to in order to punish us all, I had to play his game. He had Boris killed. Honestly, Alaina, I’m lucky both of us are still breathing. Anyhow, he uses this to control me.” His voice drops lower, rough with something dark. “He blackmailed me into pushing his product through Freedom Falls without taking a cut from him like the Kings do. Said if I didn’t, he’d take you.”
Alaina sways slightly like the ground has been ripped out from under her. Her voice is barely a whisper. “He was using me?”
Konstantin nods. “You are the leverage.”
I exhale sharply, my grip tightening around the arm of the chair. This is the truth Konstantin was hiding. This is the shit that’s been hanging over his head, over her head.
She was never free. She was never just his granddaughter. She was collateral.
Alaina runs a shaky hand through her hair, eyes wild. “You—you’ve been working with him?”
Konstantin’s face hardens. “To protect you.”