Chapter Twenty-One
PRESENT DAY, LOCATION UNKNOWN
“That shouldn’t have happened,” I say, my face burning at the memory of what went down that evening.
Alexei arches his eyebrows sardonically. “Which part? You pretending to be oh-so sympathetic about my sister all the while knowing you and your brothers were about to steal her son? Or us—”
“I wasn’t pretending.”
The admission hangs between us, suspended in the tense atmosphere like a broken leaf in a spiderweb. I don’t know why I said it. Why should I care what he thinks about my motivations? If anything, it’s better if he believes hate, and only hate, drives me. Which is the case. It has to be. So what if, for that brief moment nine months ago, it felt like we had a real connection?
It doesn’t change what I did after that night.
It d
