Page 148 of His to Own

“Elena,” Maxim says in a hard voice. “Tell me.”

“He stabbed me,” I whisper.

Lana gasps. “What? I was told it was Aleksander who did that to you.”

I shake my head, which is a mistake, since I feel woozy. “It was Father. He stabbed me. He tried making a deal with Aleksander to save his own life.”

“That can’t be,” Mother breathes out. “That just can’t be.”

“That’s what happened.”

“Maybe you’re still feeling the effects of the morphine in your system. You’re not thinking clearly.” Her hands flutter around her face. “Once you’re feeling better, you’ll be able to remember what happened.”

“I know what happened. It was Father who stabbed me.”

Her eyes narrow. “That’s a serious accusation to make.”

“It’s the truth. He stabbed me. He made a deal with Aleksander. He’s going to give Adriana to Aleksander.”

Adriana’s head whips up so fast it would be comical if I wasn’t in so much pain right now. “What? To that butcher? I was told he cuts peoples’ heads off. Father would never marry me to a man like that. Never.”

“You don’t know Father the way I do. You haven’t seen all of his dark sides. I am telling the truth.”

“No,” Mother says, shaking her head. “This will not stand. I don’t believe you. Come on, Adriana. We’re going home.”

“But –,” she starts to object until Mother cuts her off.

“Now.” She grabs Adriana’s hand and practically pulls her from the room.

“Is this all true?” Maxim asks in a low voice.

“Yes.” I grab his hand. “But… don’t kill him. If you do, then my mother and Adriana won’t have any sort of protection.”

“They’ll have me and Nikolai. This cannot go without consequences. Your father tried to kill you. He needs to die. Our alliance is over.”

Nikolai enters the room, carrying a cup of coffee. He can tell right away something is wrong. “What’s happened?”

“Gregory tried to kill Elena,” Maxim snaps. “I’m not staying in an alliance with him anymore. He needs to die.”

“We should talk about this, Maxim, before you do something reckless. You have your wife to think about. Stay here with her. I’ll handle this.”

“You always fucking handle everything.”

Nikolai holds up his hands. “That’s because I know how to keep my cool. I will talk with Gregory. I will get to the bottom of this. There is no need for a fight. Just stay here with Elena. Lana, I’ll take you home.”

Lana gives me an uncertain look before following her husband out of the room.

Maxim jumps to his feet and begins pacing. “I can’t believe this. Your father needs to die. I will not let him get away with this.”

As I watch Maxim be so upset for my sake, all I feel is one thing: warmth. And I know I need to tell him what I’m feeling. “Maxim.”

He continues to mutter to himself.

“Maxim.”

“What?” he asks.

“I love you.”