Page 76 of His to Own

“Don’t listen to him,” Alexei says. “He’s going to hurt you.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Maxim growls.

The anger in Maxim’s eyes is worrisome. He’s killed men before. He could easily kill Alexei. I can’t let that happen.

“Let’s go home,” I say, feeling defeated. I walk past Maxim and fortunately, he follows, leaving Alexei alive.

We’re quiet on the drive home.

Once I walk through the front door, I immediately head for one of the guest rooms. I can’t stay in the same room as Maxim. Not when I have so many thoughts floating through my head.

But Maxim follows. “Let me explain.”

“You were torturing that man. What is there to explain?”

“There’s a new man who’s come to town. A new mafia man. He stole one of our shipments and left the head of the driver behind. His name is Aleksander Baranov. Nikolai found a man who works with Aleksander. So we took him and tortured him for information. He wasn’t a good man. This man I was torturing tonight has been involved in a lot of shit. Most notably a child prostitution ring. It was easy for me to torture him. I needed information on Aleksander and he could provide it. That’s what you saw.”

All of Maxim’s words make sense. The mafia is a dark place. Men do dark things. It’s not uncommon. I’m sure my father has done a lot of bad things. But then again, my father wasn’t at Nikolai’s last night.

“It was frightening,” I whisper.

Maxim’s eyes turn gentle as he approaches me. I don’t move. I’m not sure if I want to run away or if I want him to come closer. “I’m sure it was. I didn’t want you to see those parts of me. I knew how much I frightened you when I killed Mikhail. I was trying to keep those things from you. Sometimes ignorance is better than knowing.”

“That’s not what Alisa said.”

“And why are you listening to Alisa? Are you friends?”

“Not really. But she’s a mafia wife. She has been one longer than I have been one. She seemed like a good person to listen to.”

“Well, she’s not,” Maxim says flatly.

“You’re at work all the time. I had no idea what you were getting up to.”

“I’m not cheating on you, Elena. Most of the time, I’m busy dealing with assholes like the man I was torturing last night. It’s a cruel world. This mafia one. And you’re so innocent. I wanted to protect that part of you.”

“You can’t protect it, Maxim. Not when you married me. Not when I’ve seen you do terrible things.”

“I know. I don’t want you to hate me, Elena.”

I take a step back. “You punched Alexei again.”

“Why do you care so much about that fucker?”

“Because he’s my friend and he’s been nothing but nice to me. He wants to help me.”

“He wants to get between us. That’s what he wants.”

“Maybe,” I whisper. “But I still don’t want you beating him. Just leave him alone.”

“I’ll promise to leave him alone if he leaves you alone. You spent the night in his dorm room.”

“Because I needed space. Like I said. Nothing happened.”

Maxim nods once. “I believe you. But you are mine, Elena. I don’t like you being around other men. I get jealous, I’ll admit.”

“But you’re around other women.”

“But I don’t care about those women like you care about Alexei.”