Page 125 of Essence of Fear

He had done it for less.

“It was Maya who told you whatever you’re about to say,” Viktoria said, refusing to argue further with her brother or listen to him justify his violent streak. “So, what did she tell you?”

“Fine,” he grumbled, glancing away. “It was Maya.”

“As I said …”

“Shut the hole in your face.”

Viktoria grinned.

See?

Just like she said.

Kolya was predictable.

“Anyway,” he muttered, giving her a look to quiet her. “She mentioned that you and Pav had moved into a new apartment a couple of weeks ago. Did the hotel not suit your needs, or what?”

“The hotel was not a home. And I already sold the house.”

“I know I’ve been busy with Maya, and the baby coming …”

“Just say what you want to say, Kolya.”

“Okay.”

She glanced at him, raising her brow. “Okay?”

He nodded. “I’ll just say it, yeah? If you want me to kill Pavel because he steps out of line on you, you let me know and I will do it whenever you ask.”

Viktoria pressed her lips together to keep from smiling. Oh, sure, her brother’s promise was typical Kolya wrapped up in his taste for violence. She would expect nothing less from her brother, of course. At least, not this brother.

But it was also something else … It was his way of saying I love you, Vik, and I’ll always look out for you if you need me to. She loved him for that, but she was a lot like Kolya, too. She didn’t put her emotions on her sleeve, and she never outright said what she was feeling unless it was to the person she loved the very most in her life.

Pav.

Viktoria nodded, and leaned in to give her brother a quick, one-armed hug. “I know you would, Kolya.”

He laughed under his breath as she straightened on the stool again. “I don’t think I’ll have to worry about hurting the bastard, anyway. He’s not very good at being away from you, and he gets a little stir crazy when he thinks you’re out of reach.”

That he did.

Pav just liked her close.

She understood that, too.

So many things he cared about in his life had been taken away. He was finally given a second chance to do or be whatever he wanted to be in this life of theirs, but there was still a part of him that felt like that boy hiding in a car.

He didn’t want to be without her.

She wouldn’t let him ever be alone again.

“And he did go speak to Konstantin today, so I think that says good things for him,” Kolya added.

Viktoria’s hand froze as she reached for her tattoo machine again. “What did you just say?”

It wasn’t the fact that Pav went to see Konstantin that made her pause. He worked for her brothers, so that made sense. It was the way Kolya offered the information, like there was something he knew that she didn’t.