Page 56 of Married to My Sis’s Bratva Fiancé

"She chose to finish the engagement. I didn't force her to marry me instead of Isabella."

Hearing it again still crushed my chest.

Something I couldn't see sat heavy behind Kiryan's eyes. I didn't know what it was, only that it stood between us. It made the way he looked at me turn hard again.

"The one who was supposed to marry into the Morozov family was Isabella. She left, Elena put on the dress and took the spot. Nobody held a gun to her head."

Olga looked stunned, like she hadn't expected Kiryan to say that now.

And when his last sentence landed like a verdict, my heart forgot how to beat.

So that was what he really thought.

"So everything you did for me was bullshit?" My voice came out raw, ugly.

The resentment lodged in my throat—I couldn't swallow it, couldn't spit it out.

Kiryan and Olga both looked at me.

"You gave me the studio. You let me sleep in your bed. You apologized for what happened—was all of that fucking fake?" I lifted my chin, forcing myself to meet his gaze. "You still think I stole my sister's place, don't you? So I don't get to ask where you went last night. I don't get to be upset you didn't come home. Whatever you do to me, I deserve it."

Those deep gray eyes held mine, something churning in them I didn't dare name. He took a half step forward, his size cutting off the light.

"What answer do you want to hear?"

That sentence ran right over my chest.

"I don't like your answers anymore."

His hand closed around my wrist. Familiar heat pressed to my pulse and my body shivered on instinct. He felt it. His thumb paused against my skin. For a second, we were so close I almost forgot whose bed he had come from.

Then the rose scent slid back into my breath.

I yanked my hand free.

His face turned fully cold.

"Elena, stop acting like a child."

"Acting like a child?" I laughed once, but my throat burned like it had been cut open.

I pulled out my phone, found the photo Isabella had sent, and turned the screen toward him.

"Isabella already sent it to my phone. How the hell am I supposed to 'understand'? Pretend I didn't see her naked in your arms? Or thank you for coming home after you fucked her and still remembered to replace my paint?"

Anger and confusion hit Kiryan's face at the same time.

Before he could speak, Olga snatched the phone from my hand.

"Oh, God. What the hell is this?"

Chapter 15

Kiryan

My teeth clamped so hard my jaw ached. My lungs felt like they'd been filled with molten fire.

I didn't know when Isabella had taken that photo. I sure as hell didn't know why she'd sent it to Elena. Elena's face had gone so white it was almost translucent, the corners of her eyes wet and raw. She had never been good at hiding anything. The hurt bled out of her in the way her shoulders stayed tight.