Lies of My Monster (Monster Trilogy #2) by Rina Kent

“Konstantin, maybe?”

“Maybe.”

Viktor clears his throat. “He…has been here every day since we landed in New York. It looked like he was consoling Miss Karina, but he visited even when she wasn’t here.”

I close my eyes and lean my head back. Viktor’s words barely register. It’s not my newfound life, my siblings, or my men who are occupying my thoughts.

It’s that bitter taste of betrayal that’s been clogging my throat since the moment I was shot.

That fucking taste is the worst medicine I’ve ever swallowed, and it nearly made me lose all my power.

But it didn’t.

I’m here now, even as I continue to swallow that god-awful taste with each passing second.

“I’ll leave you to rest,” Viktor announces. “If you need anything, I have three of our best men guarding your room. Just click the intercom button, and they will be here. If you need me personally, call me.”

I nod, still closing my eyes and seeing blood red. In the middle of the snow. The stark contrast makes my head dizzy.

“Boss.”

“Hmm?”

“Lipovsky’s here. He must’ve heard about you waking up.”

My eyes open slowly but pointedly. I stare at Viktor, who’s at the door, waiting for a reply.

Behind that door stands the woman because of whom I’m experiencing this irrational burning pain. And I’m not talking about the physical discomfort from the wound. That doesn’t compare to the constant squeezing in my injured heart.

“Don’t let him in,” I order. “From now on, Lipovsky is not allowed in my vicinity. Assign him to clean and maintain weapons.”

Viktor raises a brow. “Is there a reason for this?”

“Do as you’re told. I don’t want to see his face.”

“We can fire him.”

Of course Viktor would suggest a permanent solution to get rid of him. But I won’t release her for good until I get to the bottom of this.

I will find out the why and how and who. Especially the fucking who, and only when I’m satisfied will I put an end to this.

Until then, I’ll make her lose her mind with boredom.

“Just execute the order.” I close my eyes again. “Don’t let anyone in.”

“Yes, Boss.”

I was supposed to die on that snowy hill, but I didn’t.

When I’m done with her, Aleksandra will wish that she’d finished me off instead of taking me to the hospital.





6





SASHA





Kirill doesn’t want to see me.

When Viktor first told me I wasn’t welcome in the boss’s company anymore, I don’t know why I thought he was joking.

Surely, it was some sort of a mistake. Yes, I’d anticipated that Kirill’s reaction to what happened in Russia wouldn’t be pretty, but I didn’t think he’d go as far as…completely erasing me from his surroundings.

It’s been a week now since he fully woke up and even started conducting business deals from home as if nothing had happened.

Karina and Anna always try to forbid him from that, but no one can change his mind if he sets it on something.

I know because I’ve tried countless times to visit him, talk to him, or just see him from afar, to no avail.

Viktor is always by his side like unbending steel. Whenever I ask him for a mere minute in Kirill’s presence, he shuts me down so quickly and harshly that my pride is wounded.

Yes, it’s true that Viktor doesn’t like me—or anyone, for that matter—but this silent treatment wasn’t his idea. It was Kirill who ordered him not to let me approach him.

I stare out of my new prison—the weapon vault—at the small, secluded garden, where no one comes near. Maksim and Yuri only show up because I’m here. Otherwise, they wouldn’t step foot on these premises.

Before I was forced to this place, I vaguely knew it existed.

The only staff here are me and two older men who are no longer in-field bodyguards. We’re tasked with taking the weapons and ammunition up to the rest of the guards. However, Viktor clearly ordered me not to show my face upstairs and to let the two men handle the deliveries.

Even my stuff was moved from Kirill’s suite to a small room in the basement of the weapon vault. So I can’t get together with the guys. It’s like I’m being caged without actual bars.

That, combined with the fact that this house is fucking huge, has ensured that I’ve only managed to see Kirill twice and only from a distance when I’ve snuck around at night. The first time, I saw him standing by the window of the clinic, his merciless eyes staring blankly into the distance.

I wanted to go inside so badly, but the sight of the other guards made me change my mind. They’re under strict instructions to stop me from coming in contact with the boss, and if they don’t do as they’re told, Viktor might go as far as firing them. At least, that’s what Yuri told me.

My friends asked why I was relegated to weapon vault duty, and I said it was because I defied a direct order and, as a result, put Kirill’s life at risk, which is why he got shot.

Yuri thought it was odd the boss didn’t fire me, and Maksim said, “If he’s only punishing you, then it means he still wants you around, so hang in there.”