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

“But why?” He tries to resist me. “Kara and I want to go on the holiday.”

“We want to go, go.” Karina pulls on my hand, too, but she has little to no effect.

Because I’m already dragging them down the street.

“Sir, come back here.” The guards' heavy footsteps sound behind me as they soon catch up to us. “We have clear instructions to drive you.”

“We’re walking. Go back on your own,” I say without turning around.

The heavy footsteps disappear, but they’re replaced by others. Lighter but more of them. I lift Karina up so that she’s glued to my side and scream, “Run, Kosta!”

There’s a small pause before he nods and complies. He doesn’t even ask me why or where we’re going. Konstantin has always trusted me with everything. Including thoughts about how he hates Yulia sometimes because she treats me and Karina like shit.

He tells me how one day, it’ll be just the three of us because my baby brother decided that my dream is also his dream.

We don’t look behind us as we run down the streets, breezing past the Christmas-decorated shops. But we’re not fast enough. Karina is slowing me down, and Konstantin keeps lagging behind. Suddenly too overwhelmed by the pace, he trips and falls, calling my name.

I curse and start to go back to help him, but the moment I do, it’s too late. Men dressed in black combat clothes and balaclavas have already gotten hold of him.

He thrashes and kicks, but it’s impossible when he’s surrounded by six of them. Karina screams at the sight, and I put her down, then hide her in a small alley. I hunch to her level and say in a soothing voice, “Stay here, Kara. I’ll get Kosta and come back, okay?”

“Okay, okay.” She keeps her hand on my arm as if not wanting to let me go, so I gently wrench it free.

I rush back to my brother to find him thrashing and cursing. Upon seeing me, hope blossoms in his eyes, “Kirya!”

I fetch a rock and throw it at one of the men. It hits him, but two others lunge at me at supersonic speed. Just when I’m devising the best plan of action, Karina shrieks.

“Kirill!” both she and Kosta call.

My mind turns into a mess, and I don’t know where to look first. But before I can decide, I’m whacked in the side of my head, and my knees hit the ground before my body follows.

Through my blood-soaked vision, I see the men carrying a screaming Konstantin and Karina away.

I try to reach out to them but realize I’m also being dragged away, but in the opposite direction.

Just like that, my world turns black.





1





KIRILL





PRESENT DAY





I believe in instinct.

Not only has it saved my life numerous times, but it’s also helped me in solving many mysteries.

It was in my early teenage years that I began to predict what type of torture my father had in store for me. He started using Konstantin and Karina to get to me, so I gradually kept my distance so as not to get them involved.

That time when I was kidnapped in front of their eyes when I was thirteen terrorized them to the point that they couldn’t sleep for days. The guards dropped them off at home, but I was in for my special torture endurance ‘training.’ A little Christmas gift from dear old Papa.

And while my father only meant to scare them, it went above and beyond and actually traumatized them.

I went back home a few days later with bruises all over my torso and cutting scars on my abdomen. Like a damn psychopath, Roman had made sure none of the torture was visible on my face.

As Konstantin and Karina hugged me, I had to bite my lip to endure the pain. They cried their hearts out and crowded my bed that night. Not even Yulia could take Konstantin away. It was the first time they slept after nights of terror.

But I couldn’t sleep. The pain didn’t allow me the comfort of shutting my brain and relaxing. In fact, it was soon after that incident that I found it hard to sleep. My mind was on high alert, thinking about solutions in case I was ambushed again.

That’s when I realized that if I didn’t create distance from my siblings, they’d be collateral damage in my father’s grand plans for me.

Since then, I’ve learned to trust my gut when it tells me something.

Like now.

I knew something was amiss the moment Sasha asked for three days off. One, she barely utilizes her vacation days, and when she does, it’s to spend time with Karina or with fucking Maksim.

Two, her going to Russia for this particular vacation told me everything I needed to know.

She was returning to the slimy motherfucker she was talking to on the phone seven months ago.

The one she told she missed and would come back to soon. Not only that, but she also shot the device so I wouldn’t be able to find his details, then proceeded to threaten to kill me if I hurt her beloved snowflake.

The reason I know he’s Russian? She spoke the language when she said those affectionate things I didn’t think she was capable of.

I never brought up the subject of her lover again, because I knew that if I did, her walls would be up in no time. That doesn’t mean I forgot about him, though.

In fact, he’s been in the back of my mind every second of every day. Whenever I fuck her, I go harder and faster at the thought that she has feelings for someone else.