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

I’m overthinking at this point with no concrete plan or course of action.

Fucking liar.

I welcomed the deal both Igor and the Pakhan offered me a few days ago.

If it were just Igor wanting me to marry his daughter for some sort of families’ union, I would’ve comfortably said no.

I’m not Adrian. Where he was previously engaged to Kristina for the mere purpose of an alliance with the secretly most powerful family in the brotherhood, I’m doing it for higher purposes.

That’s why I only accepted this deal once the Pakhan gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse.

Kristina gives me a reserved smile as we stand side by side to accept everyone’s congratulations. She’s a woman made for this role. She has no character, no opinion, and no purpose other than being her father’s trump card.

She’s as beautiful…as a lifeless doll. Expressionless in private and an actress in public.

Yulia and Stella, Igor’s wife, are on either side of us. Now, this whole thing is a pain in the ass, except for one part. The look on Yulia’s face when she realized that I’m playing the long game and that whatever she has planned will fail miserably once I’m in my future position.

She does have to put on a show in front of the world, though, so as not to embarrass herself.

I’m going to make this woman watch every moment as I stomp on each and every one of her grandiose dreams. I’ll crush her hopes and plans, so she’ll really wish she’d killed me when I didn’t have the strength to fight back.

Konstantin, however, fucked off to God knows where as soon as the engagement was announced. If I wasn’t imagining things, I’d think Kristina stiffened, too, but she didn’t look at anyone but me and her father tonight.

My eyes keep filtering back to where Sasha disappeared with Rai earlier. A few minutes later, the Pakhan’s grandniece came back alone.

I pull out my phone and type a text.

Kirill: Where’s Lipovsky?

Viktor meets my gaze from the other end of the room before his reply comes.

Viktor: Seriously? You think I have the time or energy to focus on that little fuck?

I’m going to fucking kill Viktor. For a very irrational reason. Of course, he’s in no frame of mind to focus on her when his top priority is to ensure my safety, but that doesn’t seem as important right now.

Kirill: Find him. It’s urgent.

He goes erect at that and nods before he disappears from sight. I track his movements and discreetly take inventory of the crowd. There’s no sign of her.

Did she leave?

Adrian stops before me, a hand secured around his wife’s lower back. She stares at Kristina, pauses, then forces a smile. “Congratulations.”

My fiancée, who I’m starting to suspect is a robot, smiles as she’s done with everyone. “Thank you.”

This woman doesn’t even care that Lia actually took her previous fiancé. Not only that, but she also accepts Adrian’s half-assed congratulations with another smile.

Lia tells Adrian she’s going to the ladies’ room and the crazy asshole actually motions at one of his guards to follow. His wife merely shakes her head and teasingly hits his arm before she disappears.

Adrian follows her with his darkening gaze long after she’s no longer in sight. I’ve always found it amusing how an unfeeling man like him has this level of affinity for another human being.

You say that as if you’re not in the same boat, motherfucker.

Adrian grabs me by the shoulder. “I’m going to borrow Kirill for a minute.”

He doesn’t wait for anyone’s reply as he pushes me onto a quiet balcony. The cold penetrates my suit, and my jaw tightens but for an entirely different reason than the change of temperature.

I barely have access to the hall and, therefore, can’t see if Sasha has returned.

“Make it quick,” I say absentmindedly. “Besides, why are you acting so friendly all of a sudden? Didn’t you pierce my little black heart by telling me not to get in touch unless absolutely necessary?”

“Do you have any fucking idea what you’re doing?” His body is tense but only for a moment before he releases a breath. “You’re playing with fucking fire.”

“My, Adrian. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re worried about me.”

“Focus.” He drives his fist against my shoulder, knocking me back a step. “This is dangerous.”

“And how do you know what this is?”

“It doesn’t take a genius to figure out you’ve always been after the highest position. I suspect that Igor promised to get you there and Sergei agreed to renounce to you when his health condition worsens.”

“The cat’s out of the bag, huh?”

“This might backfire any moment if you don’t commit to your side of the deal.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” I grab his shoulder and squeeze. “Now, real talk. When it’s time for the elections, you’ll vote for me, right? You know no one can drive this organization better than me.”

“That’s all you care about?”

“What else is there? Unless…you’re thinking of running yourself?”

“Unlike you, fucking idiot, I have a family I need to protect, and to do that, I won’t put myself in the limelight. I prefer to work in the shadows.”