The Final Hour (Volkov Bratva #3)(61)

Slowly, it would eat at him until there was nothing left.

No matter what Alex said, no matter her reasons, Lauren wouldn’t let anything happen to her, not just because she wanted to save her, but because she needed to save Mishca as well.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Alex asked, immediately going on the defensive.

Like Lauren, she wasn’t effected by Mishca’s anger, and would happily snap back at him, but this was not a good time for her to challenge him

“What did she tell you to do?” Mishca asked again, his tone shifting from concerned older brother to pissed off Bratva Captain.

When she still refused to answer him, he began speaking in rapid French so only she could understand him, and whatever he snapped at her seemed to work.

The sarcasm bled out of Alex as she faced her brother, and for the first time in a long time, Alex looked her age. She’d grown up around the Vory v Zakone and knew their rules and how they treated anyone they thought disrespected them. She had no choice in the matter, she had to tell the truth.

“Mish, it’s not what you think.”

His eyes were cold, burning with fury. “Then explain.”

“Mum didn’t mean—”

Grabbing the closest thing to him—which happened to be a vase full of flowers—Mishca hurled it across the room, making Alex yelp in fright and Luka and Lauren move closer to them.

Except, Lauren was going towards Mishca while it looked like Luka was more concerned with Alex.

“Anya told me to kill her,” Alex said in a low voice.

Lauren blinked in surprise, but still grabbed Mishca’s arm in case he made a move towards her. Whatever his reasons, he allowed it. Despite what Klaus had said, Lauren still had her doubts about Alex’s involvement. Even now, even after what she had just heard, she refused to believe it.

“And you didn’t think to tell me about this?” Mishca asked. “Is that what bothered you after you left?”

“It wasn’t like she could do anything,” Alex rushed to explain. “Hell, she was exiled with Mikhail’s guards on her all day.”

“And did you help her escape?”

Before she could answer, Lauren spoke up. “What are you talking about?”

They both ignored her, too focused on each other to pay attention to anyone else. “Is that the only reason?” Mishca questioned. “Your feelings towards Lauren were quite clear at the time.”

“I wouldn’t do that!” Alex shouted sounding like a frightened little girl as she turned pleading eyes to Lauren, hoping that she would understand.

“Mishca, stop,” Lauren said forcing him to look at her. He was out of control and she didn’t like it.

The words were softly spoken, meant only for him to hear. It didn’t matter how Alex had acted in the past, Lauren could see it in her face that she hadn’t planned this.

But it didn’t matter what Lauren was saying now, Alex’s gaze was back on Mishca, that fear that had been present in her eyes slowly disappearing as anger took its place.

“Don’t make me force you out of here,” Mishca warned, the threat clear in his eyes. He turned away, effectively dismissing her for the time being.

Whether she was tired of being blamed, or felt offended that Mishca had thought it was her in the first place, she began laying into him. “Yea, I was pissed at the time, but guess what, I told her no. Not just because I didn’t want Lauren to die, but because I knew what it would do to you! You think I would do that to you of all people?”

Sadly, Lauren understood both sides. She knew Mishca didn’t want to believe that Alex had anything to do with it, but with the world they lived in, not everyone could be trusted, and with the treachery in their family, Mishca didn’t know what to believe.

“You kept it from me,” Mishca said through gritted teeth, staring his sister down. “What the hell am I supposed to think?”

“That I wouldn’t betray you, you selfish ass!”

“Okay, let’s all calm down,” Lauren spoke up again, trying to be the voice of reason. When Mishca looked back, she gave him a pointed stare. “I’ll talk to Alex, you figure something out. And don’t give me that look. I trust Alex. You should too.”

“Lauren—”

“When I told Mikhail about Anya and Viktor, I didn’t think about what that would do to Alex in the process. Of course I didn’t know her that well, ad she’s not nearly as close to me as she is to you, don’t ruin that when you don’t have all the facts…okay?”

He pulled her to him by the nape of her neck, kissing her forehead. “You’re right.”

“Don’t tell me. Tell her.”

When he moved past her to Alex, Lauren exhaled, glad that she could do something to help diffuse the tension, even if it racketed right back up seconds later. Klaus was watching her, and she thought she saw a glimmer of respect in his eyes as he pointed to his phone, then the back room.

Alex was crying soundlessly, but she accepted Mishca’s hug, nodding at whatever he was whispering to her. She went to stand on the other side of the room as Mishca came back to speak to Luka. He was significantly calmer, and seemed to be thinking clearly.

“Anya couldn’t have pulled this off on her own, even with her contacts.” Now that he was a fraction calmer, Mishca moved on from assuming it was Alex, despite what he knew about her, Alex didn’t have the resources for this.