Until the End (Volkov Bratva #2)(13)

Lauren maneuvered her way through the crowd, keeping her eyes on Alex in case someone tried to move her. It took more time than she had hoped, but when she was right behind the pack of vultures, she elbowed her way to the front, uncaring of their hostile glares.

“Alex!” She tried calling, but her voice was drowned out by the music and screaming.

Reaching up, she grabbed Alex’s hand, trying to get her to come down. Someone else was reaching for her also, but Lauren was too preoccupied in making sure Alex didn’t land on her face to look.

Between the two of them, they helped an overly intoxicated Alex down from the bar before she tripped and hit her head or something. Lauren was prepared to thank the guy—or tell him off if he was a creeper—until she looked up and met his eyes.

Mishca.

It was like the first time all over again, that stunned moment of seeing someone so attractive, but it was different now because she knew him. Just at the sight of him, the ache in her chest grew larger.

He seemed just as dazed as she felt, both suspended in the moment, too lost in one another to notice Alex drunkenly glaring at Lauren like she was the bane of her existence.

She lurched towards her, stumbling in her heels as she tried to grab for Lauren, but Mishca caught her around the waist, grating angry words in Russian that had her shoving away from him, turning that glare back on Lauren.

“You ruined my life!” She shouted, loud enough to be heard over the music.

Lauren flinched. No matter her problems with Mishca, she had never meant to hurt Alex in the process. She was all too familiar with what a secret could do, and inadvertently, she had done to Alex what Viktor had done to her.

“I’m sorry,” Lauren said seeming to shock Mishca though Alex was too drunk to understand what Lauren was saying.

Looking back at Mishca, she had to stop kidding herself into believing that anything could work out between them. Not because she didn’t want it, but because it seemed the circumstances weren’t right for it to work.

Taking a step back, Lauren said, “Goodbye, Mish.”

And without a single glance back, she found Amber in the heavily occupied club and helped her outside to a cab where they went home.





Despite trying to yank her way free, Mishca kept a firm grip on Alex’s bicep as he hauled her up the stairs in the back of the club, dragging her into his office and slamming the door shut behind them. With little finesse, Mishca dropped Alex on her ass in one of the armchairs, his anger mounting as she tried to straighten the pathetic excuse for a dress she was wearing.

He went over to the mini bar, grabbing a water from inside it, unscrewing the cap as he handed it to her, careful not to spill any. “Drink it.”

She glared at it, then him, before flinging an arm out, knocking the bottle to the floor, sending water spraying out onto the front of his shirt. That glare quickly turned into a satisfied smirk as she practically dared him to do something about it.

“Don’t push me, Aleksandria,” Mishca said not bothering to wipe at the droplets still dripping off him. “My patience is wearing thin.”

“Like I give a shit,” she spat back at him. “What was she doing here?”

“Never mind her. What were you thinking? Have you forgotten you’re underage?”

Rolling her eyes, she reached for his special hundred-year-old whiskey, throwing the top at him. “So?”

“Aleksandria, I’m not in the mood for this tonight.”

“You think just because you keep saying my full name, that’s going to make me behave? You’re not my father, Mish. Matter of fact, you put a bullet in his heart.” He couldn’t fault her for the next swig she took. Grimacing, she held the bottle up in toast. “All thanks to that bitch you’re pining over.”

Mishca was in her face in a second, snatching the bottle from her. “Don’t call her that.”

Alex narrowed her eyes, shoving him back, nothing he did would scare her. “Just like I thought. Lauren this. Lauren that. She ruins my f*cking life and your still taking up for her!”

“What do you want from me?” Mishca demanded, shoving his hands through his hair. “I practically forced her away for you.”

“Oh right, *, try to make me feel guilty. You and Mikhail are just alike.”

“Don’t compare me to our—”

“Well he ain’t my father,” she said sarcastically, plopping back down. “Isn’t that what your precious girlfriend just had to tell everyone? Now, I can’t even see my mother.”

“She would have been killed,” Mishca tried to get her to understand. “She didn’t have a choice. You can’t blame her for what Viktor caused.” Even though he had done just that.

Alex laughed bitterly, clapping her hands. “But it’s okay to blame me? Mikhail won’t even look at me anymore. Sure, he deposits money in my account, but is that all I am now, an obligation?”

Mishca sighed, his anger draining away when he heard the sadness in Alex’s voice. This was much harder for her than he had realized. She didn’t share Mishca’s bitterness towards Mikhail. So while he would see it as a blessing if Mikhail ignored him, it wasn’t easy for a seventeen-year-old girl.

They hadn’t even been around to celebrate Alex’s birthday—Mikhail was away on business, Anya wasn’t allowed—and Mishca doubted he had been as caring as he could have been.