Page 59 of Wreaking Havoc
Kai’s heart was in his throat. What if this brother had aimed the gun at Sascha instead? It didn’t matter that Kai knew deep down he would have been fast enough to stop it. The thought of it—the what-if of it—had his hackles raising.
What he wouldn’t give to snap Ivan’s neck.
But it seemed he would have to wait in line. Because the bloodsucker Jay—who had, the night before, been distressed by the violence of Kai cracking an egg too hard when making pancakes—had Ivan on his back on the floor and was crouched atop his chest, two small hands wrapped around his throat.
Jay’s true vampire face was out—the all-black eyes and snarling fangs—but with his diminutive size and delicate features, the effect was slightly muted. Still, Kai knew he was stronger than he looked.
Much stronger.
“You donothurt Alexei,” Jay was telling Ivan, his sweet voice as close to a growl as was possible. “You’ve hurt him enough already.”
Ivan, for his part, looked remarkably unfazed for someone a hair’s breadth away from death’s fangs. “I was told he was a monster now,” he said, not even attempting to fight Jay’s hold. “That you both are. It seems I was correctly informed. I didn’t kill him, did I?”
“That’s doesn’t mean it didn’t fuckinghurt.” Alexei was still upright, two dark splotches of blood growing on his chest and stomach. “What if you’d been wrong?”
Ivan cocked a blond brow at his brother. “You’d deserve it.”
“I don’t hurt humans, and I don’t like violence,” Jay said evenly, some of the tension having left his frame after Alexei had spoken. “But I think you could be my exception.”
But he was already removing his hands from Ivan’s neck—he hadn’t even been holding him hard enough to leave a bruise on his skin—his face returning to its human visage as he crawled off him.
Ivan suddenly turned his head, meeting Kai’s eyes.
Kai had known what the eldest looked like from his photo, but it was still odd to see a face so similar to Sascha’s without any of his warmth, or enthusiasm, or sulky charm.
“And it seems our baby brother has acquired his own monster,” Ivan drawled as he rose to a seated position, looking surprisingly put together sitting there on the floor in his suit. “A conspiracy, is it?”
Sascha, who’d been mumbling something about “big fucking bat wings,” yelled out from behind Kai, “Stop being so paranoid, Ivan! There’s no conspiracy. I summoned him on accident.” He tapped at Kai’s shoulder, lowering this voice. “I’d like to come out now, please.”
“Not until the little bloodsucker grabs the weapon,” Kai insisted, keeping his wings exactly where they were.
Jay had knocked the gun out of Ivan’s hand when he’d tackled him, and it was lying on the hardwood floor between him and Alexei.
Jay—already back at Alexei’s side, fussing over wounds that were surely healed by now—shook his head. “Oh, no thank you. I don’t like guns.”
“I’ve got it,” Alexei told them, bending down to grab the thing. He nodded at Kai. “You can let Sascha out now.”
“No. Change your shirt first.” At Alexei’s glare, Kai arched a brow. “Sascha doesn’t like blood.”
“Oh.” Alexei’s glare dropped in an instant. “Right. Sweetheart, would you grab me one? I don’t want to leave these three alone.”
At the pointed look Alexei gave him, Kai realized he was brandishing two of his daggers. Did he think Kai would kill Ivan in his absence?
It was tempting. Unbearably tempting. But Kai hadn’t forgotten Sascha’s words.
I still love Ivan, even when he’s controlling and vicious.
Sascha wasn’t the kind of human who wanted vengeance, who yearned for violence to answer violence. It wasn’t just blood Sascha hated—it was suffering. That was the part of the story from his childhood he’d told Kai that clearly hurt him the most—the man’s suffering, and his inability to do anything to help.
And Sacha claimed his soul wasn’t sweet.
But it was.Hewas. Sascha didn’t want either of his brothers to hurt, however much they themselves may have hurt him in the past, intentional or not. Kai was certain if this rival Mafia family weren’t an active threat, Sascha wouldn’t want them hurt either, no matter the past stabbing. He didn’t want power orcarnage or to have Kai wreak havoc in his name. He wanted to exist in peace. He wanted someone by his side while he did so.
So Kai put his daggers back in their sheaths with a nod to Alexei as Jay bounded up the stairs and back down again, fresh shirt in hand.
Ivan stood slowly from the floor, dusting off his suit, as if being threatened by a vampire had been no more than a minor inconvenience.
There was a cleared throat from behind Kai.
