86
ORION
Awelcome pain burns through my arms and across my shoulders while I hold the weights above my head. Taking a breath, I lower them slowly until the bar is an inch above my chest and the pain swells to a hot throb; then I raise it once more.
Nothing clears my mind like time in the gym and with Lucian away, without my protection, I need it more than ever. He has a good team with him, men I trained myself, but concern still sits in my chest each day he’s absent.
Lucian had been clear, though.
I need you here, protecting Selene and Aurora.
So I’m here.
Another rep is complete, and the metal bar clatters loudly against the supports while I place it safely back above me. Tension bites at my muscles and I groan, sitting up slowly. The tired ache in my arms and shoulders bleeds down my back, following the sweat trickling down my spine. I reach for my towel and drag it over my face, forcing a few slower breaths to even out my panting.
Then the air shifts and I freeze.
Someone is here.
Dropping the towel, Aurora stands in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes fixed on me. I can barely contain my smile at the sight of her while I ruffle the towel through my damp hair.
“Something wrong with Selene?”
“No.” Aurora pushes up from the doorframe. “She’s in her lessons. But I had a question.”
“Shoot.”
“Who is he?”
I flash her a frown and reach between my legs for the bottle of water resting on the floor.
“Imro Shinsky. You mentioned him again as the reason Lucian was away, as if I was supposed to know who he is, but I’ve never heard of him. Am I supposed to know?”
My head tilts as I watch her come closer, distracted by the sexy sway of her full hips. She’s not from this world, so my name-dropping wouldn’t have been familiar to her at all.
“No. You don’t know him. We have a history, so I’m not sure it’s even my place.” Lucian is the one with the information, and thinking of Imro causes my gut to twist painfully. Wiping the sweat from my face, I put on my sunglasses to hide the scarring around my eye and uncap the water.
“Please?” Aurora sounds so endearing, and the cute way her brow lifts when she asks is hard to resist.
Scratch that, it’s impossible. I never thought I would be the kind of guy who couldn’t say no to a woman.
“Imro…” His name is bitter in my mouth, and I wash it away with a mouthful of cold water. “He’s the head of the Shinsky family, in the same way Lucian is the head of this family. Only Imro is an old power since he never had any children. He never married to carry on his legacy either. He’s all selfish power, and the twisted fucker deals in the skin trade.”
Aurora chews on her lower lip. “The skin trade?”
“People.” My gut tightens. “Anything from getting people into the country to…slavery, forced prostitution, that kind of thing.”
Aurora pales so much that her red lips almost look like a bruise. “Oh my?—”
“Don’t worry,” I interrupt, waving a hand. “Many families have never dealt in such things, Lucian included. Those that did have been moving away from it for years onto more profitable things. Imro has no shame though.”
Again, I wash away the taste of his name with a mouthful of water and rise. Removing the weights from the bar is a good distraction as I talk.
“He lacks sense and morals and believes he deserves to be on top, leading, with the heads of each family bowing down to him. Unfortunately, there are a few families that agree with him, driven by fear or greed. Cassian mentioned him once and while no one likes to deal with a man so old and backward, Lucian is following all the old laws to set up a meeting.”
“The old laws?” Aurora steps closer.
Right. It’s too easy to forget that she’s clueless about this world.
“There are certain rules, certain laws that Bratva have to abide by regardless of stature. One of those is a certain meeting request in which two leaders from rival families can sit down for a discussion. No one can bring a weapon and if anyone was ever harmed at a meeting like that, every other family would rise up to wipe them off the map. Those old laws are the only things that maintain some kind of order. It also extends to other families like the Irish.”
Aurora nods, her curls bouncing. “So, Lucian will be safe?”
“In theory,” I grunt, lowering the last weight. My palms complain so I rub them together. “Anyway, we’re keeping up the pretense that Cassian is dead, and we’ll keep him here so that whoever did this to him crawls out of the woodwork. Imro, more than likely, had a hand. He’s not a bastard you forget easily and if Cassian remembers him, it’s not a good sign.”
My voice tightens as I speak, as much as I try to keep it light for Aurora. Her soft hand appears on my arm, instantly soothing the twisting sensation beneath my ribs. Turning to face her, my heart lifts. Her brow pinches together in worry, and her lips press into a flat line.
“Sounds like you have a personal beef with Imro,” she murmurs, then her gaze drifts away from my eyes and down to my bare body.
I realize this is the first time she’s seen me without any clothes on. Each time we’ve been together, I kept my clothes on and when I fucked her, I made her face away. Now, there’s nothing between her and the countless overwhelming scars that cover my torso. They detail my pain, despite my attempts to bury them all under ink.
Her lips part and her hand drifts from my arm to lightly press against a long, thin scar that runs from my navel up to the left of my ribs. My breath catches in my throat, and goosebumps burst across my skin following her touch.
“Gross, right.”
“No,” Aurora murmurs without missing a beat. “But, why do you have so many?”
Catching her wrist before she can touch too many, I turn away. “Imro.”
“He…he did this to you?” Horror drips from her voice and I keep my gaze averted, attention back on cleaning up the weights so I don’t have to see the pity in her eyes.
“I was born into a family loyal to the Shinskys; I was one of Imro’s strongest attack dogs. One night I was requested to assassinate a rival family with the help of another man as a show of loyalty to Imro, to help him get ahead in the race for power.” Ash floods my mouth and I move away from Aurora toward the bench, hurriedly wiping away the sweat I left on the leather.
“I ended up performing the hit alone as my backup didn’t show, only for me to be arrested and sent to prison. I expected to be out within a few months, given my proven loyalty to Shinsky and the power the Bratva has over law enforcement. But news reached me of my parents’ death and as the years ticked by, I realized I had been set up. You see, Bratva don’t remain in prison unless someone wants them there.”
“Are you telling me that the Bratva is above the law?” Aurora asks quietly.
“In a way. There’s an…understanding,” I explain, still keeping my distance. “Anyway, one night I was attacked, and it became clear I was stuck in there to die. People aren’t kind to Bratva in prison, and Imro abandoned me. He was my Pakhan and was supposed to protect me, but he didn’t. Honestly, I’m not sure how I survived. Probably fueled by a hunger to seek revenge on the man who was supposed to be my backup but bailed. After a few years, I ended up befriending a few men loyal to the Hawthornes who had been briefly arrested on some bogus charges, and it was through them that I struck up a new loyalty and strong friendship with Lucian.”
My distractions are running out so, with my shirt in hand I turn back to Aurora whose face floods with sympathy.
“That friendship saved my life, got me protection inside, and then I was finally released after ten years. Lucian took me under his wing immediately and our friendship was cemented when I saved his life within a week of walking free.” I chuckle softly at the memory.
“Ten years, Aurora whispers in disbelief.
“Lucian has my unwavering loyalty, and I became his most trusted bodyguard and lieutenant. Hasn’t sated my desire for revenge though.”
“This world…” Aurora approaches me, and despite the tingling urge to pull away, I resist. “I had no idea your past was filled with so much pain.”
“Ask any member of the Bratva,” I say, breathing deeply to soak in her gentle floral scent. “They will have a similar story. This is why I respect Lucian so much. He is trying hard to be different and end the cycle of bloodshed so common in our world. People like Imro benefit from the bloodshed though, and with what’s happened to Cassian, who knows what we’re in the middle of.”
Her soft fingertips brush against my cheek, touching the bottom of my glasses. “Is this why you wear these? To hide the scars?”
I nod, and her eyes widen slightly.
“They’re not anything to be ashamed of.” Her other warm hand cups the side of my neck. “They show you survived.”
“And yet, I hate them,” I admit softly. “I don’t need my enemies to see them and think I am weak.”
Her eyes dart back and forth, studying my face, and then she nods as if she understands. Deep down, I know she doesn’t, and I hope she never does. I never want her to experience anything even half as painful as what I went through, but I appreciate her sentiment.
“The man who didn’t turn up to help you. Do you think he was in on it?”
I shrug, turning slightly into her touch. “No clue. But when I find him, I’ll ask him before I kill him. And then I’ll kill Imro.”
Surprisingly, that doesn’t make her recoil away from me. Instead, she leans up and presses a sweet kiss to my lips, catching the swell of my lower lip. Just as I lean in to kiss her back, footsteps thunder down the hall and a guard clatters into the gym with his hair askew and his tie flailing.
Irritation sweeps up my throat. “What?” I bark.
He skids to a stop on the smooth floor and straightens up, panting.
“Sir! Vincent Hawthorne is here!”
