Russian Mobster's Princess by Bella Rose Page B

her?” Nicholas wanted to know.
    “Of course.” Viktor could not imagine why it was necessary to ask such a question. “She was and always will be my first love.”
    “And I know that you have suffered through this second marriage against your will.” Nicholas’s voice was not pitched for a private conversation. Had Viktor not known better, he would have thought they were being recorded.
    Viktor shrugged. “I might have been reticent about marrying Kira, but she is a good woman.”
    “Using her as bait is how we found out about her father’s plans, you know.” Nicholas chuckled. “How did she feel about playing that sort of role in the investigation?”
    Viktor whipped around to stare at Nicholas. “I wouldn’t tell her something like that. That is why I stayed with her this last week. I wanted to make certain she remained safe. Had she been attacked simply because we had decided to put her out there to entice a killer to strike again, I would have never forgiven myself. The woman may not be Elena, but she does not deserve that sort of treatment.”
    He had hardly thought about how those words could be misconstrued when the dressing room door burst open. Kira stood in the doorway, her father just behind her. Her eyes were wide open and staring almost balefully at Viktor.
    “You used me,” she whispered. “Here I was believing that you had decided you wanted to make an honest try of our relationship, and the whole time I was just bait.”
    Nicholas was smirking. It occurred to Viktor that this was his punishment for defying his brother in front of the council.
    He could not lose Kira like this. “Kira, wait. Please let me explain.”
    “Why?” She swiped at her eyes. “I am not Elena. I will never be Elena. I am only in the way. Your way, my father’s way, your brother’s way, it does not particularly matter. Perhaps I should simply remove myself from the equation.”
    She snatched up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. Without another word, she stalked off down the hallway and disappeared into a throng of dancers streaming toward the exits.
    Viktor started to follow, but Berezin grabbed his arm. “Let her go. Haven’t you done enough?”
    “Are you kidding me?” Viktor asked in astonishment. “Me? The two of you have been manipulating us both since this all began.” Viktor turned angrily on Nicholas. “And you! I’m not letting you get away with this little scam you have going on. The council needs to know the truth about their leader.”
    “You wouldn’t dare !” Nicholas snarled.
    Nicholas moved to grab Viktor, but Viktor ducked out of range. Leaving his brother and Berezin behind, Viktor made to follow Kira. He dodged his way around the mass of humanity that seemed to be exiting the theater all at once. He heard several people speak of a wrap party at a nearby pub. There were cast, crew, dancers, lighting technicians, and set engineers flooding the hallways. Viktor finally saw another exit sign and headed in that direction away from the masses.
    His path spilled out into an alley beside the theater. It was dark. The only light came from a lonely orange bulb placed at the corner of the old building’s facade. He looked right and left, but saw no evidence of anyone else. Heading in the direction of the street that fronted the theater, he hoped to find Kira soon. Something about this entire situation felt wrong. It seemed staged.
    “Kira?” he called out. “Please don’t run from me. Let’s talk!”
    The unmistakable sound of someone else in the alley gave him pause. Viktor stopped moving and stood still. He listened to the breeze whipping through the metal bars of the fire escape overhead and rustling through discarded newspapers and playbills on the ground. There was a dumpster only a few yards away. The ripe scent of garbage overlay the smell of dirty asphalt and exhaust.
    Finally, Viktor heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps.
    “Kira?” he called out.
    “No. Not Kira,