𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐕𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐔𝐄 (𝟏𝟖+)

THREE

When I first moved to New York, I'd lived with Aleksei. I was only eighteen and had just enrolled in the university that had been chosen for me. Quite frankly, I hadn't cared which one it was, as long as it had a good background. But instead of choosing medicine, as my family had wanted, I'd opted for psychology.

From a young age, I'd been able to read people, knowing almost exactly what they thought or felt, but my classes would teach me how to do it better, quicker, and how not to make any mistakes. I never planned on using the degree to work in the field, as dealing with people who needed help was definitely not something I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing.

It was tiring.

Since I graduated, I'd found myself easily bored. Nothing kept me occupied for long, not even the various new hobbies I found. I'd thought about getting a PhD, but that would require a lot of work, a lot of studying, and I didn't have the patience—or the need for one.

So aside from reading a lot of psychological thrillers, I'd been struggling to find a good pastime. That was, until the incident at the club—and what happened afterwards. It had been a day since I'd found the dice on my bed, and a new set of sheets, and I'd been unable to think of anything else. It had slowly become an obsession, and I couldn't help my fixation on the strange man I'd encountered.

My intuition was strong, and when Aleksei mentioned the name Davorin, something had clicked in my brain. It would've been too much of a coincidence to be anyone else. Something in my stomach twisted at the thought of him.

It was dark outside, a snowy night. The snowflakes filled my balcony and made a beautiful pattern on the glass door. I'd grown up in the mountains of Russia, so cold and snow weren't foreign to me, yet no matter where I went, the winters weren't quite as beautiful as they were at home. It made me nostalgic.

Those cold, winter nights had been the only thing that kept me alive. There was something special in the crisp air that made me feel safe. Perhaps it was why I loved seeing snow. It reminded me that no matter how cold it got, it would pass. Yet once it passed, every year, it was a reminder of how quickly my freedom was taken away from me.

A glass of whiskey with two ice cubes was in my hands. I sat on the floor, in front of the fireplace, my laptop on the small coffee table before me. The warmth of the fire provided me with a feeling of safety, for reasons unknown to me.

I had access to Aleksei's database, where all the important information was kept. Of course, I was only given limited access, as he didn't want me to know everything there was to know. It was annoying, but I couldn't do anything about it, since I wasn't in the family business.

It took me a while, but I was able to find a file on Davorin, whose name still amused me. It was a pretty name, though it wasn't used as much today. I was surprised to know that he was Slavic, probably either Croatian or Russian.

I was disappointed by what I'd found, which was almost nothing. Aside from detailing his approximate age, height, and his signature mask, the database was a dead end. However, I was pleased to learn I'd been right about the masked man and Davorin being the same person.

His method of working included mainly handmade guns, and he worked independently, for whoever offered the most money, with half due upfront.

Davorin wasn't an expert in torture, but he was flexible, and for the right price, he would get information out of anyone at any given time.

Aleksei was right; not a single thing connected Davorin to my family. There weren't any records of them ever meeting, and since I'd now seen pictures of his victims, I was glad. Not that he would be able to kill any of my brothers—they were way out of his league—but he still wasn't someone Aleksei wanted as an enemy.