The Blood and Betrayal

CHAPTER ONE

Irina's POV 

The music downstairs was loud enough to rattle the windows. 

I pressed my pillows over my ears and tried to block out the chaos below. The laugher. The shouting. The occasional crash of breaking glass. 

The Volkov Bratva celebrated victories like the world was ending, and tonight they had reason to celebrate. Dimitri had secured the eastern docks, expanded his territory, and crushed his rivals without losing a single man.

I should have been happy for him. I was happy for him. But I was also bone tired.

Earlier, I had planned the party with the other house workers. Made sure everything was ready and well prepared to Dmitri's taste. 

Four years as his personal maid had taught me to read his moods better than I could read words on a page. I knew how he liked his tea. How he wanted his suits pressed. How he needed silence after violence. 

And tonight, he had ordered me to stay in the bedroom, away from the party, away from his men.

"Stay in my room," he had said, his ocean blue eyes serious in a way that made my stomach twist. "Lock the door. Do not come out until morning."

I had not not bothered to ask why. You don't question Dimitri Volkov.

So here I am. Curled up in his massive bed that smelled like expensive cologne and his uniqueness. The sheets were too soft against my skin. Everything in his world was too beautiful, too perfect, and I did not belong in any of it.

But I loved him anyway.

I had not meant to. You don't fall in love with your master. That was the kind of foolishness that got girls like me hurt. But Dimitri was gentle with me in ways he was not gentle with anyone else. He said please and thank you. He asked about my day. He looked at me like I was a person instead of property.

And I was property. Sold to the Volkov clan four years ago to settle a debt that was not even mine. This was all I had ever known.

I was drifting off to sleep when I heard the rattling of the door handle.

My heart jumped into my throat. I had locked it. I was sure I had locked it.

But the door opened anyway.

And a figure stumbled into the darkness. Tall, with broad shoulders, and that silhouette I would have recognized even when blind.

"Dimitri?" I whispered.

He did not answer. He just swayed there like the floor was tilting beneath him. He wore his robe. The black silk, one I had laid out yesterday. His hair fell into his face, looking messy and wild.

Relief washed through me as I stared at him. He must have come to check on me.

"Are you alright?" I asked softly.

He moved towards the bed. His steps were heavy, and clumsy. It felt wong. Dimitri never moved like that. He was always