“How long?” he asked.

“What?”

“How long have you been fucking him?”

“I would never do that. Never.”

“You expect me to believe that after what I just saw?”

“If you saw correctly, you’d have seen that I was fighting him off.” My entire body shook.

I’d seen people killed before. Dead bodies were not new to me, but right now, I was in shock. I had to be.

The sheer violence, that was new to me.

He didn’t stop to ask Sergei any questions. He just killed him. Now he had the same gun pointed at me and thought I would betray him. Seconds passed as Slavik looked into my eyes.

“I saw,” he said. “Now tell me what the fuck happened.”

I nodded my head. The action felt jerky to me, but I stood there and told him everything. About coming home and Sergei pressing me against the wall. The kiss. I even told him about him wanting to be friends and getting close. I didn’t have any secrets.

All the while, Slavik looked at me.

What did he see?

Was he debating how to get rid of me?

“Go to your room,” he said. “Stay there until I come to you.”

“Slavik?”

“Now!” He yelled the word, and I didn’t stick around. I ran as fast as I could, tripping over my feet. Once inside the bedroom, I flicked the lock closed and ran toward the bathroom. Staring at my reflection, I saw the blood. Sergei’s blood.

This was all my fault. I tore my clothes off my body, scrambling to get myself clean.

I stepped beneath the water and cried out as the cold hit my skin. I didn’t move for a short time, trying to process everything that had happened. Grabbing the soap, I started to scrub my hands and my body.

Sergei had died because of me.

I should have told him no. Told Slavik.

I felt sick.

Getting someone killed had never been my intention.

I felt so cold. So alone. This wasn’t fair.

Tilting my head up to the shower, I couldn’t believe what had happened today. I’d lost a friend, and another who had wanted to be mine had been killed. What the hell was wrong with me?

****

Slavik

The cleaning crew knew not to ask any questions.

Sergei’s body would be removed. His apartment was already being cleared out along with any personal effects. There was no family for me to call. No one to shame with his behavior.

I waited as they cleaned my apartment. All that was left was my blood-soaked clothing. I stripped out of it, handing them the clothes, and they left my apartment. Everything had a price, even covering your tracks.

Seeing Sergei on my wife, I’d snapped. I’d never been possessive about any woman in my life and yet, seeing him kissing her was more than I could stand.

Deep down, I knew she’d been trying to fight him. Aurora hadn’t asked for the kiss, and still, I’d been hyped up on rage and the need to kill.