Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE 

Irina 

I stood frozen, watching the two brothers face each other like wolves circling for a kill.

My heart pounded so hard I thought it might burst through my chest. My hands trembled. My legs felt like they might give out at any moment.

This was my fault.

All of this was my fault.

I know." Alexei's said, his voice was quiet. "But the baby changes everything. You know it does. She is carrying my child, Dima. That makes her mine. That is how our world works.”

Dimitri looked at his twin with hatred, his fist tightened. At first, I thought he was going to agree.

"Get out," he said quietly.

"She is carrying my child," Alexei said, his expression firm and unyielding.

"We're not entirely sure about that," Dimitri whispered, his voice shaking with rage he could barely contain.

"Neither do you," Alexei shot back.

And like that war was declared in that moment. Not with words or weapons, but with the silence that followed. The silence of brotherhood dying.

I watched the two men I had destroyed. Two brothers who had been inseparable. Two halves of one whole. Now standing on opposite sides of an invisible line drawn in blood and betrayal.

"Dimitri," I whispered. My voice came out broken. "Please. I am so sorry. I never meant…"

"Do not." He did not look at me. His eyes stayed locked on his brother. 

"Do not apologize for something that was not your fault."

"But it was," I said desperately. "If I had just turned on a light. If I had just looked closer. If I had…"

"If I had not hidden you in my room," Dimitri interrupted, his voice cold. "If I had not kept you secret like you were something to be ashamed of. If I had just told my brother to stay away from you. There are a thousand ifs, Irina. None of them matter now."

Alexei took a step forward. "Come with me," he said, looking at me for the first time since he entered the room. "I will take you somewhere safe. Somewhere you can rest."

"She is not going anywhere with you," Dimitri said flatly.

"She is carrying my child. That makes her my responsibility."

"She is my maid. She lives under my roof. She is under my protection." Dimitri's voice rose with each word. "You do not get to take her just because you made a mistake."

"A mistake that resulted in a child," Alexei countered. "And that changes everything. You know the laws as well as I do."

"Laws?" Dimitri laughed bitterly. "You want to talk about laws? You broke into my private quarters. You touched my woman. You…"

"I did not know!" Alexei roared. "How many times do I have to say it? I was drunk. I could not see. I thought it was just another room. I did not know she was there. I did not know she thought I was you. I. Did. Not. Know."

"But you know now," Dimitri said softly. Dangerously. "And you are still trying to take her from me."

"I am taking responsibility for my actions. That is what a man does."

"A man does not sleep with his brother's woman." Dmitri said. 

"I did not know she was yours!"

"EVERYONE KNOWS SHE IS MINE!" Dimitri's shout echoed through the room. Through the hallways. Probably through the entire mansion. "Everyone in this compound knows that Irina belongs to me. That she is the only woman I have ever given a damn about. The only one I have ever protected. The only one I have ever…"

He stopped. Closed his eyes, and took a breath.

"The only one I have ever loved," he finished quietly.

My heart shattered.

He had said it twice nowm.vHe loved me.

Dimitri Volkov loved me.

And I had destroyed that love with one terrible mistake made in darkness.

"I am sorry," I whispered again. Tears poured down my face. "I am so, so sorry."

This time, Dimitri looked at me. His ocean blue eyes were filled with pain so deep it took my breath away.

"I know you are," he said softly. "But sorry does not change anything. Sorry does not make the baby disappear. Sorry does not turn back time."

"Then what do we do?" I asked desperately as tears streamed down my face. "Please, Dimitri. Tell me what to do. I will do anything. Anything to fix this."

"You cannot fix this," he said. "No one can."

The door burst open for the third time.

An older man strode in. He was gray-haired and scarred, but he moved with authority that made both brothers straighten instinctively.

He was Mikhail Reznikov, their Godfather.

“Enough,” he said. His voice was deep and commanding. “Both of you. Enough.”

“Godfather,” Dimitri said, surprised. “This does not concern you.”

“It concerns me when my boys are about to kill each other over a girl.” His dark eyes swept over the scene. Me standing by the bed, tear-streaked and trembling. Dimitri rigid with fury. Alexei bleeding from his split lip. "What has happened here?"

“Ask him,” Dimitri said coldly, gesturing at Alexei.

“I am asking both of you.”

Silence fell. Neither brother wanted to speak first. Neither wanted to admit what had happened.

Finally, Alexei spoke. “The maid is pregnant. With my child.”

His expression did not change. “I see,” he said carefully. “And how did this happen?”

“He was drunk,” Dimitri said. His voice was flat. “He stumbled into my room during the party. It was dark. She thought he was me. And now she is pregnant with his bastard.”

He looked at me. His gaze was kind but searching. "Is this true, child?"

I nodded, unable to speak.

"And you thought he was Dimitri?"

I nodded again.

He sighed heavily, looking older and tired. "This is a mess," he said quietly. "A terrible, and tragic mess."

"I am taking her with me," Alexei said. "The baby is mine. That makes her mine too."

"She is not property to be claimed," Mikhail said sharply. "She is a person. A young woman who made an innocent mistake and is now caught between two brothers who are too angry to think clearly."

"I am thinking perfectly clearly," Dimitri said coldly. "My brother took what was mine. And now he wants to parade her around like some trophy. Like proof of his conquest."

"That is not what I am doing," Alexei protested.

"Then what are you doing?" Mikhail asked. "Why do you want her? Do you love her?"

Alexei hesitated for a moment. But it was enough.

"She is carrying my child," he said again. "That is reason enough."

"No," Mikhail said firmly. "It is not. A child deserves to be raised by parents who love each other. Not by a father who claims the mother out of obligation."

"Then she stays with me," Dimitri said.

"And what happens when the baby is born?" Mikhail challenged. "When every time you look at it, you see the brother who betrayed you? You think you can love that child, Dimitri? You think you can look at her holding Alexei's baby and not hate her for it?"

The question hung in the air like a guillotine blade.

Dimitri said nothing. His jaw was tight. His hands clenched into fists.

He could not answer. Because we all knew the truth.

He would hate me. Eventually. 

Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But one day he would look at me and see only betrayal. Only pain. Only everything he lost.

"There is no good solution here," Mikhail said quietly. "No answer that makes everyone happy. But we need to find a way forward that does not end with you two killing each other."

"He took her from me," Dimitri said. His voice cracked. "How am I supposed to forgive that?"

"I do not know," Mikhail admitted. "But if you do not find a way, this will destroy you both. It will destroy the empire you built together. It will destroy everything your parents died to give you."

“Our parents,” Dimitri said bitterly, died because they trusted the wrong people. Because they let their guard down. I will not make that mistake."

“You think I am your enemy now?” Alexei asked quietly. “After everything we have been through? After all the blood we have spilled together?”

“You made yourself my enemy when you touched her.”

“It was an accident!” Alexei slammed.

“That does not make it hurt any less!” Dmitri slammed too. The shout echoed through the room. 

Dimitri's composure finally cracked. Tears gathered in his eyes but he refused to let them fall. “You were my brother,” he said, his voice breaking. “My twin. The only person in this world I trusted completely. And now I cannot even look at you without wanting to put a bullet in your head."

Alexei flinched like he had been struck. “Dima…”

“Do not call me that." Dimitri's voice turned cold again. Distant. “That name is for my brother. And I do not have a brother anymore.”

The words were final and irreversible.

“You do not mean that,” Alexei whispered.

“I mean every word.” Dmitri’s eyes were cold.

Mikhail stepped between them. 

“Stop. Both of you. This is not the time for declarations you cannot take back.”

“It is done,” Dimitri said. “He chose her over me. Now he can live with that choice.”

I chose to take responsibility,” Alexei protested. “That is not the same thing.”

“It is exactly the same thing.”

“Enough!” Mikhail's voice cracked like a whip. "I am taking charge of this situation before you two do something stupid. Dimitri, you will keep control of the eastern territories. Alexei, you will take the western territories. You will split everything down the middle. No overlap. No conflict."

“You are dividing us?” Dimitri asked slowly.

“I am preventing a war,” Mikhail said firmly. “If you two stay together, you will kill each other within a week. So you will separate. You will each run your own territory. And you will stay away from each other until you can be in the same room without violence.”

“And her?” Alexei asked, looking at me.

Mikhail glanced in my direction. “She will have to choose.”

My breath caught. “What?”

“You will choose,” Mikhail repeated gently, turning to me. “Do you stay with Dimitri, the man you love? Or do you go with Alexei, the father of your child? It is your decision, girl. Who do you choose?”

I looked between the two brothers. Dimitri, who I had loved for four years. Who had been gentle with me. Who had protected me. Who had loved me back.

And Alexei, who I barely knew. Who had taken my innocence thinking I was someone else. Who now wanted to claim me out of duty, not desire.

How was I supposed to choose?

How could anyone make that choice?