The Ones Who Failed Us

Chapter 35

Avalee's POV
Before kidnapping

Peyton and I were watching Mean Girls while she painted my nails. We had done face masks earlier, and I hadn't had this much fun in a while. I loved my brothers more than anything, but sometimes it was nice to have some girl time once in a while.

An alarm went off on Peyton's phone, and she flipped the TV off. "Hey, I was watching that!" I whined.

"Sorry, Ava, but I promised your brother that you would be in bed by eight," she said.

"Fine," I grumbled, grabbing my bag and going to the bathroom.

While I was changing into pajamas and brushing my teeth, I heard laughter coming from the room. I opened the door, and the sight before me made my heart stop.

"There you are," Peyton said with a menacing smile. "I believe you're already acquainted with my uncle."

"Un-Uncle?" I stuttered, backing up against the wall.

"Hi, sweetie."

My eyes darted between Peyton, the supposed love of my brother's life, and the man who haunted every waking moment of my life. Demetri Igor Mikhailov.

"Y-You," I whimpered, looking at Peyton. "My brothers trusted you. Elijah even fell in love with you. How could you do this to us?"

My heart dropped as I felt bile rising in the back of my throat from this act of betrayal. Peyton had grown to be like a sister, an extension of my blood family, but it was all a lie. The two, almost three, years she had spent dating Elijah was a complete lie. She had gone to such lengths to hurt my family, and this realization shattered my heart completely. I guess I should have known better than to trust her given how many people have lied to me about their true intentions, but I was naïve. I was fucking naïve.

I screamed for help, hoping that the guards would suddenly burst through the door and rescue me. But that never happened.

Demetri slowly walked towards me as I slid down to the wall, hugging my knees close to me. "There's no one to help you. It's just me, my niece, and my men. All of those guards your brother sent to protect you are either dead or close to it. Now why don't you be a good girl and come with me." His hand touched my face, stroking my cheek as I fought to hold my sobs in. I want my brothers.

"Please don't," I said, choking back the tears.

"I miss hearing the sound of you begging," he smirked. "I suspect I'll hear more of it now that I have you back, and I'll enjoy every second of it. I'll make you regret ever running from me."

The sound of Peyton's phone ringing takes Demetri's revolting eyes off of me.

"It's Elijah," she said, her lips pressed together.

Demetri's fists clenched, causing me to flinch. "I'm sure he's just like his father"

"If you mean fucking intolerable to be around, then yes, he's exactly like his father."

"Don't talk like that about my brother," I growled

"Shut the fuck up," Demetri said. His palm smacked my cheek, leaving behind a stinging pain.

He turned to Peyton and said, "Pick it up before he gets suspicious."

Demetri grabbed the cuff of my shirt, his face inches from my mine and said, "You say a word, and I will kill you. Keep that pretty little mouth shut."

Peyton answered the phone on the third ring. In a sickly sweet tone, she said, "Hi, love. How's the ball going? Any sign of Demetri?"

Demetri held back a laugh at Peyton's acting skills. I mean, she had my brothers fooled for two whole years.