Lies of My Monster

The second book in Rina Kent's Monster Trilogy, Lies of My Monster continues the story of Kirill Morozov, the ambitious heir to a Russian Bratva (organized crime) family operating in New York, and Sasha, the bodyguard who has been secretly disguising herself as a man named Aleksander while serving at his side. Sasha is actually Aleksandra Ivanova, a survivor of a massacre that wiped out most of her family. She originally infiltrated Kirill's circle to investigate his father Roman's possible role in the attack, but her loyalty and feelings for Kirill became genuine over time.

A prologue set during Kirill's childhood reveals the abuse he endured under Roman. At 13, Kirill senses that a supposed family Christmas outing is a trap. He tries to flee with his younger siblings, Konstantin and Karina, but masked men seize all three. The younger children are returned home, while Kirill endures days of physical abuse staged as training. The trauma gives him chronic insomnia and drives him to distance himself from his siblings to shield them from further exploitation.

In the present day, Kirill suspects Sasha of harboring a secret lover in Russia after overhearing an affectionate phone call months earlier. When she requests time off to travel there, he plants trackers in her belongings and follows with Viktor, his senior bodyguard. Tracking her across a snowy landscape by snowmobile, Kirill spots Sasha near a warehouse surrounded by armed men. One of them shoots Kirill twice in the chest. He tumbles down a hill, believing Sasha has betrayed him, and loses consciousness.

Sasha's narration reveals her horror: She had no knowledge of the ambush. Her uncle, Albert, a surviving Ivanov family member, orchestrated the trap using her trip as bait. Sasha blocks Albert from firing a lethal third shot, drags Kirill to the snowmobile, and races to a hospital, where doctors warn that bullet fragments near his heart could prove fatal. Albert insists Kirill masterminded the Ivanov massacre. Sasha's grandmother, Babushka, disowns her for protecting Kirill, and Albert warns he will return to finish the job. Sasha calls Viktor and arranges Kirill's emergency evacuation to New York, concealing her own involvement.

Back in New York, Kirill wakes after five days. He recalls briefly opening his eyes in the Russian hospital and seeing Sasha's guilty expression through the glass. He bars her from his presence and exiles her to weapon maintenance in a remote basement vault. He tells Viktor the shooting was done by mercenaries, withholding Sasha's connection so that he alone can decide her fate.

Weeks of isolation follow. Sasha eventually breaks into Kirill's room through his balcony. He holds a gun to her temple but lowers it when she faces him. She swears she knew nothing about the ambush, but he demands the shooter's name. Sasha refuses to identify Albert, knowing Kirill will kill him. Kirill accuses her of espionage and vows to hunt the shooter down.

Sasha then stations herself at the mansion entrance and refuses to eat until Kirill restores her bodyguard role. After three days without food, she collapses in the rain. Kirill catches her, carries her inside, and grudgingly reinstates her, though he tells her she is no longer trusted. Months of cold professionalism follow. Meanwhile, Viktor links the Russian warehouse to the Belsky Organization, a powerful family supposedly wiped out by a government-backed military operation. He notes the warehouse layout matches one from a failed Special Forces mission that Kirill led during his time in the army, suggesting surviving Belsky members are behind both incidents. Kirill privately wonders whether Sasha is connected to the Belskys.

A turning point comes during a drug shipment at the port. Kirill orders Sasha to stay behind, but she disobeys. When attackers corner Kirill with a gun to his head, Sasha shoots the assailant from a distance, saving his life. Kirill calls her "Sasha" for the first time in months. She requests promotion to co-senior guard alongside Viktor, and he agrees.

Kirill then forces Rai, grandniece of the Pakhan (the Bratva's supreme leader), to publicly reveal his alleged homosexuality. Rai once glimpsed Kirill in a compromising moment with Sasha, and Kirill reasons that if the organization believes he is gay, Sasha will be protected from execution for the crime of posing as a man within the brotherhood. During a subsequent Albanian ambush, Sasha and Rai are kidnapped. Their captors discover Sasha is a woman and attempt sexual assault, but the two women fight their way free. Kirill arrives with his full forces and rescues them. That night, Sasha breaks down over the assault attempt, and Kirill sits beside her on the bathroom floor, promising no one will touch her.

Over the following months, their intimacy deepens. Karina enlists Sasha to plan a surprise birthday party for Kirill, who has never celebrated because his mother, Yulia, wears mourning black on his birthday. Sasha's private gift is a tattoo reading "Luchik's," her pet name for him meaning "sunray." Two months later, Sasha tells him she loves him. Kirill does not say it back but demands she never take the words back and never leave.

The fragile peace shatters when the Pakhan announces Kirill's engagement to Kristina Petrova, the daughter of Igor Petrov, one of the Bratva's most powerful figures. The engagement is part of a secret deal to name Kirill as the next Pakhan. Sasha, devastated, tries to leave, but Kirill locks her in his underground suite. After four days, he returns with a civil servant, a wedding dress, and rings. In a private ceremony with Viktor as witness, Sasha reveals her real name: Aleksandra Ivanova. Kirill shows no recognition of the surname, which she takes as proof he had no role in her family's massacre.

On their wedding night, Sasha tells Kirill the full story of the Ivanov massacre: Soldiers attacked her family's vacation home on Christmas when she was 16, killing her parents and 10 relatives. She saw Roman at the family home before the attack. Kirill denies knowledge but promises to investigate. He proposes that Sasha publicly leave the organization and live at a remote mountain cottage while he solidifies his position, after which he will reintroduce her as a woman.

After a week at the cottage, Sasha opens the door expecting Kirill but finds Yuri, one of Kirill's guards, who is unsurprised by her female appearance. He reveals he has known she was a woman since she joined the Special Forces unit. After sweeping the cottage for surveillance devices, he shows her a photograph from that day of Kirill marrying Kristina in a grand church ceremony and being named Pakhan. Yuri tells her Kirill sent men, including Maksim, another of Kirill's guards, to attack Albert's hideout after she revealed the Ivanov name. Babushka was injured in the assault.

Yuri then reveals the most shattering truth: He is Anton, Sasha's long-lost brother, whose drastically altered appearance prevented her from recognizing him. He calls her "Malyshka," his childhood pet name for her meaning "little one," triggering her buried memories. He urges her to flee. As they argue, ticking fills the cottage. Anton throws himself over Sasha as the cottage explodes. The story ends on this cliffhanger, continuing in the trilogy's final installment, Heart of My Monster.