Red Alpha: A BWWM Russian Alpha Billionaire Romance Read Online Free

as he sought to claim every major technological discovery in his own name. The man played a dangerous game – one where power and popularity went hand in hand, and the punishment for deferring from either could be severe.
    But when he’d been a boy, Osip had often run away from his father crying for the same qualities that he himself displayed.
    Once their parents had died, both Demyan and Elisaveta had been brought into the Prime Minister’s household to be raised. There was no question as to what would be done with orphans from such a powerful family. How many times over the course of his corrupted childhood had Demyan been told that he would not be held responsible for his parents’ sins?
    Too many to count; and of course, the implicit warning was that the choice was his. If he obeyed, he could maintain the good name and wealth of his parents. If he didn’t, he would end up just like them.
    And so he had done what any sane child under ten would: he followed the rules that would keep him alive. It wasn’t hard with Elisaveta keeping him in line.
    Though Osip was Ivan’s only son, from the moment Demyan and Veta moved into the presidential manor, it was clear that the Prime Minister favored Veta for her unflinching loyalty. She knew the man from the numerous times he’d come to visit their classes in private school – where Veta was known for her intelligence and obedient behavior.
    While Demyan might not have known what was going on between his sister and the prime minister as a boy, as a man, he was all too familiar with similar situations. Of course, it wasn’t his place to talk about them. What Ivan Danshov did while he was alive was sacred, and to defame it when he was so close with Osip would obviously be suicide.
    In any event, the relationship Veta had with Ivan had died upon his death.
    The cold day in December fifteen years ago was the only time Demyan had ever seen his sister shed a single tear. By that point in his life, he’d come to know Veta as the hard and caustic woman she showed everyone else. She was hardly his sister anymore.
    But then again, it could be argued that Veta had ceased to be his sister the day their parents were killed. Somehow…he still clung to whatever vestiges of a relationship they still had. Why exactly he did such a thing puzzled him, as it was about as prudent as a rodent clinging to a hungry snake.
    Still…Veta was all he had. Perhaps one day she’d remember that.
    The closer he got to the Kremlin, the thinner traffic became. In recent years, the Danshov family had become increasingly paranoid about assassins – to the point where few cars were allowed in and out of certain areas in the city during certain hours. During rush hour, no one was taking any chances.
    Demyan found himself wondering why Osip had decided to meet him at the Kremlin in the first place, instead of at the presidential residence. Usually, the man was too paranoid to step out of his house unless the situation called for it. After all, his father had been assassinated – something the current Prime Minister never let anyone around him forget. In Osip’s mind, there were aggressors hiding behind every corner, just waiting to take his head off.
    If only such a thing were true.
    The thought made Demyan smile wryly as he pulled up before the guarded gate house that separated the Kremlin grounds from the rest of the city. The heavily armed man attending there took one look at his face before waving him through.
    Thoughtfully, Demyan tried to remember the last time anyone had checked him for ID in the city – or anywhere Osip’s reach extended, for that matter.
    He couldn’t recall.
    He parked his sleek silver Mercedes in one of the spots tucked up against the side of the immense, red-brick building before sliding from the car. As usual, he drew more than a few stares from those going in and out on their daily business.
    While Demyan used to think it was his uncharacteristic height that drew the