I made sure of it. Made sure she'd be safe when I found her.
Lila's eyes are wide open. Green reflecting flames like they're burning from the inside.
"What happened?"
I look at her. At this woman who unmade me. Who took the Pakhan and left only Ivan. Who makes me want to destroy the world and rebuild it simultaneously.
"I happened."
My voice cracks on the second word. The memory of those hours not knowing where she was—thinking she might be dead, might be suffering, might be gone forever—it's too fresh. Too raw.
"When I thought I'd lost you, I?—"
I can't finish the sentence. My throat closes.
"I can't survive that thought. I can't breathe without you."
"Ivan—"
I drop to my knees right here on the deck. The Pakhan kneeling in front of a woman—my father would have cut me down for it. It's weakness, naked and stupid.
Fuck it.
My hand goes to my pocket and finds the small box. I pull it out, and—fuck—it's completely stained with blood. Dmitri's blood covers the velvet, dark and wet.
But I open it anyway because this can't wait a moment longer.
The ring inside catches firelight. Three carats. Flawless clarity. My mother's diamond reset in platinum. The jeweler did amazing work. Modern setting. Clean lines. A piece Lila would actually wear.
My hands are shaking.
I notice it and almost laugh. I've killed dozens without myhands shaking. Ended lives without hesitation. Pulled triggers without flinching. But asking her this—this terrifies me more than any gunfight. More than any war.
"Lila."
Her name scrapes out of me.
She just watches. Those green eyes—calm, unreadable. The kind of patience that feels like judgment. Like mercy.
I swallow, trying to come up with a clever line, but nothing comes.
"You ruined me," I tell her.
I didn't plan that, but it lands. Feels right in my chest, heavy and ugly.
"I was made for control. My father made sure of it. Duty. Discipline. A Pakhan who never flinched."
A breath. A laugh that doesn't sound like one.
"Now I'm a man who razed half the goddamn city because someone laid a hand on you."
Her lip trembles. "You don't have to?—"
"Marry me."
It comes out like a command. Too harsh. Too real. But I don't take it back.
"Be my wife," I say, quieter now. "Stand next to me as my queen. The one thing I don't have to destroy to keep."
