He leans closer, his hand coming up to brush a strand of hair from my face. His fingers linger against my jaw, rough with calluses but impossibly gentle. The touch sends electricity down my spine, and I hate how much I want it, and how much I wanthim. Before I can pull away, he presses his mouth to mine. The kiss is slow, soft against my lips, tasting of safety and sin all at once, a temptation that could destroy me if I let it.
When he pulls back, his eyes search mine for something I'm not sure I can give him. “You look better this morning.”
“Better is relative.” I study the bandage around my wrist, proof that survival isn’t the same as recovery.
He exhales, the faintest smile ghosting across his face before disappearing. His expression deepens, turning more serious, and I know what’s coming before he opens his mouth.
“Misha and I met with the contact from the rail yard last night.”
My body goes still, tension winding through me like a spring wound too tight. I focus on keeping my breathing even and not letting my face betray the panic clawing up my throat.
“The man gave us confirmation,” he continues. He reaches for my hand, his fingers brushing lightly over my wrist before settling there. “A nurse was hired in cash. No name. No record. She was told to keep your sister sedated. They loaded her into a dark blue truck in the south yard. Colorado plates. Registered to a fake company in Oregon.” He pauses, his jaw tightening. “My men tracked it as far as Spokane. Then it vanished.”
Each detail is another shard of the lie I’m living, because I already know who has her. Ray made sure of that. What I don’t know is where he’s keeping her, or what he’s doing to her while I sit here pretending to believe the trail is still cold.
Luka pauses, watching me intently. “We will find her.”
I force myself to breathe evenly and hold his eyes, composed despite the tremor beneath my skin. “What if it's already too late?”
“It’s not,” he cuts in. There's steel beneath the softness, a certainty that would be comforting if it weren't so misplaced. “As long as there is a trail, I will follow it. No one disappears completely.”
He takes my hand, his fingers threading through mine with easy confidence. His thumb traces slow circles against my palm, the touch meant to soothe. It should comfort me, but it does the opposite. The warmth of his skin just reminds me of what I stand to lose if he ever learns the truth. If he ever finds out what Ray wants me to do.
“Thank you,” I whisper. The words fall flat, bitter at the edges.
He tilts his head, as if listening for some hidden meaning in my tone I'm trying to bury. His eyes narrow slightly. “You don't have to thank me,printsessa.”
“I know.”
“Then why do it?”
Because I'm lying to you. Because the man who destroyed my life is using the one person I love most as leverage, and I can't even tell you. Because your touch makes me want to confess everything and die in the same breath. Because you're trying to save Hope, and I'm going to betray you to do the same thing, and one of us is going to fail.
Instead, I just meet his eyes and murmur, “Habit, I guess.” The lie comes easily now.
His jaw flexes, a small tell that means he's thinking and analyzing. He studies me for a moment longer, his stare intense enough to make my skin prickle. Then he leans in and presses a kiss to my forehead. It’s the briefest contact, but it burns through me like a promise I don't deserve. His lips are warm, and when he pulls away, I feel the absence sting.
Vega lets out a soft bark from the corner, breaking the tension that's been building between us. His tail thumps weakly against the floor.
Luka glances toward him, and his expression softens in a way I rarely see. “You are not ready to move yet,” he directs, his voice gentle but firm. “Rest.”
Vega lowers his head with a resigned sigh, but his gaze darts toward me, his dark eyes watching. There's something knowing in that look that makes me feel exposed.
Luka rises, adjusting the cuff of his black button-down, the fabric glimmering in the morning light. “Albert is stationed outside. I will be gone for a few hours. Do not wander.”
The warning is quiet, but it settles deep, making it clear he isn’t asking, he’s telling me. I nod, watching him cross the room. The door clicks shut behind him, and I hear his footsteps on the stairs, and the low rumble of his voice as he speaks to Albert in Russian.
The moment the sounds fade, I release the breath I didn't realize I was holding. Silence surrounds me again. The photo burns in my mind until I can't resist anymore. I reach under the pillow, pull the phone out, and unlock it with trembling fingers. The screen is bright, and Hope's image stares back at me.
I remember her voice, small and sleepy when she was little, and how she'd beg me to tell her stories on stormy nights. She'd crawl into my bed, her cold feet pressing against my legs, and whisper, “Tell me the one about the princess and the dragon again.” I remember her at fifteen, all attitude and eyeliner, pretending she didn't need me even as she asked me to proofread her English papers. I remember her last week, pale but smiling when I promised we'd go home soon, back to our little apartment above Bean & Bloom, where everything made sense.
I failed her, and now Ray holds her life in his hands. He’s using her to force me to betray the one person who’s been fighting through the chaos with me. Tears sting, hot and unwelcome, but I wipe them away quickly.
The phone buzzes suddenly in my hand, a new message lighting up the screen.
A cold dread floods through me, and for a moment, I can't move or breathe.
Don't disappoint me.
