Page 46 of The Pakhan's Widow


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"Mine," he breathes against my lips. "You're mine, Alina. Come back to me."

"I will," I promise, wrapping my legs around his waist and pulling him deeper. "I promise."

We move together, building toward something that feels bigger than just physical pleasure. It feels like a promise, a prayer, a desperate hope that this won't be the last time.

When we both shatter, it's with my name on his lips and his on mine.

Afterward, we lie tangled together, our breathing slowly returning to normal. Dimitri's hand traces lazy patterns on myback, and I memorize the feel of it, the warmth of his skin against mine.

"We should get ready," I finally say, though I don't want to move.

"Five more minutes." His arms tighten around me. "Give me five more minutes."

I give him ten.

Then reality crashes back in, and we're moving again. I dress carefully, making sure the wire and tracker are secure. Dimitri watches me with dark eyes, his jaw tight with tension.

Alexei appears at the door with an update. "The men are in position. We have eyes on the compound from three different angles. The moment you give the signal, we move."

I nod, my stomach churning with nerves. This is really happening. I'm really going to walk into my father's stronghold and try to rescue my sister.

Dimitri hands me a small earpiece, nearly invisible once it's in place. "You'll be able to hear us, but don't respond unless you're alone. We don't want Viktor getting suspicious."

"Understood."

He walks me downstairs to the waiting SUV, his hand never leaving the small of my back. The driver is one of Dimitri's most trusted men, someone who'll get me to the compound and then fade into the background.

At the vehicle, Dimitri stops me with a hand on my arm. He turns me to face him, and I see something in his eyes I've never seen before. Vulnerability. Fear. Love.

"Alina." My name comes out rough, broken. "Come back to me. I need you to come back."

22

DIMITRI

The rooftop is cold, the concrete rough beneath my knees as I position myself behind the low wall that edges the building. My binoculars are trained on the abandoned factory a block away, the structure looming against the gray morning sky like a monument to decay. Broken windows stare out like empty eye sockets, and rust bleeds down the corrugated metal walls in long, dark streaks.

This is where Viktor chose to meet. Not the safehouse where he's supposedly keeping Katya, but this place. An industrial graveyard on the outskirts of the city where screams would go unheard and bodies could disappear without a trace.

Every instinct I've honed over decades in this life is screaming at me to stop this. To call it off, grab Alina, and find another way. But I force myself to stay still, to trust the plan we made. To trust her.

My hand tightens on the binoculars until my knuckles go white.

Through the lenses, I watch the black SUV pull up to the factory's main entrance. The driver gets out first, scanning thearea with the practiced eye of a soldier. Then the back door opens, and Alina emerges.

My wife.

Even from this distance, even through the magnification of the binoculars, she looks small and vulnerable. She's wearing the dark jeans and sweater we chose, her red hair pulled back in a simple ponytail. No coat despite the cold. Nothing that could hide a weapon or make Viktor suspicious.

She stands beside the vehicle for a moment, her shoulders straight, her chin lifted. Brave. So fucking brave, it makes my chest ache.

"Pakhan." Alexei's voice crackles through my earpiece. He's positioned on another rooftop two blocks east with a clear view of the factory's rear entrance. "I count at least fifteen hostiles on the perimeter. More inside, probably."

"Copy that." I keep my voice low, controlled, even though rage is burning through my veins like acid. Fifteen men. Viktor brought an army to what was supposed to be a simple negotiation.

This is a trap. I knew it would be, but seeing the scope of it makes my jaw clench.

"Sniper team, report," I say into the comm.