"Then we get her back," he says simply. "Whatever it takes."
26
DIMITRI
Iwatch Alina's face as the truth sinks in. The emptiness that's haunted her eyes since she pulled the trigger on Viktor is suddenly replaced by something else.
Hope.
Desperate, terrifying hope that makes her green eyes shine with unshed tears.
"She's alive." The words come out as a whisper, like she's afraid saying them too loud will make them untrue. "Dimitri, she's alive."
I set the tablet down on my desk and pull her into my arms, feeling the way her body trembles against mine.
"We'll find her," I say, and the certainty in my voice surprises even me. Twenty years I've spent building walls around my heart, learning to care about nothing and no one except power and survival. Twenty years of being the ruthless Pakhan who makes calculated decisions based on strategy, not emotion.
And this woman has demolished every single one of those walls in less than a week.
The realization should terrify me. Does terrify me. But right now, watching the hope bloom in her face, feeling the way she clings to me like I'm her anchor in a storm, I can't bring myself to care about the danger of letting someone matter this much.
"Alexei." I don't raise my voice, but mysovietnikappears in the doorway within seconds. His shoulder is properly bandaged now, the blood cleaned away, but I can see the pain in the tight lines around his mouth. "I want every informant we have activated. Every favor called in. Every contact pressured. Someone knows where the Kozlovs are holding Katya, and I want that information within the hour."
"Already on it, Pakhan." He pulls out his phone, fingers flying across the screen. "I've got teams canvassing their known properties. We're monitoring all their usual communication channels. If they so much as breathe wrong, we'll know about it."
I nod, my hand stroking Alina's back in what I hope is a soothing gesture. I'm not good at comfort. Never have been. My childhood taught me that weakness gets you beaten, that showing emotion gets you hurt. But for her, I'm trying.
Alina pulls back slightly, looking up at me with those green eyes that see too much. "Why would they take her? What do they want?"
It's a good question. One I've been asking myself since we saw the footage. The Kozlovs orchestrated the church attack with Viktor's help, tried to use the chaos to move against my territory. But Viktor's dead now, the alliance broken. What use is a sixteen-year-old girl to them?
"Leverage," I say, the word tasting bitter. "They know I have you. They know we're married. Taking Katya gives them a bargaining chip."
"Or bait." Alexei's expression is dark. "They could be trying to draw you into a trap, use the girl to lure you out where they can take you down."
I see Alina flinch at the casual way he refers to her sister as "the girl," as just another piece on the board. But that's how this world works. Everyone is a piece, a tool, a means to an end.
Everyone except her.
The thought comes unbidden, unwelcome. I push it away and focus on strategy.
My phone buzzes with an incoming message. Then another. And another. My network is responding, information flowing in from a dozen different sources. Most of it is useless, rumors and speculation. But one message makes me pause.
Kozlov lieutenant spotted at Riverside Airfield. Small plane being prepped for departure. Destination unknown.
"Alexei, mobilize everyone. We're going to Riverside Airfield."
He's already moving, barking orders into his phone. Within minutes, I hear the sound of engines starting, men assembling in the courtyard below. My soldiers, my army, ready to go to war for a sixteen-year-old girl they've never met.
Because I've ordered it. Because she matters to Alina. Because somehow, in the space of a few days, Alina has become the most important thing in my world.
I turn to find her watching me, and the look on her face makes my chest tight. It's not just hope anymore. It's something deeper, more complicated. Trust, maybe. Or the beginning of something I'm not ready to name.
"I'm coming with you," she says, and her tone makes it clear this isn't a request.
"No." The word comes out harsher than I intend. "It's too dangerous. If this is a trap, if the Kozlovs are waiting for us, I need to know you're safe."
"She's my sister." Alina's voice is steady, but I see her hands curl into fists at her sides. "I'm not sitting here while you risk your life to save her."
