Across that water, I pray that my men are thinking clearly. I hope they’ll forgive me for sending them with orders that don’t touch me, just like my brother would do.
Behind me I hear Alina stand and step up next to me. She doesn’t speak. She doesn’t have to. We’re both tense. The air feels charged, like a storm is crawling underneath the skin.
My phone vibrates again. My pulse jumps either in relief or dread. I can’t tell the difference anymore.
It’s Petrov.
“There’s movement,” he whispers as if he’s being overcautious which I prefer. “The front door opened. That drunk in the sedan put his magazine down. The two men on the bikes woke up. A pallet was wheeled over to the bay, but they stopped before the door like they’re testing it or getting ready to load up.”
“Then get everyone ready.”
“On it,” Petrov agrees, and it’s followed with a pause. “Boss?”
“Mm?”
“We’ve got this,” he says confidently. “You’re not missing anything.”
“I’m missing a fight, missing standing beside you,” I say.
“I know. But we wouldn’t have let you come even if you had tried. Doctor’s orders,” he replies making me almost grin because he’s so full of shit. None of them would have stopped me. They would’ve looked at me like I was being an idiot, but they wouldn’t have said a word.
I end the call and press the cool glass to my forehead for a second, an indulgence I don’t deserve, just like Alina.
“What if he…what if Archer betrayed you again?” Alina asks.
“He’s not that stupid,” I assure her. Then, to take her mind off such things, I ask her, “Are you tired? You still look exhausted. Why don’t you go try and rest, at least for a few hours?”
“While they’re out there risking their lives on my brother’s word?” she asks, half laughing, half broken. “I’m staying here.”
“Gavriil will likely make an appearance to demand an update,” I say just to confirm the light in her eyes I saw earlier. It wasn’t my imagination, and I’m not sure what to do with that information. “I’d rather he didn’t see you when he’s here.”
“I’m not leaving your side,” she reiterates, her jaw clenched stubbornly. I knew she wouldn’t hide again like before, and it’s wrong of me to ask her to do so, even if it’s how I can keep her safe. Out of sight, out of his mind.
As if it’s that simple.
I should push her away. Instead, I step closer to her.
“Fine.” I concede because I also, selfishly, like having her close. I turn my head. We’re too close for comfort and not close enough for anything else. “If Gavriil shows up, I want you to stand behind me, try to keep quiet, and let me handle him. He won’t like being reminded of what I promised when I claimed you were under my protection.”
This apartment isn’t big enough to hold what happens if my brother and I stop pretending we’re on the same side.
“What was your promise?” she asks.
“That his position asPakhan, as my brother, won’t stop me from taking his hand if he tries to touch you,” I say.
Her breath leaves in a small sound as she looks at me. I take this moment, that sound, into my chest and lock it away.
My phone vibrates again.
“Everyone is in place, boss,” Viktor says into the line when I answer.
“Then go when you think it’s time,” I tell him.
20
Alina
I don’t realizeI’m breathing shallowly until the edges of the room start to shimmer. Dominik’s “Go when you think it’s time” is still hanging in the air.
