Dominik steps closer and my pulse climbs for a different reason than fear. He lifts his hand like he might touch my cheek and changes his mind because he’s a man who knows how to save something for later and I’m going to have to learn that skill if it kills me. His fingers ghost the air two inches from my jaw, and my skin rises to meet nothing like it might qualify if it tries hard enough.
“Stay next to me at all times,” he says, and it should sound bossy, but it doesn’t. It sounds like a wish.
“I will,” I lie.
He nods once and the almost-smile is back. I want to put my mouth on it. Later. After all this is over. I’ll always be grateful to Dominik even when I hate myself.
He turns away from me to make plans, and I watch him go with the kind of trust a person puts in the tide to keep coming back, to never relent, because it doesn’t know how to do anything else.
That’s exactly what I’m counting on.
29
Dominik
I continueto make plans from the living room while Alina darts through the kitchen and leaves again, as if she’s on her own mission.
“We move in five,” I tell her and the others.
The men nod. They wear readiness like most men wear shirts.
“And him?” Viktor asks, meaning Archer.
“He runs when we get downstairs.”
“We shouldn’t be the ones who let him go,” he says—not arguing, just measuring the cost.
“I made my decision,” I tell him.
Alina joins us again before I have to go looking for her, a reusable cloth bag slung over her shoulder. “I’m ready,” she says.
“What’s that?” I ask, nodding at her bag. “All your clothes and keys have already been packed and loaded.”
“Oh, I know.” She pats the side of the bag. “This is all your pain meds, antibiotics, and fresh bandages.” She hands the bag to Viktor.
Even with everything going on, she thought of me—of what I need.
“Thank you,dikaya koshka.”
“Oh—and I grabbed this.”
Reaching into the front of her dress, she pulls out a necklace and lets the charm rest on top of the fabric.
Mynecklace.
Fuck, it looks good on her. Too good.
For a second I hear my father’s voice—your half is for obedience; your brother’s is for ruling.
And Alina is the first person who’s ever made me want to break that balance.
“Beautiful,” I murmur, momentarily undone.
“It is,” she agrees softly. “Too beautiful to leave lying around.”
I lean in to kiss her collarbone where the chain touches her skin. “Thank you,” I tell her.
The sight of her wearing that piece of our legacy—myhalf of it—hits me harder than any bullet.
