"Handle it," he repeats. "That's not a plan. That's a hope."
"It's all I have right now."
Silence stretches between us. I hear him breathing, thinking, weighing options the way he always does.
"She's there with you now?" he asks. "At the estate?"
"Yes. Guest room."
"Guest room." A dry note enters his voice. "Very proper."
"She's not a prisoner, Dmitri."
"Isn't she?" The question hangs in the air. "You bought her, Misha. Whatever your intentions, that's the reality. In the eyes of the world—in her eyes—you own her now."
I flinch. He's not wrong.
"I'm going to explain," I say. "Everything. Who I am, what our family does, why I left her two years ago. She deserves the truth."
"And if she can't accept it? If she runs?"
"She won't run."
"You sound very certain."
"I know her," I say again.
Another pause. Then, softer: "You want her."
It's not a question. I don't answer anyway.
"Protect her, then," Dmitri says finally. "Whatever it takes. But understand the cost, brother. The Morozovs will come for her—and through her, for all of us. This isn't just your fight anymore."
"I know."
"Do you need resources? Men?"
"Not yet. I'll let you know if that changes."
"Kira will want to meet her," he adds, and there's something almost gentle in his voice now. "She remembers what it's like to be thrust into this world without warning. She might be able to help."
I think of Kira—the frightened writer who became my brother's wife, who found her place in our bloody world and somehow emerged stronger for it. Maybe she could help Bianca navigate the same transition.
Or maybe Bianca will be different. Maybe she'll never accept any of this.
"I'll let you know," I say.
"Misha." His voice stops me before I can end the call. "For what it's worth... I understand. If it were Kira on that stage, I would have burned the building down."
The admission costs him something. Dmitri doesn't like acknowledging weakness, even to me.
"Thank you," I say.
"Don't thank me yet. We don't know how this ends."
He hangs up. I set the phone down and stare at the wall, my brother's words echoing in my mind.
If it were Kira on that stage, I would have burned the building down.
