I am going to hand Tatiana the necklace. And pretend I’ve surrendered.
Lev pauses mid-process, voice quieter. “And you think she’ll believe you didn’t touch it?” He asks.
I have contemplated this. She knows our friendship is no longer there. That I no longer trust her. But she also knows my weakness. That I am in love with Lily. And she knows I won’t do anything to put her in danger.
“She’ll believe it because I’ll look her man in the eye and tell him I honored the deal,” I say. “Because I don’t break my word.”
Lev snorts. “Except you are breaking it.”
“No,” I correct. “I’m keeping the deal.”
I point to the necklace. “She asked for the necklace.”
I point to Lev’s device, and the data already transferring. “She didn’t ask for what was inside.”
Lev’s eyes flick up to mine. Respect flashes there. It might be brief, but it’s real. “…Smart,” he mutters.
I exhale slowly, tension easing just a fraction.
Then Lev’s hands still again, and his voice drops into something raw. “I never thought we’d end up like this,” he admits.
I don’t speak at first. Because I hate it too.
I stare at the necklace like it might grow teeth and bite me. “I tried to stay away, Lev,” I admit. “I tried to be the soldier you trained. The weapon you aimed.”
My chest burns. “But she looked at me like I was human,” I say, voice rougher now. “And I stopped being able to breathe without her.”
Lev’s eyes shine faintly. He looks away as if he refuses to be seen breaking.
“She loves you,” he says quietly. Not as a question but as the burning truth.
“Yes,” I whisper. “She does.”
Then, without looking at me, he says the thing I didn’t expect. “I heard you and her yesterday.”
My blood runs cold.
“I heard her panic,” Lev adds quickly, like he knows exactly what that does to me. “The way she couldn’t breathe. The way she sounded like she was drowning.”
My hands clench. My jaw locks so tight it hurts.
“I held her,” I say.
Lev nods once. “And she calmed down.”
Silence.
Then Lev clears his throat, returns to the task like it’s the only thing holding him upright.
The extraction completes, Lev opens a new file, and inputs the message. Enzo’s words now live inside Lev’s necklace, and have the potential to start a war that could break an entire empire.
Lev removes the device, holds it in his palm for a long moment, then he holds it out to me, dangling from his fingers. “It’s empty,” he says. “Except for Enzo’s message.”
I pick it up slowly. The diamonds catch the light like they’re laughing.
Lev’s gaze meets mine, tired and conflicted. “If she finds out,” Lev says quietly, “she’ll come for you.”
I nod once. “She already is,” I reply.
