I look down at her belly, and I think about what it means to bring a child into a world like this one. Then I think about Lev, about the way he held me last night.
I don't know which way is up. I'm caught in a catch twenty-two and the only way out is through.
"I'm scared," I admit, and she rests her hand on my arm, squeezing gently.
"It'll be okay. Lev won't let a thing happen to you, and neither will Yuri. He's harsh at times, but he's loyal and he fights for his family."
As reassuring as she's trying to be, I'm not comforted.
If I could rewind time, I'd still go back to that day by the food vendor's cart and find a way to run away. No love, no matter how strong or protective, is worth risking your life like this. Lev is more than my captor now. I know I'm falling so hard in love with him, but I'd still choose my boring life.
Maybe that's why it's so hard to stay here now. Knowing how badly you want someone and knowing how totally incompatible you are with them is a devastating feeling. You know it will end badly, you just don't know when.
19
LEV
"We need to move her," Yuri says, spreading a map across the table and tapping a location on the north side of the city. "The townhouse is compromised. Yaros knows where you live, so it's only a matter of time before they try again." Vivika ran out the door, but I didn't chase after her. She's not going to run because she knows the risks, but sitting here while I know she's out there angry and hurt makes me feel tense.
"The safehouse on Krestovsky Island?" Fyodor leans forward to study the map. "That's isolated enough to be defensible, but close enough to the city center for quick movement if we need it."
"That's what I was thinking." Yuri traces a route with his finger. "We move her tonight, under cover of darkness, and keep her there until this situation resolves."
I look at the small dot and scowl. We've used it for very sensitive operations before, but not often. It's a good choice—surrounded by water on three sides, with only one road in and one road out.But keeping Vivika locked up in another cage won't make her any more compliant, and they'll find her there eventually.
"What about the plan?" Dimitri asks, but he's still using that edgy, tense voice. He hasn't liked this operation since the beginning and he's starting to get on my fucking nerves. "Are we still moving forward with Kolar, or has this new information changed things?"
"The plan moves forward." Yuri straightens up. "In fact, this new information makes it more urgent. If Yaros is planning to have Vivika killed publicly and blame us, we need to get to Kolar first."
"How do you propose we do that?" I ask. Staying annoyed with Dimitri will only distract me from what I'm supposed to be doing. That would put Vivika at risk, and I can't have that.
"A private meeting." Yuri's gray eyes meet mine. "Just you, Vivika, and Luka Kolar somewhere neutral. Bring her in as Ana Veche, and fictionalize things a little… Spin it as how Ana knows Yaros has been after her to kill her and take her empire, see what Kolar does."
I can't help it but I scoff. "Kolar won't believe that for a second. We'll need some sort of proof to back it up."
"Then we provide proof." Yuri picks up a folder and slides it toward me. "Everything my source has gathered about Ana's death, Yaros's conspiracy, the orders to eliminate the woman he claims is his sister. Combined with Vivika's testimony and her resemblance to the real Ana, it should make Kolar question everything."
I flip through the folder, scanning documents and photographs that paint a damning picture of Yaros Veche's treachery. If evenhalf of this is accurate, he's been playing everyone for months. And if Kolar sees this evidence, he'll believe it too. But that doesn't answer what we'll do with Vivika when Kolar is sold and turns on Yaros. He'll think Vivika is the real Ana, but there's no way in hell she'll be able to really lead that family. They'll see right through her.
"He'll break all agreements," Fyodor says, following my train of thought. "Kolar's always been loyal to Ana personally, more than to the Veche family as an institution. If he believes Yaros killed her, he'll walk away from everything they've built together."
"And when he walks away, Yaros's house of cards collapses." Dimitri's skepticism has shifted into something more calculating. I look up at his face and see the expression of contempt fading. He doesn't like it but he's starting to see how this plan could work. "Without the Balkan Syndicate, Yaros loses the southern routes. His captains look for alternatives, his allies question their loyalty."
"That's the idea." Yuri looks at me. "But it all depends on Vivika. She has to be convincing enough to make Kolar believe she's really Ana, and she has to deliver the story in a way that makes him want to act on it. Can she do that?"
The question isn't whether Vivika can do it, but if she will. I've seen her be tough as nails, but now that she understands the risks, conquering her fear will be the real problem. Then the lingering questions of what we'll do when Kolar decides he doesn't like our tricking him with a fake Ana.
"She can do it," I say. "I'll make sure of it." But I'm not happy about this. I'd voice my concern right now except that Vivika is out there somewhere and I feel antsy about leaving her unsupervised.
"Good." Yuri nods. "Move her to the safehouse tonight and continue her training there. We'll arrange the meeting with Kolar for the end of the week, which gives you four days to prepare her. Don't waste them."
The meeting breaks up after that, and I head out to find Vivika in one of the sitting rooms, curled up on a couch with Inessa beside her and a cup of tea growing cold in her hands. Her eyes are red from crying, but when she sees me her face softens and she looks more relaxed.
"We need to go," I tell her gently. "I'll explain everything in the car, but right now, we need to move."
She looks at Inessa, who gives her an encouraging nod, and then she rises from the couch, leaving her mug behind, and walks toward me without question, trusting me to keep her safe even though everything in her world has just fallen apart.
I take her hand and lead her out to the car. Rain has started to fall while we were inside, a steady downpour that drums against the roof and blurs the city lights into smeared streaks. I pull out of Yuri's driveway and head toward my townhouse, where we'll need to pack before relocating.
