“As you command,” he murmurs.
And when he kisses me this time, it’s with a different kind of hunger—devotion sharpened by obedience, desire laced with a promise and a vow that from this moment on, he burns for nothing but me.
Chapter 27 – Dimitri
Peace never lasts for men like me. It comes in shallow breaths, fleeting, fragile—always followed by the scent of blood.
A week after Vivian’s decision, when I’ve finally started to believe the storm is quieting, Sylvester bursts into my office. No knock. No hesitation. Just a pale face and a tablet in his shaking hand.
“We intercepted something,” he says.
The message is short. Cold. Fatal.
“Zurich was only a test. The empire falls next.”
My spine goes rigid.
Zurich…a test?
Someone wants to see how far we’ll go.
How many lines we’ll cross.
How loudly we’ll bleed.
“What’s the source?” I demand.
Sylvester swipes, showing the trace. “Brooklyn. An abandoned shipyard. Old Koval territory. Looks like they’ve resurfaced.”
Of course they have. Cockroaches always return when the lights go out.
I stand, already dialing the private line.
Roman picks up first.
Lev joins seconds later.
Their voices are sharp, grim.
They don’t need to hear the entire message to understand.
“We’ll send men,” Roman says.
“I’m already assembling a unit,” Lev adds. “Just give the command.”
But I shake my head, even though they can’t see me. “No.” My voice is ice. “I’m leading the raid.”
A heavy silence follows.
“Dimitri,” Roman warns, “you’ve been in nonstop conflict for weeks. You need—”
“What I need,” I cut in, “is to end this before it touches Vivian again.”
Lev exhales a curse.
But neither of them argues further. They know better.
“We’ll send reinforcements,” Lev says at last. “But if you’re going…we’re backing you.”
