“He has leverage,” Pyotr corrects. “That’s not the same as power. Leverage only works if the person you’re threatening has no other options. We’re going to give you other options.”
I draw my brows together. “What do you mean?”
“We’re going to tell Dmitri the truth.”
My stomach drops, and I whip my head from side to side. “No. Absolutely not. If Dmitri finds out about what I’ve been giving Bogdan?—”
“He’s going to find out. Tony already flagged suspicious activity. That’s why I’m here, Daria. Now, we need to get ahead of this before it gets any worse.”
“What if Dmitri doesn’t believe me? What if he decides I’m guilty?”
“I’ll make him believe you.”
“And how do you plan to do that?” I sputter.
“By putting my position on the line. I’ll tell him I’ve reviewed every piece of evidence, and I’m certain you were coerced. That Bogdan set you up and used you, and that eliminating him protects the family more than punishing you ever could.”
I gawk at him with my mouth open. The words don’t fit with anything I know about how the world works, how men like him operate, and what people are willing to sacrifice for strangers.
“You’d risk everything. Your job, your standing with Dmitri… everything you’ve built with the organization. All of it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He works his jaw like he’s choosing his words carefully. Then he leans forward and locks eyes with me. His hands close around my wrists.
Not tightly. Protective. But I can feel what’s running through him. Fury held on a leash.
“Because no one touches you or Kira. Not Bogdan, not anyone. Even if protecting you costs me everything.”
He lets go and holds out his hand. “Give me your phone.”
I hand it over. He swipes through the settings, tapping and blocking.
“No more blocked calls,” he says as he gives it back. “Any number not already in your contacts goes to a folder I can monitor. If Bogdan tries to reach you, I’ll know about it first.”
The words settle into my chest, but I don’t know what to do with them. I don’t know how to accept something so freely given when I’ve spent years paying for every scrap of safety with pieces of myself.
“You barely know me,” I whisper.
“I know enough.”
“I’ve been lying to you since the day you walked through my door.”
“You did what you felt you had to do to survive.”
I’ve said those same words to myself a thousand times. In bathroom mirrors. In the dark after Kira fell asleep.
They never helped. They always tasted like ash.
But from him? From this man who knows what I’ve done and hasn't walked away?
My stomach flips. My eyes sting. Part of me wants to fold in on myself and disappear.
Instead, I hold onto his hands like they’re the only thing keeping me upright.
“Okay. I’ll tell Dmitri. Everything. The whole, ugly truth.” I take a breath that shakes on the way in. “But I want to be there whenyou call him. I want to explain it myself. I’m tired of other people speaking for me.”
