Two figures detach from the flow of pedestrians, keeping their distance, adjusting pace when she does. They are careful, practiced, and the sight of them sends something cold and deliberate settling into my blood.
One glance at Liev tells me that he hasn’t noticed, too consumed in the daydream of a possible relationship with his daughter.
“I have to go,” I say abruptly, already stepping away from him before he can question it.
I dial Nika as I move, my voice low and precise. “I want eyes on Alyona Demsky. Constant. You report to me. Not Liev.”
There is a pause on the line, hesitation threading through it. “Kaz?—”
“Do it.”
Another pause, heavier this time, carrying the weight of what I am asking him to participate in. Before Nika came to the team, Liev and I rose through the ranks together. Brothers, hiding bodies, rinsing blood from wounds, bound in violence, and focused on controlling this empire we’d been given the chance to inherit.
Nika knows that this is some kind of betrayal, but he answers with one word: “Understood.”
I end the call, the decision locking into place with the inevitability of a blade sliding home.
Liev doesn’t know that she’smine.I am no longer pretending that I am protecting him when I keep it that way.
Chapter 8
Alyona
The Foundry smells expensive when I step into the back room. It’s like the ridiculous cologne Jak buys and has the cleaners spray here and there. It’s tempting and sultry, but this early in the night it doesn’t quite cover the scent of old beer and citrus cleaner.
I barely have time to tie the half-apron around my waist before Cinn’s voice cuts across the bar.
“Well, if it isn’t the birthday girl.”
I freeze for half a second, then keep moving because reacting is exactly what she wants. The bar is already busy, and the low thrum of the early evening crowd fills the space. I focus on wiping down the counter with unnecessary precision. I’m wearing a bra that I can take off easily. It snaps in the front, but covers my breasts so they stay mostly out of the way.
“Didn’t think you’d be back so soon,” she continues, louder now, leaning against the service station like she owns it. “You look tired.”
I know that tone. I’ve known it my whole life. It’s the sound people make when they’re about to say something mean.
“I’ve been working late,” I say evenly, not looking at her.
Cinn hums. “Yeah, I bet.”
Heat creeps up my neck, slow and unwelcome. I tell myself not to engage, to let it slide the way I always do, but she isn’t done. She never is.
“You know,” she says as her eyes deliberately scan over my body, lingering where they shouldn’t, “I don’t know how you do it. Standing on your feet all night, carrying all that weight. Must be exhausting.”
The words land like a slap, sharp and public. A couple of our first patrons glance over, curiosity flaring. My chest tightens, breath hitching before I can stop it, and I hate myself for how immediately it affects me, for how small it makes me feel in my skin.
“Back off!” Devin snaps from behind the bar, her voice hard. She appears like a superhero, but Cinn doesn’t take her sister seriously.
She just smiles. “I’m complimenting her stamina.”
Something cracks, and before I can stop myself, I laugh. It comes out wrong, too loud and too close to hysteria. I feel eyes on me the way you feel exposed under harsh lighting.
“I need a minute,” I mutter, already pushing past them.
I don’t make it far.
The back hallway blurs as my vision swims. With shaking hands, I fumble with the door to the storage room. I slip inside and let it shut behind me. The air is cooler back here, quieter, and I brace my hands against a metal shelf, breathing hard.
I don’t want this.
