I say them as Kazimir Baranov,Pakhan,ruthless tech innovator who isn’t afraid to kill to get what he wants.
I say the words as the man Liev Demsky swore to protect and obey the day my uncle died.
I say them knowing that if it comes down to it, I’d makehimdisappear if it meant saving her.
“Alyona is in danger. We need her safe before I can move against Hinto, and that means figuring out how to ensure he’ll never lay a hand on her.”
The veins in Liev’s arms are pounding with blood, his breathing harsh in the quiet room. But he doesn’t disagree.
Which means there might be just enough sense behind his blind anger to make him consider the plan I’ve been forming since I left the yacht.
The one that makes Aly mine. At least until I can burn this obsession with her out of me.
Chapter 10
Alyona
The rain pours down so hot and heavy that it feels like a rainforest outside, especially from my garden-level apartment. Technically, thereisno garden here. There is a small patio to the side and back of the brick building. It is so overgrown that it’s almost suffocating.
Inside, most of the lights are off except for the one over the stovetop. Everything is clean; it’s Friday, my day off from school and my day on at The Foundry. My shift starts in two hours, and I’m trying to convince myself I’m ready. The weird, crawling sense under my skin will fade if I ignore it hard enough.
I’m drying my hands when the knock comes.
Three sharp raps that land like punctuation.
My heart stutters, then over-corrects, pounding hard enough that I can feel it in my throat as I cross the living room. I tell myself it’s Devin or maybe the downstairs neighbor with another complaint about noise that doesn’t exist. My instincts are already screaming as I unlock the door.
Nika stands there, rain slicking his jacket. His short blonde hair glistens, and water drips from his nose as if he’s stepped out of a storm. His face is composed in such a way that feelsdeliberate. It’s like whatever he’s holding back is too dangerous to say.
“No,” I say immediately.
His brows lift a fraction. “We need to go.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I reply, bracing one hand against the doorframe. “I’m working tonight, and you don’t get to just show up here like?—”
“This isn’t optional,” he cut me off.
The calm certainty in his voice drains the heat from my anger and leaves something colder behind.
“I didn’t agree to this,” I say, my voice tightening. “Whatever this is.”
He steps inside without waiting, eyes scanning my apartment with quick, practiced movements that make my chest constrict. The couch. The window. The back door. He clocks it all in seconds, like he’s already decided something.
“Grab your shoes,” he says. “And a jacket.”
“I’m not a child,” I snap. “I’m not some asset you can move when it’s convenient.”
He finally looks at me then, really looks, and something flickers across his face that makes my stomach dip. Concern.
“Aly,” he says quietly. “Please.”
That word coming from him feels wrong, like the world misfiring. I’ve always thought Nika looked tooyoungto work for my dad and Kazimir. His skin is too pale, and his cheeks are too pink no matter the weather. Now I see the steady, chilling way energy settles around him. The certainty that if something happens here, he’d handle it.
“I didn’t do anything,” I insist, my voice shaking despite my best effort to keep it firm.
“I know,” he says. “That’s why we’re leaving.”
The words don’t compute fast enough to stop me from reacting, but I’m already moving. I put my shoes on and grabmy jacket off the hook by the door with hands that feel like they belong to someone else. I don’t remember agreeing. I just hear the sound of the rain again and the solid click of my door locking behind us.
