And if I have to choose between my brother and the woman who has already claimed me without trying, I know exactly which sin I will commit.
Chapter 16
Alyona
Idon’t announce that I’m leaving. I don’t ask permission.
If I stop long enough to think about it, I know I’ll stay, because the estate has a way of closing around you once you pause; making you feel safe.
Two weeks.
Two weeks of beautiful rooms and careful distance. Two weeks of meals served on china I’m afraid I’ll chip, of staff who smile politely but never forget who they work for. Two weeks of safety that feels like velvet-lined confinement. I tell myself I’m grateful for it, and I am, mostly, but the boredom has teeth now, sharp and gnawing.
Even the aesthetician school I attend four days a week feels muted. The lead trainer’s eyes skirt over me nervously, and I know that the other students are aware of the men who sit out in the parking lot in dark vehicles.
I feel isolated. I need noise. I need movement. I need something real.
I slip on my shoes and grab my jacket, easing the door shut behind me softly. The hallway is dim; the sconces turned low; the walls lined with old portraits whose eyes seem to follow meas I pass. I don’t look at them. Tonight, I don’t want to feel watched.
The back stairs creak faintly under my weight, every sound amplified by my own pulse. I know Kazimir’s bedroom is on the third floor down the hallway from mine. It’s late, and I hope he’s in there wrapped up in some business. Shipments or exports, or whatever he’s trying to keep this other cartel boss from taking over. I don’t really want to know.
I pause on the landing, listening, but the house is silent and still.
Outside, the air is heavy and damp, blurring the edges of the world. The massive oaks lining the drive loom overhead, their branches heavy with moss that sways gently, like it’s breathing. The path stretches ahead of me, long and winding, deliberately disorienting. For the first time since I arrived here, I feel its purpose keenly.
This place was not built to be escaped easily. Kazimir and his men will see anyone coming from a long, long way off. Which means there’s a good chance someone will notice me hurrying from shadow to shadow.
My phone vibrates in my hand as soon as I unlock it.
where are you?
I keep walking, my steps brisk now, gravel crunching beneath my feet.
End of the drive. I’ll be there in a minute.
There’s a pause, longer this time, and I picture Devin biting her lip and checking her mirrors. She’s probably deciding whether she’s brave enough to do this. It took a long time to talk her into helping me escape just for tonight. I know she’s weighing the risk. Even now.
Aly, this is a terrible idea.
A laugh bubbles up, thin and forced. I type back quickly.
I thought you approved of bad ideas?
Her headlights appear a moment later, cutting through the dark like a promise and a warning all at once. I wave both hands quickly, and she turns off the lights. She pulls up just far enough that the estate remains hidden behind the curve of the drive, but her engine idles like she’s ready to flee.
I slide into the passenger seat and shut the door, and my chest loosens with immediate relief.
Devin doesn’t smile.
“What the hell are you thinking?” She says, pulling back onto the road.
“I’m thinking there’s an open shift, and I’m bored out of my mind,” I reply lightly. “You can’t tell me Jak won’t be grateful for the help?”
“You are hiding out at a Bratva leader’s house!” She snaps. “You don’t get bored. You get compliant.”
I roll my eyes and stare out the window as the trees begin to thin. “Everyone is being dramatic.”
She shoots me a look. “You didn’t see what I saw.”
