“I’m watching him,” I say calmly. “It’s not time yet.”
“That’s not good enough.”
“It is if you understand him,” I counter. “Hinto is impulsive. He gets bored. He wants results fast, wants to see damage immediately. I have men in Cuba right now, digging into his operations, finances, and personal weaknesses. He won’t sit still long enough to keep this clean. He’ll make a mistake.”
Liev scoffs. “Or, he’ll burn half our routes before then. Ifyoucan’t pivot, then we need another team to block him on the ground.”
“If we strike too early,” I say, stepping closer, my voice dropping, “we give him exactly what he wants. A reaction. We wait. We tighten security, reroute shipments, protect what matters. When he slips, we take everything.”
The silence that follows is thick and uneasy. Liev looks out over the water again, his shoulders tense, his reflection faint in the glass railing. “I don’t like it,” he says quietly. “I don’t like waiting while my daughter is tied to you and our people are dying.”
I almost tell him the truth then, that I would choose Alyona over him, over the Bratva, over everything we’ve built, without hesitation. The knowledge is solid and terrifying, and it settles deep in my bones.
Instead, I say nothing.
Behind us, the balcony door creaks softly as it shifts in the breeze. I turn just in time to see Aly standing there. She is pale and silent, her hand gripping the doorframe. I’m not sure how much she heard, but one fact pounds in my mind over and over: I have to end this.
Soon.
Or she may never be safe.
Chapter 23
Alyona
The car slows outside of the conference center, and I press my palms into my thighs as if that might anchor me to the seat. Outside, people stream toward the entrance in clusters, badges flashing, voices bright with excitement and ambition. Everywhere I look there are suits, dresses, rolling cases, polished shoes clicking against stone, and above it all the steady thrum of helicopter blades as another arrival descends to the helipad a few hundred feet from the building.
A helipad. I almost laugh at the absurdity of it, but the sound sticks in my chest. This is one of Baranov Tech’s buildings, so of course there’s access.
“Stop pulling at it,” Devin says, batting my hand away for the third time. “You look incredible, and you’re going to wrinkle the vest.”
I glance down at myself. The tailored trousers skim my hips too perfectly, the crisp blouse makes me feel like I’m wearing someone else’s skin, and the dark gray vest that I never would’vepicked out myself is elegant and expensive. It is so far frommethat it makes my stomach roll with nervous energy.
I shouldn’t be here, but lately Kaz wants me close. He thinks I haven’t noticed that there are more of his men around while he’s absent. They are everywhere…at the business or out in the alleys, I never know. I never ask.
“I look like I’m pretending,” I mutter.
Devin snorts, tugging once more at my sleeve, then smoothing it with careful fingers. “You are pretending. That’s the point. Just make sure it’s believable; you have to be seen together. Also, if you don’t stop fidgeting, I’m going to duct tape your hands to your sides.”
I shoot her a look, then sigh and lean back against the seat. Through the windshield, the Baranov Tech logo gleams in brushed metal, understated and unmistakable. Kazimir owns the building, the land beneath it, the conference center. unfolding inside like a living organism. As much as I want to dislike what he and my father do, sometimes it all seems too real.
“I don’t want to be here,” I say quietly. “Every time we do this, it feels like I’m stepping deeper into something I can’t get out of. What if he decides the engagement shouldn’t be fake anymore?”
Devin turns fully toward me then, her expression softening. “Aly, breathe. He’s not going to force you to marry him.”
“You don’t know that,” I argue, though my voice lacks heat. Fear hums just under my skin; familiar and sharp. “Shouldn’t he have…I don’t know, taken care of all of this already?”
I’ve been worrying about it for days now, ever since I heard his conversation with my father on the balcony. And as much asI hate to admit it, Liev had a point, Kaz doesn’t seem to be doing as much as he could be doing.
A week ago I watched him beat a man almost to death in the basement. He hasn’t made any real moves against this other criminal overlord who is apparently threatening his business as well as my life.
Why?
Devin jolts me out of my anxious thoughts. “He told you, straight up, that he doesn’t believe in marriage. Remember? You two bonded over it, like a pair of emotionally constipated weirdos.”
Despite myself, a small laugh escapes. “That’s one way to put it.”
“He’s obsessed with you for sure,” Devin continues, lowering her voice, “but he’s not stupid. And, he’s not cruel to you. There’s a difference.”
