"Tell her," Nikolai says from behind me, his voice cold enough to freeze blood. "Tell your sister what you've been doing."
Maya's lips tremble, and for a heartbeat I think she'll refuse. Then the words start pouring out in a rush, each one landing like a physical blow.
"I've been meeting with Cane. He said if I gave him information about Nikolai's schedule, about when he leaves the house, about you, he'd forgive part of my debt." Her voice cracks. "And he'd keep supplying me. I didn't think it would hurt anyone. I swear I didn't know he was selling the information to Nikolai's enemies."
The room tilts sideways. My hands grip the edge of a nearby desk, knuckles going white against the metal surface. "You've been spying on us? Reporting back to that loan shark about our lives?"
"I didn't have a choice!" Maya's voice rises to something close to a shriek. "He was going to hurt me, Aria. He showed me pictures of what he does to people who don't pay. I was scared."
"So you decided to put us all in danger instead." The words taste like copper in my mouth. "You had access to this house. To me. To information about Nikolai's business. And you sold it all for drugs."
"It wasn't like that." But even as she says it, I see the lie written across her face. It was exactly like that. My sister, the person I've sacrificed everything to protect, chose her addiction over my safety. Over my child's safety.
The betrayal cuts deeper than any blade. I think of all the times I believed her promises, all the money I scraped together for rehab, all the nights I stayed awake worrying while she was out getting high. Every sacrifice I made, every boundary I crossed, every piece of myself I gave up to keep her alive, reduced to this pathetic scene of withdrawal and manipulation.
The urge to scream wars with the instinct to gather her into my arms like I did when she was twelve and our mother had just died. But I remain frozen, caught between fury and a heartbreak so profound it steals my breath.
Nikolai's presence behind me radiates controlled violence. I can feel the tension coiling through his body, the way his breathing has gone shallow and measured. This is the Pakhan in full force,the man who eliminates threats without hesitation, and Maya just became a threat to everything he values.
The knowledge makes my knees weak.
I turn slowly to face him, my hands moving instinctively to my stomach where our child grows. The protective gesture is becoming habitual, a constant reminder of what's at stake. His eyes meet mine with an expression carved from stone, and I see death written in those frozen depths.
"Nikolai." My voice comes out barely above a whisper. "Please."
"She betrayed you." His accent thickens with barely controlled rage. "She put you in danger. Put our child in danger."
"I know." The admission costs me something. "I know what she did. But she's my sister."
"She's a liability." Nikolai's jaw tightens, a muscle jumping beneath his skin. "In my world, liabilities get eliminated."
The casual way he says it, like he's discussing a business transaction rather than my sister's life, makes ice spread through my chest. I step closer to him, close enough that I have to tilt my head back to maintain eye contact. Close enough that I catch the scent of his cologne mixed with something darker, more primal.
"Please don't hurt her." The words tumble out in a desperate rush that strips away every shred of pride I possess. "I'm begging you. I'll do anything. Accept anything. Just please, don't kill my sister."
Something flickers across his face, too quick to identify before his mask slams back into place. For a terrifying moment, I think he'll refuse, that I'll watch him make a phone call that ends withMaya disappearing forever. My heart hammers so hard, I can feel it in my teeth.
"Anything?" His voice drops to something rough and intimate despite the circumstances.
"Yes." I don't hesitate. "Whatever you want. Whatever it takes."
His hand lifts to cup my jaw, thumb brushing across my cheekbone with devastating gentleness that contradicts the violence radiating from his body. "You don't know what you're promising."
"I don't care." And I don't. Maya is all I have left of my family. I can't watch her die. "Please, Nikolai."
He studies my face for a long moment, those ice-blue eyes searching for something I'm not sure I'm giving him. Then his expression shifts, calculation replacing rage, and I know he's made a decision.
"Maya goes to a private rehabilitation facility." His voice is cold, clinical, the Pakhan issuing orders. "The kind with locked doors and twenty-four-hour supervision. No visitors except approved medical staff. No phone calls. No contact with the outside world until the doctors declare her clean."
Relief floods through me so intensely, my knees nearly buckle. "Thank you. God, thank you."
"I'm not finished." His hand tightens fractionally on my jaw. "She stays until she's clean. No negotiation. No early release because she promises she's better. And if she relapses again after she gets out, you won't be able to protect her. She's done. Do you understand?"
The finality in his tone makes my throat tighten. "I understand."
"And Cane Harris." The way he says the loan shark's name makes my blood turn to slush in my veins. "I'll handle him personally."
I don't ask what that means. I don't want to know the details of what Nikolai has planned for the man who's been using my sister as a pawn. Some part of me feels a dark satisfaction at the promise of retribution.
