Her hand slips free of mine. Her eyes blaze.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” she says, voice steady, lethal. “I’ll always be with Sebastian. You lying piece of shit.”
The air seems to still.
Mikhailov blinks, genuinely startled.
And in that moment—standing there, defiant, unbroken, choosing me without hesitation—she looks glorious.
Unstoppable.
Something in my chest shifts permanently, painfully, beautifully.
I know then, with absolute certainty: My heart will never be the same again.
Mikhailov recovers first. His mouth twists, cruel and deliberate.
“Say that now,” he sneers at Sienna, “but you’ll choke on it later. Women like you always do—brave until reality reminds you who you really married.”
The words land where he intends them to. I feel Sienna stiffen.
I move. Rage snaps tight in my chest, a clean line drawn straight to violence—and then—
An engine roars.
We all turn as a black car screeches to a halt behind us, headlights carving the darkness into harsh white blades. The driver’s door opens.
Dimitri steps out like death given a human shape—calm, precise, inevitable. Roman follows, expression unreadable. Then Lev, eyes sharp, already assessing angles and exits.
Three Rusnak princes.
Standing shoulder to shoulder.
Mikhailov goes pale. Truly pale.
“This—this wasn’t supposed to—” He stumbles back a step. “I have guards everywhere. How did you get in?”
I don’t take my eyes off him.
“Didn’t I tell you?” I say quietly. “You’re on Rusnak ground.”
I take a step forward.
“Everything here belongs to me,” I continue. “Your guards. The air. Your life.”
Mikhailov retreats again, breath quickening.
Dimitri’s voice cuts through the night, low and merciless.
“Step away from my family, Mikhailov.”
Sienna’s fingers clamp around my arm, fear spiking. “Sebastian,” she whispers. “No bloodshed. Please.”
I turn my head just enough to touch her hand with mine, grounding her.
“There won’t be,” I murmur.
Not for her.
