“You awake?”
Sergei sprang up, then froze.
Keisha.
“How long have you been up?”
“Long enough,” she replied.“Couldn’t really sleep, being worried about Miguel and Tiana.Especially after finding that brick with that symbol on it, on the front porch of the Rossi’s.”
Guilt cut sharp.
He crossed to the window, scanning the alley.
“It was just a brick,” he lied.
“Bullshit.”She stepped closer.“I saw your face when you picked it up.You recognized that symbol.”
His jaw tightened.Two crossed vines on the brick.Kryvaya Stal mark.His old life, bleeding into hers.“Drop this, Keisha,” he said, voice flat.
“So you can play hero while lying?”Her eyes narrowed.“I’m not going anywhere until you explain that symbol.”
His jacket creaked, arms folding.“I’m keeping you safe.”
“By hiding the truth?”She closed the gap, coffee on her breath.Her tremor worsened.“That brick was for you, not me.”
She was right.
Kryvaya Stal’s message.
Betrayer.
Keisha was too close, collateral in their hunt.
“You’re tied to them,” she said.“The ones trafficking kids.”
“No.”Too quick.“I’m not with them.”
“But you were.”Her gaze dropped to his tattoos.“Those marks on your arms.”
His fingers flexed, tracing hidden ink—loyalty, rank, a past he couldn’t erase.“You want truth?”He loomed over her, voice low.“It can lead to your death.”
“Kids are disappearing.”Her voice steadied despite her shaking hand.“Tiana’s in danger, and you know why.”
Svetlana’s accusation echoed.You didn’t protect me.
“I left years ago,” Sergei said, throat raw.“They don’t let go.”
Keisha sank onto the cot.“Coastal Futures...they’re part of it?”
“A front.”He sat beside her, words bitter.“Adoption scams, weapons, kids moved for cash.I was their muscle.”He met her eyes, showing the darkness.“Until I wasn’t.”
Her breath hitched.“What happened?”
“I let Svetlana, my sister, die.”The confession burned.“She found out what I did, threatened to talk.I hesitated.Someone else didn’t.”
Her face softened, then hardened.“That’s why you’re hiding things.But Tiana—”
“I know what’s at stake.”His voice snapped.“That’s why you need to stop before they target you.”
