Something flashes across his face. Anger, maybe. Or respect. With Aleksandr, it's hard to tell the difference.
"I want you to understand something." His free hand comes up, fingers gripping my chin. The touch sends electricity skittering down my spine. "My memory coming back doesn't change the fact that people are hunting me. Powerful people. Dangerous people."
"I know that."
"Do you?" His thumb brushes across my lower lip, and I hate the way my breath catches. "Because if they don't already know about you, they will soon. And when they do, you become a target. Again."
The words sink in like stones in deep water. He's right. Of course he's right. The moment anyone realizes I matter to him, even as a former target, I'm leverage. A weakness to exploit.
"So, what?" I ask, my voice barely above a whisper. "You're protecting me now?"
His laugh is harsh, humorless. "I'm protecting my interests. There's a difference."
He releases me abruptly, and I stumble back a step. My arm burns where he held me, and I resist the urge to rub the spot, to acknowledge the effect he has on me.
"Five minutes," he says, already turning back toward the car. "Any longer and I'm coming in after you."
I watch him walk away, admiring the confident stride despite myself. Then I turn and head inside, my mind racing.
Five minutes. Five minutes to figure out if the man I fell in love with is really gone or if there's any part of him left worth saving. Five minutes to decide if I'm being taken back for protection.
Or if Aleksandr is taking me back to finish what he started.
32
ALEKSANDR
The highway stretches endlessly ahead, gray asphalt cutting through snow-covered landscape that all looks the same after the first hundred miles. Danil drives with the steady competence of a man who's spent half his life behind the wheel, his eyes constantly checking mirrors, scanning for threats that probably aren't there but might be.
I sit in the passenger seat, my mind already back in the city even though we're still hours away. Two days of driving. Two days to plan my return, to calculate who's loyal and who needs to be reminded why betrayal is a fatal mistake.
In the backseat, Lena hasn't spoken in three hours.
I catch her reflection in the side mirror. She's staring out the window, her arms wrapped around herself like she's trying to hold the pieces together. The morning light catches in her blonde hair, turning it gold, and even furious and terrified, she's gorgeous. The curve of her neck, the way her sweater clings to full breasts that I've had in my mouth, the memory of how those long legs felt wrapped around my waist.
My cock stirs, and I force myself to look away. Not the time. Not when I'm trying to think strategically instead of with my dick.
"You should eat something," Danil says quietly, nodding toward the bag of food we picked up at the last gas station.
"Not hungry."
"You need to keep your strength up." He glances at me, then back at the road. "It's going to be a long few days when we get back."
He's right. The moment word spreads that I'm alive, every ambitious captain and rival family will be watching to see if I'm still the man I was. Any sign of weakness, any hesitation, and they'll move.
"What's the temperature been like?" I ask, keeping my voice low enough that Lena won't hear clearly from the back.
"Tense." Danil's eyes constantly move, looking at the road, any cars we pass, and the sides of the road. Always on the lookout for any trouble. "Ronnie's been holding things together. He's been asking where I've been, but not in a suspicious way. He's worried."
I nod slowly. Ronnie's sharp, always has been. One of my best captains, loyal as they come. The kind of man who keeps the operation running smooth even when everything's falling apart.
"Ronnie I can trust, "I said. "He's been with me long enough to know when to ask and when to stay quiet. "What about Ivan?"
Danil's jaw tightens. "That's where it gets complicated. He's been asking a lot of questions. Wants to know where you are, when you're coming back, whether you're even coming back. He's been talking to some of the younger guys, testing their loyalty."
My hands clench. Ivan. Of course. "How many?"
"Hard to say. But Ronnie's noticed it. He's been keeping them close, reminding them where their real loyalty should be. But Ivan's ambitious, Aleksandr. He's been waiting for an opening, and your absence looks like one to him."
