“I’m going to keep her alive,” Gabriel retorts. “And this is the only way to do it.”
Liza opens her mouth to speak, her finger raised. But she stops before a single word comes out when she realizes I’m there.
“Thea,” she says, surprised.
“What the hell is going on?” I ask. “I could hear you arguing from all the way upstairs.”
She looks at Gabriel, and he looks at me. Neither of them says a word.
“I want to know what’s going on,” I demand. “Now.”
“Mrs. Andrin has concerns,” Gabriel says. “And she felt the need to express them first thing in the morning.”
“When the hell else was I supposed to bring them up? This goddamn council… you can’t be serious! No, I can’t stand by and watch this happen.”
"Watch what happen?" I ask.
"This." She gestures around the kitchen. "You, here. With him. Playing house while Kolya Sokolov has men looking for you all over the city. And now he’s planning on taking you with him to this damn council. Thea, do you know what he has in mind for you tonight?”
"I have some idea, yes."
"No, you don't. You think Gabriel is going to fix this? Kill Kolya and that's it, problem solved? That's not how this works." She looks at me with desperate eyes. "If word gets out that a Fetisov survived, more will come. There will always be someone who sees your name as a threat. A weapon. A target. If Kolya dies, do you think you'll be free? You'll never be free, Thea. Not in this city. Not in this country. Not while your real name exists in anyone's memory."
I don’t know what to say. I wish I could write off her words as panic or jealousy, but I can’t.
"That's enough," Gabriel says.
“No, it’s not enough. This is her life you’re playing with. And if you think I’m going to just stand here and?—"
“Basta.” His tone drops. “You don’t get to make this decision.”
Liza snorts, then puts her hands on her hips. “Oh, and you think you do?” Her tone is fierce, surprisingly so, and in that moment, I see the tough woman who raised me, the one who ran with mobsters. “You bought her and brought her into this world. She could’ve stayed hidden. You could’ve?—"
“No, it was only a matter of time before Kolya found out who she is.”
“Speculation,” she fires back. “But whatisn’ta guess is that by bringing her here, you’ve made her a bigger target than she was before. I heard about what happened at her apartment, how she was nearly taken, how you killed two men right in front of her.”
My stomach shifts at the memory.
“He knows. I feel it in my gut. And he knows because of you. What’s even worse is that Kolya’s not the only one who wants her out of the picture. Even if you get him banished or killed, there are still a dozen leaders in the Bratva who want to make sure the Fetisov name stays dead. She’ll never be safe as long as her identity is known.”
"Liza—" I start.
"Leave, Thea." She turns to me, and for the first time in my life, I see genuine terror in her eyes. "Run. Don't pack, don't plan, just go. Leave America. Go somewhere no one knows your face or your name. Change everything. Start over."
"That's not reasonable."
"I should have done it years ago," she continues, her voice breaking. "When you were eighteen. Instead of leaving you, I should have taken you with me. Taken you somewhere safe. I was a coward. I should’ve told you the truth, given you thechance to escape. But I was scared. I was scared for myself and for Sissy. "
Silence hangs heavy for a full minute.
"Are you finished?" I say quietly.
She blinks. "What?"
"Look, I appreciate that you're scared. I appreciate that you're trying now. A few years late, but it’s still trying. However, I need you to understand something."
I narrow my eyes at her.
