My hands curled into fists at my sides. “You think I don’t know what I’m doing?”
“I think that you’ve never had a relationship before, and you’re about to experience your first heartache. You don’t realize it, but you’re already changing.”
My chest tightened, making it difficult for me to breathe.
“You would’ve never brought an outsider here before,” he continued. “Would’ve never stood here and argued with me over one, especially when it comes to my security. You were dead set against me being with Wren because you saw him asa liability, yet you don’t see Leo as one. Why’s that, Sergei? Can you answer that question honestly and swear your judgment isn’t impaired?”
I held his gaze, refusing to look away. “You said it. When I cautioned you about Wren, did you stop feeling the way you did for him? No. Why can’t you understand it’s the same with Leo and me? I can’t help the way I feel about him, but for what it’s worth, I trust him. I would never put your life in jeopardy.”
Maxim’s hand clamped down on my right shoulder, and he squeezed, his face grim. “For your sake, I hope I’m wrong.”
“I know I’m not.”
I’d spent decades in the criminal world, fighting like a dog in a ring before I met Maxim. I’d seen the different faces of evil, and Leo didn’t fit any of them. If he wanted to trick me, he wouldn’t have pushed me away for so long. He wouldn’t have refrained from telling me he loved me back. He would have done and said anything to get into my bed instead of making me sweat and work harder than I’d ever done to be with someone.
Maxim looked past me then, toward the bed. “Find out what Arkady’s planning from the son. And I still need that assessment of the other three brigadiers.”
Maxim signaled to Darius that he was leaving, but he’d only taken a step when he shifted back to say, “It’s a good thing you’re not the head of security anymore. I never thought I’d have to be on my guard because of you, Sergei.”
His words cut deep, and denial sprang to my lips. How could he hint that I would betray him because of Leo? After everything we’d been through? After the bullet I’d taken while protecting him? But he had Wren, and Nik and Darius were allowed to be with their woman. Why was it a problem for me to be with the person I cared about?
I watched Darius and Maxim walk out of the warehouse,followed by two other bodyguards. More men waited on the outside. Archie was dead, but his chilling last message that this wasn’t the end lingered in our minds. Archie had accomplices we didn’t know about, and we needed to find out who they were before they struck again.
I need to get answers so Maxim can stop doubting me. I need to prove my loyalty hasn’t wavered.
My gaze trailed across the room to where Leo stood at the bedside, his attention fixed on Dmitry as though everything else had faded into the background. His movements were steady, his fingers careful as he checked the bandage at Dmitry’s throat, adjusting it with the kind of steadiness that came from years of training.
Your judgment is compromised.
Maxim’s words echoed in my head, and the need to prove him wrong. Being with Leo didn’t change anything about me.
I pushed away from the wall, the decision settling in my chest with cold certainty before I even reached the bed.
Leo didn’t look up at first when I approached. He was still focused on Dmitry, his voice low and clinical. “You’re very lucky,” he was saying, fingers pressing lightly along the wound. “The blade missed the main artery by millimeters. If it had gone any deeper?—”
“Why were you trying to kill me?”
The question cut through the room, cutting Leo off. Leo stilled, his hand pausing against Dmitry’s throat as he turned his head slowly toward me. There was confusion in his eyes, a flicker of warning in the way his body shifted.
“Sergei, can this wait? He’s still weak from the loss of blood.”
“Yeah, I’m not buying it.” I pulled Leo gently away from the bed despite his protests and took over. “If you don’t talk, I can make your stay here a lot more uncomfortable.”
Dmitry laughed, the sound weak from his injury, but thesmugness behind it was unmistakable, and it scraped across my nerves like a blade.
“Took you long enough to ask,” he rasped, his voice rough with pain but sharpened by mockery. “I was starting to think everything they whisper about you—Morozov’s Shadow—was exaggerated.”
The last thread of restraint snapped. My hand moved before I consciously decided to act, pressing hard against the bandaged wound at his throat. Dmitry choked, a broken sound tearing from him as his body jerked violently against the restraints. Blood seeped through the gauze beneath my palm, darkening it as his breathing hitched and stuttered.
“Sergei, stop!” Leo grabbed my arm, his grip firm, urgent as he tried to pull me back. “You’re reopening the wound, and he’ll bleed out?—”
“Then maybe you should let him know how important it is for him to answer my questions,” I said, my voice flat.
I didn’t look at Leo. I couldn’t. Not if I wanted to do what needed to be done. My attention stayed fixed on Dmitry, on the panic blooming in his eyes as reality set in. He was restrained. Injured. And entirely at my mercy.
“Talk,” I ordered, increasing the pressure.
For a moment, I thought he might break. His chest heaved, his hands flexing uselessly against the restraints, his body straining as instinct fought against pain.
