Page 51 of Ruined By Sin

Kazimir shrinks toward the door. "I suggest you have a serious talk with her while you're calm. Find out what she knows. Find out how you actually feel about her—because if I’m being honest,the past few weeks is the happiest I've ever seen you. And then talk to Roman. He needs to know what's going on."

I never got to the part about Morin, or Kira's accusations about how he's the one stirring up the strife to hide his own indiscretions, but Kaz isn't the one who can sort that out, anyway. It's me and Roman.

It still hurts that she didn't trust me to be honest, but Kaz is right. She was afraid, and she had no reason to trust her enemy not to hurt her. I never gave her the benefit of the doubt, and she never returned that courtesy to me, either.

"Kaz," I say when he gets to the door. He turns and looks up at me, yawning. "Thank you."

"Call Ro," he grumbles as he walks out.

I have half a mind to march back up to her room and lecture her again, but Kazimir is right. I have to wait until I'm totally calm. I'll sleep on it and maybe talk to her tomorrow. But first I need to talk to Roman.

He needs to know the shit just hit the fan.

24

KIRA

I've been staring at the ceiling for over an hour, turning from one side to the other, kicking the sheets off and pulling them back on. My neck aches every time I swallow, and my eyes are swollen from crying. But every time I close them I see Timur's face, the way he looked at me like I was something he needed to cut out of himself—a diseased organ that no longer functions and is killing him.

I sit up and swing my legs off the bed, unable to lie still anymore. I can't just lie here feeling sorry for myself knowing that he still believes killing my family is going to protect his. My heart has to believe that maybe there's still a version of this where he listens to me about his friend and stops ordering the senseless killing of my entire family. I promised Uncle Victor I would do my best, and I can't give up.

So I slip on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, then don my robe and walk to the bedroom door. Timur was so angry when he stormed out, he didn't even lock it, so I step out of the room cautiously.

The hallway's empty and the house is mostly quiet, but I do hear voices coming from somewhere across the house. I'm shocked Dryden isn't standing guard outside the door like normal, or one of the other men whose names I don't remember. And I can't believe Tim was so upset, he's not even paying attention to me.

The study door is open a crack. A strip of light cuts across the hallway floor and the voices are clearer now. I stop a few feet from the door and pause, closing my eyes briefly to let my hearing focus on what they're saying. I recognize Dryden and Timur, and finally, Morin, that sick bastard. He's a poison to anything about Timur that's actually good and the man can't even see it.

It makes me so angry. Why does he cling to that man so hard and refuse to see how evil he is? Why didn't he want to listen to me?

"The meeting happens the first Thursday of every month at the same warehouse, same time, with same people. Victor runs it personally and brings everyone. Everyone who leads is there, so if we hit it right, we take out the entire leadership in one move."

I don’t even know how Morin would even know all this shit about my family if he weren't really doing exactly what Victor says. I told Timur, and he doesn't care. He hasn't even verified how Morin is getting his information. He could be asking how Morin knows this, but he's too busy plotting to destroy my family.

I lean in on the wall to steady myself, but my heart is wrenching violently in my chest. I want to run in there and smack them all, make them stop what they’re doing. That is my father and uncle and brother they’re talking about killing, and I don't know how to stop them.

"How solid is this intel?" Timur asks. The urge to rush in there feels so overwhelming, I can barely stop myself. I grit my teeth but my chest feels ready to explode.

"Rock solid. I've had eyes on that warehouse for weeks. They don't deviate. Victor's a creature of habit and it's going to get him killed."

Liar... He's been in bed with my family for years, and he fucked up. He fucked up so badly, my uncle wants to kill him for what he's done and what he knows. Morin just wants to destroy all the evidence against him and any trace that he was double-crossing his own family.

"Dugan will be there?" Dryden sounds antsy, like he's wanting to get moving fast. I'm so glad that our family meeting isn't for another forty-eight hours. It means I still have time to warn them not to show up. That thought makes my heart stop pounding and start racing.

"Semyon, Victor, the brother..." Morin is scheming his evil, and he's going to pay for it. I'm going to make sure. "If we go in heavy, we end the entire Mirov threat against us, and then it's just cleanup after that.”

"Fine," Timur snarls, but he doesn't sound happy. I can't see him from where I stand, but I know his tones the way I know his body. I've sensed and felt him so deeply, it feels like his emotions are my own. But he's angry at the wrong person. He shouldn’t be seething over Mirov threats. He should be furious with a man who has blindsided him.

"What about the woman?" Dryden asks.

Morin answers before Timur can. "She's not a factor. By the time we hit that warehouse, there won't be a family for her to go back to... And if need be, I'll take care of that myself. "

Timur doesn't even protest or try to defend me. I know I lied about who I really am, but he's done far worse things. Killing innocent lives, like my cousins.

I push off the wall and move down the hallway toward the kitchen, moving as silently as I can, but I still hear their voices behind me. I can't let their plan move forward, even if it means risking my life. Timur isn't going to listen to me at all, and with Morin pushing him toward total annihilation of my family, someone has to do something.

My body drifts toward the front door where I pause. If I do this, there's no going back. I won't be able to convince Timur that my feelings for him are real, and I won't be able to get his arms back to hold me or his hands to tenderly wipe the tears from my cheeks. Opening this door means I'm severing any trust or bond we have permanently, but my heart knows it's never going to happen anyway.

I made a promise to my father and Victor that I would do this job, and I’ve failed to do it the way they hoped. Which means I have to improvise, adapt, and overcome. The hardest part about this is not knowing how Victor will respond, because if he decides to set a trap, it may not be Morin alone who gets hurt. Timur may be injured or killed too.