Chapter 154 154

Chapter 154 154
“I didn’t do anything.”

“You did everything. You saved me, Mia. My life, my heart—you saved all of me.” One last kiss, just where my ring used to be. “You trusted me. And I’m sorry it took me so long to trust you back.”

The mention of trust brings my lie back to mind. Guilt floods me. “You did trust me,” I whisper. “You brought me back.”

“But I didn’t let you in.” He grasps my hands tighter, but never enough to hurt. “Because the truth is, I was terrified. What would happen if I did that and lost you? But then I was losing you anyway. Keeping you at arm’s length, never letting you know what I was thinking. I thought it’d be okay if it was my choice, but I was lying to myself. Do you know why?”

“Why?”

“Because I thought I was going to die, and all I could think about was you.” He touches his forehead to mine. Our breaths mingle together. “You’re already my family, Mia Winters. You, Eli, and our baby. I wouldn’t change that for the world. And I don’t want any more lies between us.”

I start shaking. I can’t help it. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to hear—all I never thought I’d ever, ever hear.

After this, I’ll tell him. That quiet promise to myself burns a hole in my heart. I’ll tell him everything.

All this time, I didn’t feel safe coming clean to him because I had no idea what he’d do. But that’s what trust is, isn’t it? Believing the other person will do the right thing. That he won’t trample over your wishes just because he can. The only example I ever had was Brad, and well, look how that turned out.

But Yulian’s willing to try. He’s willing to beat his past and make room for me.

And…

“You were going to die for us,” I say. “To protect us.”

“I was,” he confesses. “But that means nothing if I’m not willing to live for you, too.”

He kisses me. It’s a slow, tender thing—a brush of lips and nothing more. I can taste the salt of my tears in it, the iron of his blood. Everything we’ve ever shed for each other.

“This would be the part where I get down on one knee,” he murmurs. “But you’re gonna have to take this IV out first.”

The absurdity makes me laugh. “No way. You’ll get better, and then you’ll get down on one knee.”

“And when I do?” For the first time, I hear hesitation in his voice. “What will you say?”

For once, the answer’s easy. For once, it’s the easiest thing in the world.

“I’ll say yes.”

His next kiss is nothing like the first. It’s fire, and passion, and everything he’s been pushing down since the day we met.

I’m about to lose myself to it when⁠—

“Yulian!”

The door slams open. We both turn to see Maksim, all bandaged up, breathing hard in the doorway.

“He took her,” he wheezes. “Kalinda’s gone.”

54

YULIAN

Moving around hurts like hell and a half, but I force myself to stand.

The second I move, Mia darts towards me. “Yulian, you can’t⁠—”

“It’s alright.” I speak softly to her. Then I turn to Maksim. “Explain.”

It may seem harsh to her, but I know my second. Right now, Maksim doesn’t need his friend. He needs his pakhan.

And that’s exactly what I’ll give him.

He’s breathing hard, struggling to speak. I remember his punctured lung. In comparison, my flesh wound is a scratch, even with all of Desya’s kicking. It’s insane that he’s even standing.

“She was…” he gasps. “She was with me. At the hospital. In Brownsville.”

So she had him operated on there. Smart move. Manhattan General is unfamiliar territory. Never know who to trust, who to keep an eye on. Plus, that surgeon Adams did a pretty good job patching up Zhenya. Shit fucking attitude, but hands of gold. No doubt Kazimir remembered, too.

But I don’t have time to dwell on relief. Maksim is hanging on for now, but if we don’t get Kallie back, there’s no telling what he’ll do. “Tell me what you saw.”

“I didn’t see, but I heard.” His fists clench at his sides. “She stepped out for a second, and then there was a struggle. She tried to scream. I dragged myself out of bed, but she was already gone.”

“You didn’t see who took her?”

“Who else do you think?” he spits. “It’s that fucking mudak. Has to be. We need to get her back, we⁠—”

“That’s impossible.”

“You’re not hearing me.” Maksim drags himself to me, eyes crazed and bulging. “He has her. She’s—fucking hell, she’s my life. I can’t just leave her!”

“I’m not asking you to.”

“Then what⁠—”

“Desya’s dead.”

Maksim’s face drains. “You’re shitting me.”

“I’m not.” I jerk my head towards Mia. “Ask her if you don’t believe me.”

He turns to Mia. She’s standing a little way off, pale and shaking. “It’s true,” she whispers. “I… I shot him.”

Maksim looks shocked. “And you saw him die?”

“Yes. He fell into the water afterwards. He… didn’t come back up.”

Blyat’. I can’t begin to imagine what she must be feeling. Earlier tonight, she thought she was going to lose me. She killed someone to avoid that happening. Broke her oath, betrayed every single one of her convictions.

Now, it’s her best friend she might lose.

That’s not gonna happen. Whoever took Kallie—I will find them. And once she’s safe, I’ll make them pay with their blood. For Mia and Maks.

“Then who?” Maksim asks, sitting heavily on the couch. “Prizrak?”

“Could be,” I concede. “If he ordered this before he went. He was always playing chess when everyone else was playing checkers.”

Maksim’s fist slams into the coffee table. “Fuck! Then what are we gonna do about it?!”

Before I can answer, a telephone rings. It’s not mine. It’s not Maksim’s, either.

We both turn to Mia.

“It’s an unknown number,” she says quietly.

My instincts flare. “Put it on speaker,” I tell her.

“O-Okay.” She accepts the call with trembling hands. “Hello?”

“Hey, sweet thing.”

I recognize that voice instantly. Without thinking, I snatch the phone. “You fucking monster,” I growl.

“What the hell did you do?!” It’s Maksim, yelling loud enough for the receiver to pick it up. “Where’s Kalinda, you filthy piece of shit?!”

“Oh, good, everyone’s there. That’ll make this easier.” His words are dripping in sarcasm. “But I’m afraid I have no interest in speaking with hothead men. So put my woman back on.”

“She’s not your woman,” I spit. “You’ve lost, Brad. Get the fuck over it, or I’ll make you.”

A short, icy pause. “Either put her back on, or you can forget about seeing the Indian girl again.”

Maksim’s face paints with rage, Mia’s with dread.

“You son of a—” I start, but Mia stops me.

“Let me,” she begs. “Please.”

I don’t want to. In fact, I want to keep Mia as far away as I can from this fucking monster.

But she’s not wrong. Brad has a hostage, I remind myself. And right now, Mia’s our best way of negotiating.

I grit my teeth and hand over the phone.

“Thank you,” she says to me, then places it on the counter so we can all hear. “I’m here, Brad.”

“Good.” I hate the way he says it—so goddamn self-satisfied and cocky. Like it was only a matter of time before he sunk his claws into her again. “You see, I didn’t like how we left things.”

“You mean, when I beat you?” Mia fires at him.

He laughs, cold and cruel. “Sure, if that’s what you think happened. But see, you little blackmail stunt really got me thinking.”

Blackmail? I glance over to Mia, but her face has shuttered. Like she suddenly can’t look me in the eye anymore.

What the⁠—

“Brad,” she says, almost pleading. “We really don’t have to go over⁠—”

“Oh, but we do,” he counters. “That money trail you found on my computer? I checked. As I thought, it was all autopay. An old agreement of my father’s. Sure, his shadowy friends in high places were still helping, but to be honest? It was basically payroll. I hardly ever thought about it. But then you threatened to tell your sugar daddy, so I told myself… Well, what if I cashed in on all those overdue favors?”

“What’s he talking about?” I interject. “What blackmail? What friends in high places?”

“Yulian, please⁠—”

But Brad must overhear, because he hacks out another laugh. “Oh, that’s rich. So you really didn’t know? Your baby mama was threatening to expose me to you.” His tone turns gleeful. “For being in business with Prizrak.”

The world stops turning.