Chapter 159 159

Chapter 159 159
We exchange one last glance over his shoulder. There’s worry knitted all over Maksim’s tattooed face. Second-guessing, third-guessing. He really doesn’t want to do this, I realize.

But he will.

Because he loves her.

And as he drives away into the night with her, I finally let out every breath I’d been holding.

“Congratulations,” Brad says, too close for comfort. “You’ve saved your little friend.”

I’ve saved everyone, actually. From you. “A happy bonus.”

“You always were such a good actress.”

His words make me freeze. But I know Brad’s anger, and he doesn’t look angry. If anything, I’d say he’s… impressed.

“I wasn’t acting,” I say. “I meant it.”

“Hmm. We’ll see.” He starts trailing a finger down my neck. The contact makes me shiver with horror. “Now… whatever shall I do with you?”

58

YULIAN

I wake up to icy water splashing my face.

“The hell⁠—”

“Oh, there’s Sleeping Beauty.” Nikita scoffs. “Had a nice nap?”

I sit up on the couch. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Nik?”

“Saving your ass.” She drops the empty bucket unceremoniously on the ground. “We’ve got a problem, chief. When’s the last time you saw Mia?”

Memories flood me.

Mia. The balcony. The syringe.

Her request.

“I need you to trust me.”

My answer.

“I don’t think I can.”

I shoot to my feet, but gravity takes issue with the sudden movement.

“Easy there, cowboy,” Nikita says. “You were drugged. My guess is, your girl helped with that.”

Yes, she fucking did. The realization makes me burn with betrayal.

“Tell me where she is,” I demand, holding myself up on the back of the couch. My body feels leaden—like everything’s too fucking heavy to move.

“Saw her in Maksim’s car outside the Collinses’. Thought it was weird that she didn’t come inside—just sat there, looking in. She was crying, too.”

Of course she was crying. She was saying goodbye.

“Where’s Eli?”

“Home. With his grandparents. He saw her, tried to sneak out after me to go to her, but I put him back to bed.” Nikita frowns. “Why?”

“Brad.” I force myself to walk, one painful step after the other. My wound is acting up, the effect of the painkillers long worn off. With the sedative still weighing down every move I make, everything is a struggle. “He took Kallie. Demanded Mia and Eli in exchange.”

Nikita’s eyebrows raise. “That’s why Maksim⁠—”

“He was in on it.” I clench my fists. “He helped her trade herself for Kallie.”

Just saying those words makes me feel sick. Maksim has been my second for twenty years, and a soldier of the Lozhkin Bratva since my father’s time. All this time, his loyalty has never wavered.

Until tonight.

The woman he loves was taken, the rational part of me needles. He’s wounded. He’s not thinking straight.

But right now, reason isn’t holding the wheel.

“You’re saying he took Mia?” Nikita presses. “That he kidnapped her?”

“No.” I wish it could be that fucking simple. Then I’d only have one person to be angry at instead of two. “I’m saying Mia acted on her own volition, but she didn’t act alone.”

But something still feels off. Brad—he specifically asked for Mia and Eli.

So why is Mia going alone? Why does she think he’ll let Kallie go for only half the spoils?

Because it isn’t Eli he wants. Not really.

Mia would never give up her son, but she would give herself up in a heartbeat.

I punch my fist through the counter. “BLYAT’!”

Pain shoots up my knuckles. Hot, searing pain. I might have broken something, but right now, I don’t fucking care. I need this. I deserve this.

I never should have trusted her.

At that moment, someone throws the door open. The second I see who it is, my face twists into a mask of rage. “You.”

Maks is panting in the doorway. “I know you’re pissed⁠—”

“Pissed?!” I stalk towards him, lift him by the collar. “You think I’m pissed right now? That’s what you fucking think?!”

“Yulian—”

THWACK.

My punch hits him before I can think.

Maksim’s head snaps sideways. Red blooms on his cheekbone, where my pakhan ring cut into his skin.

“I should have you killed.” It comes out like a clap of thunder. “Scratch that. I should kill you right fucking now.”

Maks’s face fills with fury. “You refused to act,” he says. “You were sulking like a goddamn teenager. I had to do something. If Mia hadn’t done what she did⁠—”

“Don’t you fucking say her name,” I roar. “Don’t you dare, you filthy traitor!”

“STOP!”

A female voice cuts into the fray.

It’s not Nikita. It’s not Mia, either—that would be too good to be true.

It’s Kallie.

She rushes out of the elevator and steps between us. “Please.” Her voice trembles as she speaks. “Please, don’t hurt him.”

Her big, brown eyes fix on me. They’re red and puffy, still wet around the edges, like she’s been crying nonstop for hours.

A sinking feeling spreads into my chest. “Where’s Mia?”

“She gave herself over,” Kallie says. “To Brad.”

So I was right. That’s what she was planning all along.

She’s gone. Again. Disappeared with that mudak, with my baby in tow, to save her friend from death.

All because of Maksim.

“Nik.” My tone is ice. “Give me your gun.”

I can see her hesitating. “Yulian…”

“Take mine,” Maksim says, defiant. “Left holster.”

I push his jacket to the side and grab it with my free hand. Maksim doesn’t break eye contact, not once.

Not even when I push him to his knees.

“NO!” Kallie screams.

She starts charging at me, but Nikita holds her still. “Don’t,” my lieutenant warns, even though her face betrays horror, too. “This is between them.”

“But he’s gonna⁠—!”

I filter it out. All of it. The screams, the pain, the heartbreak.