: Chapter 28

I can’t fucking think straight. My mother’s bleeding, shot by my cousin, who’s implying that my mother’s done something. She came here, onto my property, without permission, bypassing my guards, so I can’t imagine her intentions were any good.

And Anissa… Anissa’s carrying a bag. A fucking bag.

My ears ring. Not from the gunshot, no, from the pressure building behind my temples like something’s going to snap.

The house is a cacophony of voices, the screech of tires, phone calls made, and harsh commands. Vadka meets me on the front lawn, takes one look at me, and nods to Rodion. “Irma’s going into our custody.” He looks at me apologetically. “I witnessed everything, brother.”

Rodion steps forward, composed. His look is deadly. Certain. “We’ll get her patched up. Then Rafail needs to hear it from us.”

“Rafail,” my mother spits. “The fucking usurper. The⁠—”

Yana is already moving. She grabs my mother by the hair and yanks her up like a rag doll. My father lunges, but I intercept him, slamming a hand into his chest. He fights me, but he’s weak, and I could snap him in half. I fucking want to.

“Those that speak of my brother with disrespect lose their tongue, Irma,” Yana says with cold derision. “Please. Give me a reason to never have to listen to you speak again. Say one more word.” With a flourish, she brandishes a slick knife.

My father growls and fights. “How dare you talk to her like that?” The guards step in. It’s all noise, the sounds of prey in their dying moments, caught in the grip of a hungry predator.

Rodion’s hand is on my shoulder. Heavy. Grounding.

“We’ll deal with this, brother.” He lowers his voice. “We can’t prove anything without the council’s collaboration, but the evidence is clear. Rafail won’t order the execution yet. But it’ll be permanent exile. And if she returns… it’s a kill order.”

That breaks something in me.

Then I see her… gripping the handle of the bag.

I walk to her—calm, controlled—as if I move too fast, she’ll run like a scared mouse.

She flinches when I reach her. I wrap an arm around her waist. “Are you alright?”

She nods, obviously shaken. “Yeah. I’m okay.” She reaches a hand to my cheek and searches my eyes. “Are you?”

I feel like I’m not here, like I’m floating outside myself, watching the scene play out from a distance. My skin feels too tight. My breath too shallow. Everything inside me is splintering.

“Why do you have a bag packed like you’re leaving?”

She looks away from me and bites her lip.

“Anissa.”

“Don’t,” she whispers.

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t tell me to stay.”

I step in closer, crowding her space. I hold her chin and tilt her gaze to mine so she has to look up. My world is crumbling around me, and she’s the one certainty. “Why?”

She swallows hard, her eyes locked on mine. “Because I won’t be able to tell you no, Matvei. Because I’m weak. Because I⁠—”

I kiss her. I lean in and wrap my hand around the back of her neck, holding her to me. She whimpers, crying into my mouth. I swallow her moan. My tongue meets hers. She bites my lip, and I groan, our breaths mingled.

“Inside,” I growl into her ear. Rafail will want to talk to me, and my brothers will need to meet. We’ll need to ask questions, and I’ll have to give him answers. What I know about my parents. What we do next. How complicit were they in my brother’s betrayal? Why the broken, lifeless body of the man who hurt my woman is buried in a shallow grave. Why Anissa needs to pause all her work for my Bratva so she can erase his name from the face of the earth.

But right now, I want her.

I need her.

I grab her bag out of her hands and throw it into the open door of my house. It slams against the wall and slides to the floor.

I’ll chain her to my fucking bed before I let her run.