Page 106 of Fallen Empire

But it was my turn to set the room on fire.

“Tell me about Alex,” I said, looking to Jaxson.

His entire face shifted, like a kid caught in something he couldn’t explain.

“I’m not mad at you for not telling me,” I added quickly. “I probably wouldn’t have remembered.”

I definitely would have. I just wasn’t going to tell him that.

If he was going to get better at not keeping secrets, I needed to start giving him some grace for the ones he already had. Because everything he’d done since the moment I stepped into his life had been to protect me.

And now, I knew that. Even if I still didn’t fully understand why.

Ben shifted against the wall, the movement subtle but sharp. When I looked at him, his discomfort was obvious. Nervous. Stiff.

Whatever this was… it couldn’t be good.

“Alex’s real name is Aleksei Koslov. He’s head of the Russian Mafia.”

My eyebrows drew together, confused. What would the Russian Mafia have to do with my father?

But as the pieces shifted into place, the answer landed like a punch to the chest.

Bruce.

I nodded slowly, and Jaxson mirrored the motion like he’d heard the word I hadn’t said aloud.

“Bruce,” he confirmed. “As I mentioned, your father only dealt drugs. But Bruce’s ties… they went far beyond what we originally thought. We didn’t give him enough credit—despite him only being a puppet in their world.”

He glanced over at Ben, who had finally sat down, his gaze glued to Millie across the room. She still pretended he didn’t exist.

“We still don’t know what he’s up to,” Ben said quietly. “But he left a note for Jaxson. The night he attacked you.”

I tried to follow.

Tried to make sense of what they were saying.

If he left a note before I was kidnapped, why was he still a threat now?

The medicine was already wrapping around my brain like a blanket. My thoughts slowed, blurred at the edges, slipping away before I could catch them. I widened my eyes, trying to stay alert.

“I’m still not sure what it meant. It would make sense if he left it after I…” Jaxson’s voice drifted off, and for a split second, something flickered in his eyes.

Like he was adjusting the story in real time.

“After I took Bruce’s life,” he finished.

But Ben looked toward him, still and watching. Almost like he was trying to figure out what Jaxson had been about to say. And in that moment, I knew—Jaxson wasn’t saying everything he needed to. He was bleeding facts while avoiding the entire truth.

“What did the note say?” Millie asked.

“You took something from me. Now I’ll take everything from you. The war has only just begun.”

“But that doesn’t make sense,” I whispered. My brain was depleted. Exhaustion was winning, and my need to know everything was fading fast into blackness.

“I know,” Jaxson said gently. “That’s why we’re trying to figure it out.”

He moved closer, leaning in until I could feel the warmth of his breath against my cheek.