Page 14 of Konstantin

My chest tightens. “Like hell it isn’t.”

He sighs, long and slow. “I don’t need your heroics.”

“Well, tough shit.” A faint smile tugs at my lips. “You’re getting them anyway.”

His gaze holds mine for a long moment. And maybe it’s the exhaustion or the pain or just the years we’ve spent holding each other up, but he finally nods.

It’s slight. Barely there. But I see it: a small surrender.

“Don’t get yourself killed, you hear me? And I swear, whatever plan you have, it better not involve the Marinovs.”

What he doesn’t know won’t kill him…

I reach for his hand, squeezing lightly. He squeezes back, just as he did when we were kids, hiding in a locked bedroom while our mother raged on the other side of the door.

“I’ll fix this, Nate,” I whisper. “I swear.”

His fingers tighten around mine, but he doesn’t say what we’re both thinking.

I’m in way over my head. I’m about to make a deal with the devil himself.

But Konstantin is my only way to save him.

The only problem is…I don’t know who I’ll be once it’s over.

Or if I’ll even make it out alive.

KONSTANTIN

Veronika drops the stack of applications onto my desk with a dramatic flourish, like she’s just handed me something precious instead of a pile of paperwork I couldn’t give less of a damn about.

“So, who was that girl leaving your office yesterday?” she asks, sinking into the chair across from me like she owns the place.

I don’t look up from the file I’m skimming. “Someone who will never work for me.”

She laughs, and my jaw twitches. I flick my gaze up, already irritated.

“What?” I snap, knowing whatever she’s about to say will make me regret this conversation.

“Nothing.” She throws her hands in the air, all mock innocence. “It’s just…” Her lips press as she fights back a smirk.

“Veronika,” I say slowly, voice edged with warning. “I don’t have time for your nonsense. Say what you want to say, then leave.”

“You’re always so pleasant.” She sighs dramatically,like dealing with me is an insufferable burden. “If you keep up with this moody attitude, you’ll die alone.”

I finally set the file down and level her with a stare. “That’s the point.”

Her eyes roll so hard, I half-expect her to tip out of the chair. She’s worked for me long enough to know how far she can push before she steps into dangerous territory. It’s been five years, and somehow she’s still breathing. Impressive.

“It’s all fun now, being single and fucking without commitment, but when you’re pushing seventy, you’re gonna want to cuddle up to a good woman.”

I let out a stoic laugh. “You assume I’ll be alive by then. Even sitting here right now is a miracle, wouldn’t you say?”

She exhales, shaking her head like I’m some lost cause. “You’re impossible. But that girl, whoever she was, the one Mira said you rejected… I saw the way you acted after she walked out of your office. You wanted her.”

Of course she already knows all about the girl. She was just asking me to see what I’d say. I sometimes forget how cunning she is.

My fingers tighten around the pen in my hand. “Veronika, how about you stop talking before I fire you?”