Page 146 of Stolen Empire

"Rolan and I met with his lieutenants today," Dimitri continues. "We're going to honor the pact my father made with yours. That means you're under Vetrov protection officially. We're taking a twenty percent cut from the eastern territories to cover the agreement terms, and we're reaching out to the other families to make it public."

"Twenty percent."

I try to wrap my head around what that means.

"That's a lot of money to give up for someone you barely know."

"It's not about the money."

His hand tightens on mine.

"It's about reputation and keeping our word. If we break the pact, every other family in Moscow will know the Vetrovs can't be trusted. That's worth more than any profit margin."

I hear what he's not saying.

It's also about me, about keeping me alive, about not letting the Radiches win.

But he won't say that part out loud because admitting it would make him vulnerable.

"What about their vendetta against you, because you killed their soldier?"

The entire play for me was to get information to help him uncover who put the hit on his head.

It feels like everyone has forgotten that in this madness that has thrown my life into upheaval.

"I don't think they even care now. They're more concerned with killing you before we can locate your family to realign the families."

The brutal honesty of it cuts through any illusions I might've been holding onto.

I can't go back to my quiet life as a con artist.

I can't slip back into anonymity and pretend none of this happened.

My father's name has marked me in ways I'm only beginning to understand, and the only path forward is the one that keeps me standing in the middle of violence I never asked for.

"I need a shower," Dimitri says, standing slowly.

I can see the way his body aches, though he'll never admit it.

"We're leaving in an hour. Pack whatever you need, but travel light. We're not coming back here for a while."

He disappears into the bathroom, and I hear the water start a moment later.

I sit on the couch for a long time, staring at nothing, trying to process everything he just told me.

The Radiches want me dead.

The Vetrovs are risking their reputation and their profits to keep me alive.

Dimitri's moving me to a safehouse like I'm some kind of asset that needs protecting.

And somewhere in Perm, my mother lives her quiet life, probably never expecting that the daughter she tried so hard to hide would end up right back in the world she fled from.

But I'm here—knowing there's a target on my back.

Knowing those people know who I am and where I'm from.

They'll find her and they'll use her to draw me out. I just know it.