Page 120 of Twisted Pact

“I know this world better than you do. I know the threats and how to handle them.”

“And I know myself better than you do,” she retorts, throwing her hands in the air. “I know what I can handle and what will break me. But you don’t trust that.”

I grip the edge of the counter to keep from reaching for her. “Novikov is escalating. The coalition is growing. Every day you’re not legally protected makes you more vulnerable.”

“Legally protected. You mean married.”

“Yes.”

“Marriage would make me family in ways that matter to your organization. Give you a permanent claim over me and the baby and eliminate any question about our commitment.”

The detached way she describes it makes my stomach turn. “That’s not the only reason.”

“But it’s the main reason. Be honest, Alexei. If there were no external threats, would you be pushing marriage this hard?”

The question deserves honesty even if the answer complicates things. “Probably not this soon. But the threats exist. I can’t ignore them because the timing isn’t ideal.”

“So your proposal is strategic. A business decision dressed up as romance.”

“It’s both. I want to marry you because of who you are and because it protects you. Those things aren’t mutually exclusive.”

She turns away and braces herself against the sink. “My mother married my father and spent twenty-five years regretting it. She thought love would be enough to overcome the violence and constant fear. It wasn’t.”

“You’re not your mother. We’re not them.”

“How do you know? How can you be sure we won’t end up exactly like them with me broken and you too absorbed in your world to notice?”

I close the distance between us and place my hands on her shoulders. She leans her back into my chest despite herself, and I hold onto that gesture. “Because I’m paying attention. Your well-being is my priority, and I won’t let this world destroy what we’re building.”

She turns to face me with tears on her cheeks. “My mother thought the same thing about my father, and look how that ended.”

“So, what do you want from me? To walk away? To pretend we can just ignore the reality of our situation and hope it works out?”

“I want time to work through everything without feeling pressured into permanent decisions. I want space to figure out what I want instead of just reacting to external threats.”

“We don’t have time. That’s what you’re not understanding. Every delay gives our enemies more opportunities to exploit our vulnerabilities.”

“Then maybe I’m not cut out for this life. Maybe my mother is right, and I should leave before I’m too committed to walk away.”

The words punch through my chest, and I drop my arms to my sides. “Is that what you want? To leave?”

“I don’t know what I want anymore. That’s the problem. I’m so overwhelmed by everyone else’s expectations that I’ve lost track of my own desires.”

My phone vibrates on the table. I ignore it.

“Answer it,” she orders. “We’re just talking in circles anyway.”

I snatch my phone and check the screen. Dmitri. Again. Fourth time tonight.

“I need to take this,” I tell her.

“Of course you do.”

I step into the hallway and answer. “What?”

“We have a problem. Novikov’s men approached a classmate of Mila’s, a woman named Anna Ivanova, twenty minutes ago. Mila’s friend from university. They were asking questions about her routine, her relationships, and where she might be staying.”

My blood turns to ice in my veins. “How do you know this?”