Page 76 of Twisted Pact

“How?”

“I’m not lying to her about who she is. She knows exactly what’s happening and why.”

“You’re lying to yourself if you think that makes this better.”

My phone vibrates with a text from Boris.Compound secured. Ready for transport in thirty minutes.

“We need to go,” I tell Dmitri.

Dmitri moves for the door. “I’ll coordinate with Boris. But Alexei… push her too hard, and she’ll run the first chance she gets.”

“She won’t.”

“How can you be sure?”

I’m not. Not about her. Not about what I’ll give up to keep her safe. Not about whether protection and control are the same damn thing.

Twenty minutes later, we’re loading suitcases into armored cars. Mila moves like a ghost. She follows orders, gets in, and stares out the window while Moscow fades behind us.

The compound is as Dmitri described: isolated and built into the rock like a fortress. It looks harmless from the street, but below ground, it’s steel doors, reinforced walls, and independent power, water, and air systems that could keep a family alive through a siege. My father built it to survive a war.

“Home, sweet home,” Mila mutters as we step inside.

I want to tell her it’s temporary, and that when this is over, she’ll get her life back.

But it’s a lie.

I don’t want her to go back.

I want her here. With me.

That truth makes me as dangerous as the men we’re hiding from.

She drifts through the rooms like she’s touring a morgue.

“The master suite is below,” I tell her. “Private bathroom. Walk-in closet.”

“Great.”

She descends the stairs with her suitcase. I follow at a distance, giving her space to process everything.

Halfway down, she stops and grabs the railing like she needs it for support, holding her stomach.

“You okay?”

“Fine,” she grits out. “Just tired.”

“Maybe you should eat something. You barely touched dinner.”

“I’m not hungry.”

She continues unsteadily down the stairs. When she leans against the wall for a moment before continuing to the bedroom, I know something’s wrong.

“Mila…”

“I just need to lie down for a few minutes.”

She disappears into the bedroom and closes the door. I hear the lock click.