Page 111 of Wicked Refusal

I clench my fists and shake my head. “I’m not going to play along with this.”

“So you’d rather be killed?” This time, he’s the one who steps into my space. His frame towers over mine, tall and furious. “You’d rather lose both your children and your life? Just to spare that worthless asshole?”

“I’d rather not leave both my kids fatherless,” I bite back. “You saw what happened with Desya. Last night, it was Zhenya, but it could’ve easily been you. And I’m supposed to just, what? Be okay with that?”

“I don’t care whether you’re okay with it or not, but you’re doing it.” His face is wrinkled in a deep scowl. “You’re going to get on that plane, take Eli with you, and get the hell out of this city before next Sunday rolls around. That’s an order.”

I blink. “Next Sunday?”

Yulian seems to realize his mistake. “Forget it.”

“What’s happening next Sunday, Yulian?”

“I said to forget it.”

“It’s another trap, isn’t it?” He tries to walk away, but I block him. “You’re risking it all again, and you don’t want me to be there.”

“For fuck’s sake, Mia!” he roars. “Can’t you just do what you’re told, for once?”

“No.”

“Listen to me?—”

“I said no.”

He glares at me. I glare right back. I’m so angry, and yet, I can feel the tears bubbling up to my eyes, because it’s not just anger I feel.

It’s heartbreak.

I trusted Yulian to bring me into his life again. Trusted that he’d protect me, take care of me, never leave me.

But now, he’s kicking me out.

And I won’t have that. I won’t be yanked around like this again. Not now, not ever.

I take a deep breath and fix him with a hard stare. “I’m not running anymore,” I tell him. “I’m sorry, but I’m just not. I’m going to stick with you, I’m going to fight alongside you, and I’m going to be with you every time you go out there and risk your life.That’smy decision.”

“Mia—”

“So if you’re going to make me walk out that door, then by all means, do it. But you don’t get to decide where I go after that.” My voice breaks on the last sentence. “And you sure as hell don’t get to demand me back a third time.”

It takes a long time for Yulian to answer. When he does, his words taste like nothing at all. “Do whatever the hell you want.”

Then he’s out the door again.

I sink into the couch and try to remember how to breathe. I have no idea how long I stay there, just staring into nothingness.

Before I know it, the doorbell rings again.

It’s Mom, and Dad, and Ginny—and Kallie and Eli, too, back from their ice cream run.

My family. The one Yulian wants me to leave.

But I’m not leaving them.

Not again.

Not for anything.