Page 32

YULIAN

Once Mia has calmed down, I bring her up to speed on Desya’s ambush.

“Jesus,” she whispers when I’m done. She’s sitting at the counter, a warm cup of tea in her hands, pale like a ghost. “I… I’m so sorry, Yulian. It’s all my fault. I was late?—”

“It’s not your fault, so stop apologizing.” It comes out harsher than I’d meant. I take a deep breath and steady myself. “He’s probably been waiting for days to ambush me like this . ”

“Well, it worked.” She sounds so concerned that it breaks something in me. I should be protecting her, for fuck’s sake. Instead, here I am, making her feel like it’s her duty to protect me. “Promise me, next time you go anywhere, you’ll at least take Maksim with you?”

I grimace. If I hadn’t put so much on him, he’d have been with me. Looking out for me, like he always does. Like I always do for him.

But he’s doing something else for me now. And I don’t want Mia knowing what that is. Don’t want to make her worries worse.

“He’s busy,” I say curtly.

“Then make him un-busy.”

“I can’t.”

“Then take Nikita.”

“And leave you alone?” I shake my head firmly. “No. Out of the question.”

Mia leans forward on her elbows. Her blue gaze bores deep into me. “There’s something you’re not telling me.”

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing if you’re keeping it from me on purpose.”

“You don’t need to know.”

“Just like I didn’t need to know you were using me as bait last year?”

Her words cut deep—because they’re true.

Bait is exactly our strategy. So what would she do if I told her that? If she knew I was back to playing games with someone else’s life, even if it’s not hers?

But what if I don’t tell her and she finds out anyway? What will she do then?

I don’t have to ask that question. The answer is burned in my heart. Because it’s what she’s already done once before.

She’ll leave.

And I can’t have that. Not again, not ever.

When I don’t say anything, regret flashes across Mia’s face. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.”

“No.” My fists unclench. “That was honest. And it’s high time I was, too.”

Mia’s eyes widen. She was probably expecting me to lash out, not own up to it.

Last year, it’s exactly what I would have done. But I’ve learned something since then. There are things worth keeping, and sacrifices worth making to keep them.

So I take a deep breath, sit back down, and tell her about my plan.

By the time I’m done, Mia is pacing a hole in the floor. “This is insane. What if it doesn’t work?” she cries. “What if you end up delivering your vory straight into a trap?”

“It’s a risk we’ll have to take.”

“Yulian—”

“Mia.” I stop her pacing and take both her hands in mine. “I have no choice. If I don’t do anything, he’ll get them anyway. It might be a month from now, or a year, or even ten. But Desya’s not going to stop.”

She looks up at me. Her blue eyes are filled with conflict. “I know,” she whispers eventually.

“Then you also know I have to do this.”

“Yeah. I know that, too.”

“Good.” I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. The plan was going to go forward regardless of Mia’s blessing, but it’ll be easier like this. A war on one front instead of two. “I’ll?—”

“But I’m coming with you.”

I drop her hands. “That’s out of the question,” I growl.

“Why?”

I can think of a million reasons just off the top of my head.

You’ll be at risk. You’ll get hurt. You’re pregnant. You’re not trained.

You’re mine.

I won’t put you in danger ever again.

“You know why,” I grit instead, knuckles white.

Mia’s expression softens. Fondness floods it—no, love . Pure, selfless love, the kind no other person on the planet is capable of.

“I understand,” she says. “But you have to understand, too. I’m a trained medical professional. I can’t leave you, I won’t leave you, and I see no reason to leave you. Not when you’ll need someone like me on the field with you.”

“‘Someone like you’ doesn’t have to be you.”

“It does.” She steps closer, grabs my hands again. “Because I care. I’m not going to leave your safety in the hands of some underground mafia doctor who might just be in it for a quick payday.”

“No.” I shake my head firmly. “I’m not risking your life.”

“And I’m not risking yours.” She’s unflinching—a force of nature in a maternity dress. “So, if you won’t do it for me… then do it for them.” She puts my hand on her belly and holds it there.

It nearly undoes me. The warmth of my child growing there, the reminder of all I’ve got to lose.

“I am doing it for them,” I insist. “I’m doing it for both of you.”

But Mia shakes her head. “I’ve already had one baby growing up without a father, Yulian. I won’t do it to this one, too.”

“What about Eli?” It’s a last-ditch effort. “He still needs you.”

“He does.” Her smile turns bittersweet. “But he needs you, too. And I’m not costing him another father.”

I want to start fucking yelling. Want to lock Mia up in this penthouse and never let her out again, not until Desya is dust under my feet.

But I can’t.

Because she’s already made her choice.

“Do what you want,” I mutter, then stalk out onto the balcony.

Her warmth lingers on my hands long after I’ve let her go.