I end up at Mila's door.
It's cracked open since she doesn't like it completely closed since the nightmares started. I push it wider, just enough to see inside.
She's sleeping peacefully. Curled on her side, clutching the stuffed bear Lev got her last week. Her face is relaxed, no trace of the terror that haunts her dreams.
She looks safe. Happy. Healing.
And I'm about to destroy that.
If I send Patrick what he wants, Mila wakes up to find her father dead. Maybe dies herself if Patrick's team is thorough. Relives the worst trauma of her life all over again.
Because of me.
My chest tightens so hard I can't breathe.
I close her door quietly and keep walking.
Past the guest rooms. Past the stairs. To Lev's bedroom.
His door is open too. I stand in the doorway watching him sleep.
He's on his back, one arm thrown over his head, face relaxed in a way it never is when he's awake. He looks younger like this. Less dangerous. Almost peaceful.
I memorize his features. The scar through his eyebrow. The sharp line of his jaw. The way his chest rises and falls with steady breaths.
This might be the last time I see him like this. Peaceful. Trusting. Alive.
The thought makes my eyes burn.
I love him.
The shock of this realization nearly brings me to my knees.
Not just lust. Not just obsession, not just attraction, or the twisted chemistry between us.
I actually love Lev Volkov.
Love the way he is with Mila, awkward and trying so hard. Love his darkness and his violence and the way he protects what's his. Love that he trusted me despite every red flag. Love that he looks at me like I'm something precious instead of a weapon.
And I'm going to destroy him.
My phone buzzes. 3 AM exactly.
Patrick calling.
I step back from Lev's door, move down the hallway far enough that the sound won't wake him, and pull out the burner.
Let it ring. And ring. And ring.
I don't answer.
It goes to voicemail. Thirty seconds later, a text appears.
A photo.
Ethan's hand. Four fingers clearly broken, bent at wrong angles, swollen, and purple.
And a message:Just sending an incentive.
