First, Yana’s biggest support, and now this.
“Tell me about the festival?” I ask him as he steps up to the counter to order. “I’ll have a hot mocha latte and one of the chocolate-covered biscuits, please.”
Cecil has a sharp word to the cashier, who promptly declines any payment.
We walk back to a table and sit. “The festival has handcrafted goods and artisanal gifts in outdoor stalls, everyone haggling over prices.
“Oooh. I’d love it. It’s gorgeous here.” Familiar yet… not.
Wordlessly, he takes my hot latte and blows on it to cool it down before he hands it to me. My heart melts a little.
“When your leg is better, I’ll take you to the river. There’s a bridge that connects the city center and all the bustle and stands to the quieter residences. When the river freezes, we ice-skate across, and in the summer, it’s in full bloom.” He takes a sip ofhis coffee. “My family loves it. Zoya is all about the shops, and Yana is all about the flowers.”
I swallow a bite of my food. “And Rodion likes it because there are local ladies?”
Rafail snorts. “Exactly.”
When we leave the shop, thick snowflakes still come down. They melt on my warm cheek as Rafail brushes stray snowflakes from my coat with a gentleness that surprises me. His hand lingers on my shoulder, his touch unexpectedly tender, and for a moment, I feel like we’re not two people wrapped in secrets but simply… together.
“You like it here,” he remarks, watching me with an almost bemused expression.
“Yes, I do,” I say softly, and I feel my guard slipping under his gaze. “It’s beautiful, even if a little… heavy.”
He laughs, a sound low and warm. “That’s Zalivka. Heavy with history, yes. But it’s a good place, full of loyal people. People who know how to survive.”
But as we walk, a prickle of unease crawls over me, like we’re being watched. Rafail feels it, too, his grip on my hand tightening as his gaze sweeps the street with a hardened look. He pulls me closer, his arm wrapping protectively around me.
“Stay close,” he murmurs, his tone unreadable.
I reach for Rafail’s hand. The cold air sharpens my thoughts, and without fully realizing it, I find myself saying, "You had so much to shoulder as a guardian. You still do. Not just running an empire but… your family. And Yana. It couldn’t have been easy."
Rafail’s gaze sharpens, his jaw clenching for a moment before he nods, an almost imperceptible gesture. The doctor’s questioning made it easier for us to broach this subject. "Yana has always been my sister," he says, his voice quieter than usual as if sharing something fragile. "But… if my father had known she was different—if he had known she was truly herself—he would’ve killed her.”
The way he says it, without dramatics, as a cold, unyielding fact, sends a shiver through me. I tighten my hold on his hand, sensing the fierce protectiveness beneath his composed exterior.
“And when she fell in love…” My voice trails off.
“In love with someone outside our circle? It was the best possible scenario for her. In the underground world, marriage is a strategic move. Those who don’t fit the status quo are summarily ostracized, punished, or killed. Yeah. Yana needed to stay out of that fray.”
I nod. She really did.
“I only wish I could do the same for Zoya,” he says with a sigh.
"That’s why you’re so strict, isn’t it?" I say, realizing it even as I speak. "You demand loyalty and hold everyone to these intense standards, but it’s because you’re trying to keep them safe. To give them what you think is… best."
He glances down, his expression a strange mix of pride and weariness. "I won’t let anyone destroy what I’ve built, Anissa," he murmurs. "And I’ll do whatever it takes to keep my family strong—even if that means holding them to standards no one else would dare impose. Yana, Rodion, Semyon, even Zoya… they don’t understand it, not always. But I’d die for them."
A softness emerges behind his hardened gaze, something almost vulnerable, like he’s peeling back a layer of armor just for me.
I hesitate before I ask, "Did Yana understand? Does she know how much you risked to protect her?"
A ghost of a smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. "Yana always knew. She’s more perceptive than all of them put together." He pauses, watching me carefully. "I do push her harder than the others, yes. I demand her loyalty, her strength—but I want her to know that I see her. That I love her, not in spite of who she is, but because of it."
"Does she know that?"
His gaze shifts to the snowy street, contemplative. "Maybe. She’s quiet, like she’s always taking everything in. But she understands. More than anyone, Yana knows how much I care for this family, for every one of them."
I nod, feeling my heart tighten, admiring the fierce loyalty in him, seeing now that every hard edge in Rafail isn’t just about power or control—it’s about survival, about a love so intense he doesn’t know how else to express it.
