I need help. With trembling fingers, I dial my brothers.
Mikhail answers first, his voice sharp with worry. “Calina? What’s wrong? Why are you calling this late? Are you okay?”
Artyom joins the call a second later, his tone equally tense. “Calina, talk to us. Where’s Maxim? Is everything alright?”
“Maxim needs your help. He got a message from Dmitri and asked to meet him alone. I think he’s already on his way there.”
My grip tightens around the phone.
“I have a bad feeling about this. What if it’s a trap? I’m heading to the location now, but I need you guys there too. If Dmitri is setting him up, Maxim is going to need backup.”
I hear them both curse on the line.
Artyom’s voice is tight. “Don’t you dare leave that house. You hear me? You stay right where you are.”
Mikhail cuts in, sounding furious. “What the hell is he thinking, going alone? Tell us the location.”
I give them the address Dmitri sent, the old orphanage grounds.
“So are you guys coming or not? Either way I’m heading there myself.”
I know my brothers would do anything for me and my sister. They always have. But things are different now. I’m married to Maxim, so I should no longer be considered their responsibility. A small part of me fears they’ll tell me this is something we have to handle on our own.
They both go quiet for a second, then start cussing again.
“You are not going anywhere,” Artyom says firmly. “We’ll mobilize our men right now. Stay put, Calina. Promise me you won’t move a muscle until we get there.”
“I promise,” I whisper, even though every part of me wants to run out the door.
They make me repeat the promise twice more before they finally hang up.
I start pacing the bedroom like a caged animal, my heart hammering so hard it hurts. The thought of anything happening to Maxim makes me feel like I can’t breathe.
We’re just starting. We’re just beginning to fall in love, to trust each other, to build something real. I finally told him I love him. He finally said it back.
The idea of losing him now, of spending the rest of my life without his voice, his touch, his fierce protectiveness, is unbearable. The future looks so bleak without him. Empty. Terrifying.
Tears spill down my cheeks as I clutch my phone, praying silently.
Please, God. Keep him safe. Bring him back to me.
I can’t lose him. Not when we’ve only just found each other.
Maxim
The old orphanage looms ahead like a ghost from the past.
The building is falling apart, broken windows, cracked walls, weeds growing through the concrete. This place raised us. Broke us. Shaped us into what we are. I never thought I’d come back here under these circumstances.
My men surround the perimeter, hidden in the shadows, waiting for my signal. Viktor stays close as we enter alone, guns drawn,footsteps echoing through the empty halls. The air smells of dust and decay.
Dmitri is waiting in what used to be the common room, standing under a flickering overhead. When he sees me, his face twists, no more easy smile, no more brotherly warmth.
“I see you didn’t come alone,” he says, a hint of amusement in his voice. “I should have known Viktor would be right behind you, like a loyal lapdog.”
Viktor groans beside me. “You fucker!”
Dmitri gives him a bored look, as though he’s nothing more than an annoying fly buzzing around his head.
