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“Yes, you are. Why the hell would you help her do this?” I growl. “I told you I had a reason for keeping her down there.”
“And I didn’t buy it,” Polly snaps right back at me. “Just because you’re in charge doesn’t mean you get to be an asshole.”
I can see Nikolai in my peripheral vision, standing by the door, taking it all in. Sometimes, I can’t get him to shut up. But when I need some support, he stands there silently. Go fucking figure.
“Because of you, they have Lev!” I spit as my voice rises. “Because of you, he’s in actual danger! He can’t even handle going out in public, Polly. Now, he’s in the hands of my worst enemy and—
Her indignant scowl starts cracking. Her mouth turns down; her chin shakes. It’s slow at first and then she breaks down all at once, dissolving into tears so big that it takes me a while to understand what she’s muttering under her breath again and again.
“This is all my fault. This is all my fault. This is…”
“No, it’s not,” Alyssa interrupts earnestly, grabbing Polly by the shoulders. “It’s mine. I’m sorry. I should never have gotten you involved.”
“That’sright,” I glower at her. “You shouldn’t have. Now, you’re gonna pay for it.”
I grab her arm and tear her harshly off Polina. Nikolai moves aside to let us pass. I can feel my sister at my back, screaming something, but I’m blocking her out. Nothing else exists in my mind besides the littlenarushitelwho keeps crossing lines she never should’ve ventured near.
Nikolai stays behind to deal with Pol as I drag Alyssa back to the basement. Actually, I don’t have to drag her at all. She comes willingly, without saying a word.
I spin her into the basement so hard that she nearly stumbles over. She manages to stay on her feet and she pivots around slowly on the spot. Her eyes are hazy with fresh tears.
“Uri.” Her voice is barely a whisper, so why does it feel like she’s shouting? “I’m so sorry.”
A better man might take mercy. But I don’t have the capacity for forgiveness right now. I’m not a better man. I never will be.
I stare at her for one long moment. Then, before I can do something I’ll regret, I slam the door in her face and storm back upstairs to my office.
Nikolai is already there when I enter. “Polly?” I ask.
“She’s in her room. She’s pretty upset about this.”
“As she should be. I can’t believe she chose Alyssa over me.”
Nikolai raises a wary brow. “It’s not all about you, Uri.”
“That’s rich, coming from you.” Nikolai opens his mouth to snap back but I hold up my hand, stopping the argument in its tracks. “We don’t have the time for this sibling rivalry bullshit. We have to come up with a plan to get Lev back.”
Nikolai sighs and nods. “We have to go in fast.”
“Fast and brutal. But establishing contact is going to be hard. Sobakin has been a recluse for weeks.”
“Which means he wants us to come to him.”
It’s exactly what Ididn’twant to do. I wanted to draw him out, to force him to make the first move. But now, the entire dynamic has changed. The power has shifted back in Sobakin’s favor.
“I sent in a team to investigate the girl’s house,” I say wearily. “It’s been ransacked. A few personal items have been taken, including a laptop. Which means Sobakin has had eyes on her for a while now.”
Niko doesn’t say it, but the unspoken words hang between us.You made her a target the moment you took her out in public.
I ignore that, just like I’m ignoring all the other inconvenient truths in my life right now.
“We’re going to the Black Rose.”
Nikolai’s eyes go wide. “Are you kidding?”
“Does it look like I’m kidding?”
“We mounted an attack on that place onlyweeksago. It’s nothing anymore.”
