Page 24 of Don't Look Back

I exhale sharply, my grip tightening around the arm of the chair. This is the truth Konstantin was hiding. This is the shit that’s been hanging over his head, over her head.

She was never free. She was never just his granddaughter. She was collateral.

Alaina runs a shaky hand through her hair, eyes wild. “You—you’ve been working with him?”

Konstantin’s face hardens. “To protect you.”

“Protect me?” She lets out a sharp, bitter laugh. “Protect me from what, Konstantin?”

Konstantin doesn’t hesitate. “From Dimitri taking you back.”

The room feels like it’s closing in. Alaina stares at him, disbelief and something like horror washing over her face. “And now?” she whispers. “How did you plan to stop pushing his drugs? How were you ever going to get my business clean from this?”

Konstantin looks at her, and for the first time since I’ve known him, he looks tired.

“The shootout?” His voice is grim. “That was a warning. That’s why it was only one night. He wanted to remind me what’s at stake.” His gaze flickers to me, then back to her. “Without his product going through, Dimitri is going to take you, Alaina. That was to tell me he was close.”

Her breathing stutters, and I see it—the moment it truly sinks in. The moment she realizes just how deep this goes. Her hands curl into fists. “No.”

Konstantin exhales. “It’s already in motion.”

I push off the chair, stepping forward before she crumbles completely. But she doesn’t fall. She turns to me instead, something wild in her eyes.

“This is because of him?” she says, her voice trembling with fury. “All of this?”

I nod once, my jaw tight. “Yeah.”

She shakes her head, stepping away like she’s trying to put space between herself and the truth. “I was never safe, was I?”

Konstantin doesn’t answer. Because he doesn’t need to. We all know the truth now. And it sure as hell ain’t pretty. But Iknow one thing for damn sure. Dimitri isn’t taking her. Not now. Not ever.

I step closer, forcing her to look at me. “This doesn’t change anything,” I tell her, my voice low. “He doesn’t get to take you.”

Her eyes flicker, a storm brewing inside them. “And what if he does?”

I let out a dark, humorless chuckle. “Then we go to war.”

Konstantin exhales sharply. “If we go to war with Dimitri, it won’t be a fight you walk away from, Chux.”

I don’t flinch. I don’t hesitate.

“I don’t care. But you shouldn’t underestimate a King full of fury, driven by passion, and hell bent on protection.”

Because I don’t care if I live or die. But I am determined to see this through.

For Alaina.

She’s worth the war.

“You’re in over your head,” Konstantin begins and I throw up a hand silencing him.

“Enough, Alaina needs time to process this and I need to call in my family. Check yourself out of this one old man.”

I take Alaina by the hand, lacing my fingers in hers and leading her outside while her grandfather mutters to us in Russian.

We make it outside and climb on my bike. I grip the handlebars so tight in frustration my knuckles turn white.

This whole thing runs so much deeper than I could have predicted. Her whole life has been caught up in a Bratva she didn’t know existed. The tension in my face is sharp, but I try not to let it all show. Not in front of Konstantin’s men. He might be a big deal to them or even in his fucked up world. In mine, he’s just another man standing between me and my woman.