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“Uriah Volkov has put a hit on my back.”
Her hurt dissolved into panic, and I immediately wished I hadn’t said anything. “What—?”
I touched her cheek. “I’m going to figure it out, but until I do, it’s going to be very messy for a while.”
Denial furrowed her brows, highlighting the tears gleaming in her eyes. “No, Darius, I won’t let—”
I kissed her.
“Easy, kitten,” I soothed. “There’s nothing you can do. I’m handling it, but until I do, I need to not be worried about you. Do you understand?”
She shook her head. “But why? Why is he doing this? You did the time.” Her bottom lip quivered, creating a tremor through her raspy words.
“I killed his son.”
“You didn’t—”
“But I did,” I reminded her gently. “I confessed to it. I did time for it. I’m responsible.” Her bottom lip slipped between her anxious teeth. “I will fix this,” I tried to assure her.
“Then don’t go back. Stay here or go somewhere, anywhere. I’ll go with you and—”
Despite the urgency in each rushed plea, I felt myself grin at her suggestions. “No, you’re not and neither am I. I’m not a coward and you can’t live without the girls. We both know that. Not to mention our parents.” I kissed her again, lingering on the sweet taste of her. “Do you trust me, kitten?”
She nodded without thought or hesitation.
“Then trust that I will fix this, okay? I will not leave you unless there is absolutely no other choice.”
A tear slipped the corner of her eye and rolled until it clung to the tip of her nose. I gently brushed it away.
“I don’t like theno other choiceoption.”
I gave a quiet chuckle. “Neither do I, but I won’t lie to you.”
Her exhale was shaky and broken by a faint sob. “I just got you back.”
“Hey.” I pulled her down and rose up on my elbow to peer down into her shattered expression. “Look at me.” I tipped her chin up until she had no choice but to meet my eyes. “You can’ttell Lavena about this, okay? Or the others. I can’t worry about both of you, and I don’t trust her not to do something stupid to protect me.” I smoothed a thumb along the curve of her cheek. “Promise me, Kami.”
Her throat muscles bunched. “I…”
I could see the war tearing her up inside. I knew I was asking the world of her. I knew there was a damn code they lived by, and I was asking her to break it, but this was my sister’s life. One word from Kami and Lavena would go into full battle mode. She would face Volkov and he would not show her mercy; a sister for a brother, a daughter for a son would seem like poetic justice in his eyes.
“He will kill her,” I murmured. “He will do it slowly and with as much pain as he can get out of her.”
I was scaring her. I could see it in the pinpricks of her eyes, the shallow hitches in her breathing, but that was what it had to come down to.
“I promise, but what if he goes after her anyway?” she whispered. “She should know so she can protect herself.”
I shook my head. “That’s not how things work. There’s still a … code, an honor system. He won’t touch her unless she puts herself between us. He wants me and I want it to stay that way.”
She made a weak whining sound that I shushed gently by claiming her lips. The kiss was longer, deeper, and laced with every shred of apology and assurance I could offer without giving her what was left of my soul. She held me with bruising arms, gripping me as if terrified I might vanish.
“I didn’t want things to be this way,” I promised her. “If I could go back to that April with you in the rain … I would still answer that call, but I wouldn’t have waited that long to kiss you.”
Her fingers touched the side of my face before brushing back through my hair to cup the back of my head. “I’ve lost you before I even had a chance to have you.”
I shook my head. “You will always have me.”
“Not the way I want you.”
