“All my life,” Demitri murmurs, not taking his eyes off the water in the distance. “My father was his custodian.”

My eyebrows lift, and my gaze snaps up to Demitri’s. “Was?”

“He died taking a bullet for Sergei.”

My mouth drops open, and for a moment, I can only stare at Demitri. Finally, I manage to whisper, “I’m sorry.”

He just shrugs. “It’s the way we live.”

Then the realization hits hard – Demitri is protecting me the way his father protected mine.

“I don’t want you to die for me,” I blurt out.

“I won’t,” he assures me. Glancing down at me, he adds, “I’ll only die for Alexei.”

The words make me frown at him. “What kind of relationship do you have with him?”

Demitri goes back to staring at the lake. “He’s the most important person in my life.”

“Do you love him?” I ask.

He nods. “More than my own brother.”

“I always wondered what it would be like to be close to someone like that,” I admit.

“You don’t have any friends?”

“No, only acquaintances.” I let out a hollow chuckle. “It’ll take a while before anyone notices I’m missing.”

“You sure you want to tell your abductor something like that?” he suddenly teases me.

Realizing he’s trying to steer the conversation away from the serious topic we’re on, I shrug, “Yeah, you’re right. My kidnapper is a total asshole, so don’t tell him what I said.”

Chapter 13

DEMITRI

When I glance at Ariana, she’s staring blankly at the coffee table, the show on the TV forgotten. She’s been putting on one hell of a brave act since yesterday’s call with Sergei, but right now, the worry is written all over her face.

My phone begins to ring, and pulling it out of my pocket, I see Yuri’s name on the screen.

Fuck. Here we go.

Answering, I mutter, “Hold on.” I rise to my feet, I go to the security room so Ariana won’t overhear the call.

When the door shuts behind me, I bring the device to my ear. “Yeah?”

“My father passed away early this morning,” Yuri says, his voice devoid of any emotion.

It’s going to hurt Ariana so much.

“Sorry to hear that. The Bratva lost a great man.”

“Where are you?” he asks.

“Working.”

There’s a moment’s silence, then Yuri lets out a sigh. “I know you have Ariana.” I keep quiet, and it has him continuing. “Bring her to me.”

“Sergei ordered me to protect her.”

“My father is dead,” Yuri snaps. “I’m head of the Bratva. You take my orders now.”

“You’re not head of the Bratva… yet, and I only take orders from Alexei,” I reply calmly to his outburst.

“Are you really going to start a war for a girl you know nothing about?”

“If there’s a war, it won’t be because I started it.”

“Vetrov,” Yuri growls. “Don’t fuck with me.”

“Alexei will be in touch,” I mutter, and then I hang up.