I lost the last person I had.

Demitri grabs hold of my shoulder and yanks me to his chest, and the moment his arms wrap around me, I come undone. I break into an unrecognizable mess.

“Shh… I’ve got you,” he says, and it’s only then I hear my own strangled breaths. I feel my heart pounding against my ribs, desperate to escape this twisted reality that’s become my life.

“I can’t,” I gasp.

I can’t deal with this.

Demitri pulls me onto his lap, and his arms become steel bands around me, his chest solid, his presence unwavering.

“You can,” he says, his tone firm. “You’re strong, Ariana.”

My body instinctively turns to Demitri’s, and I wrap my arms around his neck, hanging on for dear life. Burying my face in his neck, sobs tear through me, and my chest convulses painfully.

Demitri presses kisses against my hair, his voice an anchor that keeps me from drowning as he murmurs, “I’ve got you, Malyshka. You’re not alone in this.” Another kiss, and his arms clamp tightly around me. “You have me.”

Three words.

It gives me enough strength to fight the turbulent mess within me. After a while, I manage to calm down enough to stop crying and pulling slightly back, I use my shirt to wipe the tears from my face.

Lifting my feverish eyes to Demitri’s, I stare at him, searching for something solid, something I can trust.

I replay everything he’s said to me and how my dad told me I must only trust Alexei and Demitri.

Now I understand why Dad didn’t mention Yuri.

Demitri kidnapped me to save my life. I thought he would kill me, but instead, he’s protecting me. While my whole world crumbles around me, he’s the one holding me.

I’ve never felt as vulnerable as I do at this moment. My entire fate is in Demitri’s hands.

And just like all the other times, he reads my mind and says, “You’re safe with me, Malyshka. I’m not your enemy.”

I let out a sputtering sob and quickly breathe the urge to cry away, and then I squeeze the words out, “Thank God.”

Plastering myself against him, I wrap my arms around his neck again. “Are you really the best?”

There’s no hesitation when he answers, “Yes.”

“Are you really the dangerous one between you and Alexei?”

“Yes.”

“Good,” I choke on the word. A couple of seconds pass, then I whimper, “I don’t know what to do.”

Demitri brushes a hand up and down my back. “We’ll take care of everything.”

I feel a hand on my shoulder, then Alexei says, “Drink this, little one.”

Pulling back, I take a glass of water from him.

“Just down it,” he says.

I do as he says, but instead of water cooling my throat, alcohol burns its way down to my stomach, and I begin to cough. I move off Demitri, focusing on breathing through the heat, then choke, “What… the hell… was that?”