“So tell me, Andrei,” Papaw says coldly. “Is pursuing my granddaughter your way of settling old scores?”
The words slice clean through me but Andrei doesn’t flinch.
“No,” he says evenly. “I didn’t know you had a granddaughter. And I didn’t connect the dots when I met Mila. You don’t share a surname.”
I open my mouth, but he continues before I can speak.
“I was the one who provided the evidence against my father,” Andrei says quietly. “And I helped the Balshovs dismantle what was left of his empire.”
My grandfather studies him for a long time. Then a smile breaks on his face.
“You have the temperament of avor,” he says approvingly. “Cool. Calculated. Dangerous when necessary.”
That’s it. I can’t listen to any of this anymore.
I push back from the table so hard my chair scrapes loudly against the floor. “I’ve heard enough.”
They both turn toward me, but I’m already moving, fury and hurt burning through my veins. I didn’t fall in love with a man…I fell in love with a lie.
I storm down the hall, barely making it past the first doorway before Andrei’s hand closes around my arm, turning me to face him.
“Mila.”
“Don’t,” I snap, yanking my arm back. “Just don’t.”
His face is tight…not angry, not defensive. Controlled. Intent.
“Everything between us was real,” he says firmly. “Everything I told you was the truth. Yes, my father was apakhan. But I am not him. I never wanted to be.”
“You let me believe he was just a businessman,” I shoot back, tears burning my eyes. “That your sister was all the family you had left.”
“Which is true. After my father died, my mother fled to Russia. My sister is all I have left. But that past doesn’t define me,” he says. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want it touching you.”
“It already has,” I whisper.
He exhales slowly, visibly restraining himself. “I didn’t lie to manipulate you. I didn’t want to drag you into something I’ve spent my entire life trying to escape.”
I shake my head. “I need time. I need space.”
The words hurt to say but I mean them.
“Please,” I add quietly. “Go.”
He studies my face for a long moment. Then he nods but steps closer anyway. His hands frame my face, his forehead resting briefly against mine before he kisses me. Deep. Possessive. The kind of kiss that promises this isn’t over.
“I’ll give you tonight,” he murmurs against my lips. “One night.” Then he pulls back, his eyes dark and unyielding. “But tomorrow,” he continues softly, “I’m coming for you. Because you’re mine, and I don’t let go of what belongs to me.”
Then he steps out, the door closing firmly behind him.
Suddenly, my world feels like it’s cracked straight down the middle.
Chapter Eight
Andrei
Restless doesn’t begin to cover it.
My apartment feels wrong tonight…too quiet, too polished, like it’s mocking me. I’ve spent the last two hours pacing from the windows to the bar and back again, replaying Mila’s face over and over. The hurt in her eyes. The way my father’s name poisoned something good before it ever had a chance to settle.