His hand closes around my arm before I can even run.
I scream and thrash at him, but he yanks me sideways, my back slamming into the brick wall while his body crowds close, blocking every escape.
“Stop. I just want to talk.”
“Let me go!” My nails scrape at his hand and arm. Wherever I see exposed flesh, I attack it, doing whatever I can to get away from him before I actually give in and beg him to take me back.
His grip tightens just enough to anchor me. “Hey. You’re panicking. You need to breathe.”
The edges of my vision darken, spots flickering. My knees shake as they threaten to give out under me, forcing me to grab onto him before I completely collapse onto the dirty ground. He swears under his breath in Russian, then shifts in order to hook an arm around me.
He cups my face with his free hand. “Look at me, Ivy.”
“Leave me alone!”
“Look. At. Me.”
The command in his voice makes me freeze in place.
“Breathe with me,” he says, softer now, his own chest rising in slow pulls. “In… out. Come on, in and out.”
I shake my head, a small hiccup bubbling up my throat. “Please… let me go.”
His thumb brushes along my cheekbones, tracing my features in a soothing motion that starts to pull me from tipping over the edge. His breath ghosts over my face. “You are safe. No one is going to hurt you, I promise.”
The words wedge past the panic, like a hand squeezing through a door I’ve tried to slam shut and pushing it open anyway. I drag in a shaky inhale, letting it sit in my lungs until it burns before letting it out in deep exhale.
“That’s it,” he murmurs. “Again for me.”
I try. My chest still tightens, but the world steadies by the tiniest fraction. His voice is a tether, his presence a wall against the spiraling storm inside me. Minutes crawl by. Slowly, painfully, the panic ebbs enough for me to breathe without choking. My body sags against the wall, weak and trembling.
“What the hell are you doing back here?” My voice cracks.
“I came to bring you home.”
My stomach twists. “Didn’t I tell you I wasn’t going with you?”
“You did.”
I bark out a bitter laugh, still breathless. “Then why are you here? Are youthatdetermined to wear me down until I have no choice but to go with you?”
His fingers press just enough to purse my lips, tilting my head slightly up toward him. My breath hitches, my pulse slamming against my ribs as his mouth hovers just over mine. I brace for the kiss, for the pull of something I’m not sure I could resist in this moment, but it never comes.
Instead, his lips ghost past mine, brushing the corner, barely grazing. His nose trails softly along my cheek until he finds the place just near my temple. There, he presses a kiss, gentle and reverent.
“I’m not interested in forcing you to do anything. However, I’m not letting you go that easily. I can’t,” he murmurs against my skin.
I shut my eyes tightly, willing the sting behind them to fade, but it only gets worse. Lettie’s words flash through my mind again—Wouldn’t it be better to be under Maksim’s protection?
I bite the inside of my cheek until I taste copper. “You need to go back to Russia. I’m not changing my mind. No matter how many ways you try to ask me, I’m not coming back with you.”
He pulls back to look at me, his face twisting with anguish. “Don’t shut me out. I will make sure no one ever touches either of you. I swear to you, you won’t regret coming with me.”
My control snaps. “You think I want my son to grow up watching you kill people? You think I want him learninghow to pull a trigger before he even learns how to ride a bike? To be trained to become just another soldier for your empire? Or worse, your replacement? Absolutely not.Over. My. Dead. Body.”
His eyes blaze. “I will not take no for an answer.”
“Okay,” I spit, voice rising to a near-shout. “Then hear this. Leave me the hell alone!”