I change into sleep pants and a tank top, then sit on the edge of my bed with my phone in hand. I dial the number Danil had left on a piece a paper next to it. It rings once. Twice. Three times.
"Hello?" My mother's voice, cautious and uncertain, makes tears spring to my eyes immediately.
"Mom?" My voice cracks. "It's me. It's Lena."
The sound she makes is somewhere between a sob and a gasp. "Lena? Oh, my God, Lena, is it really you?"
"It's really me, Mom. I'm alive. I'm safe." The tears stream down my face now, hot and unstoppable. "I'm so sorry I couldn't call sooner. I'm so sorry I left you and Dad without knowing whether I was okay."
"Baby, we understood. We knew you had to run." She's crying too, her words coming between sobs. "We've been praying every day that you were alive somewhere. That you were safe."
"I am. I'm safe now. I want to see you. I want to see you and Dad so badly."
"Where are you? Can we come to you?"
I glance at the door, knowing Aleksandr or his guards might be listening to this conversation through whatever security system he has set up. "I'm in the city. And soon we can meet, I promise."
"The city?" Her voice goes quiet. "Lena, are you sure that's safe? The people who were looking for you…"
"It's complicated, Mom. But I promise I'm protected now. I'll explain everything when I see you." I take a deep breath. "How's Dad?"
"He's good. Worried about you constantly, but good. We've been living quietly, keeping to ourselves." She pauses. "Your Uncle Orleg disappeared two years ago. We haven't heard from him since."
The news about my uncle should surprise me, but it doesn't. Men who steal from the Bratva don't usually live long enough to disappear on their own terms. "I'm sorry, Mom."
"Don't be. He made his choices." Her voice hardens slightly. "We made ours by trying to help him. But you, you were innocent in all of this. You didn't deserve what happened."
"I'm okay now. I promise." I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand. "I have so much to tell you."
We talk for another hour, and by the time we hang up, my face hurts from crying and smiling in equal measure.
I'm getting ready for bed, brushing my teeth and washing my face, when I hear it. Shouting downstairs. The sound of multiple vehicles arriving, engines revving, and doors slamming.
My heart jumps into my throat. I throw open my bedroom door and find one of my guards already moving toward the stairs, his hand on his weapon. The other stays with me, his body positioned between me and whatever's happening below.
Then I see him. Aleksandr strides down the hallway toward me, his face dark with fury, his gold eyes blazing with something that looks like rage and satisfaction mixed together.
"What's happening?" I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
He stops in front of me, his hands finding my shoulders. "Katya just made her move."
48
ALEKSANDR
"Katya just made her move." The words taste like ash in my mouth as I watch Lena's face drain of color.
"What kind of move?" Her voice is steady, but I see the way her hand drifts to her stomach, protective and instinctive.
I guide her back into her room, closing the door behind us. The guards take position outside, and I'm grateful for the privacy. "She sent a message through an intermediary. Wants to meet tomorrow night at midnight. Neutral territory, just the two of us."
"That's a trap." She doesn't phrase it as a question.
"Obviously." I move to the window, looking out at the grounds where more vehicles are arriving. My men, responding to the alert Danil sent out. "But it's also an opportunity."
"An opportunity to get yourself killed." She crosses her arms, and the gesture pushes her breasts up.
"An opportunity to end this." I turn to face her. "Katya's been planning this for months. Maybe even years. She's patient, she's smart, and she won't stop until one of us is dead. This meeting gives me a chance to control the circumstances instead of waiting for her next move."