"I had twenty-four hours." My voice cracks. "Twenty-four hours to disappear before they came for me. So I ran. I dyed my hair, destroyed my phone, withdrew everything I had in cash, and drove west until I found a place where ghosts could hide."
Sasha is silent for a long moment. When he finally speaks, his voice is rough. "Your family. Your parents. Are they…?"
"I don't know." The admission hurts. "I can't know. Contacting them would put them in more danger. If they're alive, they're safer if I stay dead."
"And the man who ordered the hit?"
I turn to look at him, and the intensity in his gold eyes steals my breath. The name sits on my tongue like a lit match, ready to burn everything down.
"Aleksandr Romanov." The words come out barely above a whisper. "A Bratva Pakhan. One of the most powerful men in the organization, from what I've been told."
Sasha goes completely still beside me. Not the kind of stillness that comes from relaxation, but the predatory freeze of a wolf that's just caught a scent. The temperature in the room seems to drop ten degrees.
"Aleksandr Romanov," he repeats slowly, like he's testing the name on his tongue. His jaw clenches, the muscle ticking. "You're sure?"
"My father's friend was certain. He said Romanov doesn't tolerate betrayal, no matter how small. That he made an example of anyone who crossed him." I wrap my arms tighter around myself. "Fifty thousand dollars. That's what my life was worth. An accounting rounding error to a man like that."
Sasha stands abruptly, pacing to the window. The firelight catches on the muscles of his back, the dragon wings seeming to ripple with each movement. His hands curl into fists at his sides.
"That name." His voice is rough, strained. "It feels like it should mean something to me."
My heart stutters. "Does it?"
"I don't know." He presses his palm against the cold glass. "It's like trying to grab smoke. The harder I reach for it, the faster it disappears." He turns to look at me. "What does he look like?"
"I don't know." When he gives me an incredulous look, I shrug. "Until then, my family didn't deal with the Bratva, so I'd never seen them. I was afraid to do a Google search or anything on him in case it could somehow be traced back to me. So, I have a name, but no idea what he looks like."
I stand and move toward him, my bare feet silent on the wooden floor. When I place my hand on his shoulder, his skin is hot beneath my palm despite the chill in the room.
He turns to face me, and the look in his eyes makes my breath catch. There's fury there, cold and controlled, but also something protective that makes my chest tight.
"If I ever meet this Aleksandr Romanov," he says, his voice deadly calm, "I'll kill him myself."
"You can't," I say. "Men like him, they're untouchable. They have armies. Resources. You can't just walk up to a Bratva Pakhan and put a bullet in his head."
"Watch me." His hands cup my face, thumbs stroking my cheekbones. "You think I give a fuck about his army? About his resources? He put a price on your head.”
"Sasha…"
"No." His grip tightens, not painfully, but firm. Possessive. "You're mine now. And I protect what's mine."
The declaration should terrify me, should send me running. Instead, heat pools low in my belly, my body responding to the raw dominance in his voice.
"You're insane," I whisper.
"Probably." His mouth crashes down on mine, the kiss bruising and desperate. "But you like insane."
I do. God help me, I do.
His hands slide down my body, gripping my ass and lifting me. I wrap my legs around his waist instinctively, my arms looping around his neck. He carries me toward the bedroom, his mouth never leaving mine, and I can feel the hard length of him pressing against my core through our clothes.
"Couch," I gasp, not wanting to wait until we get to the bedroom. Plus, it's colder in there.
"Demanding little thing, aren't you?" But there's humor in his voice, rough and warm.
"You have no idea."
He tosses me on the couch and I bounce, laughing as he stands above me with mock annoyance on his face. The moonlight streaming through the window casts silver shadows across his body as he stands over me, and I take a moment to just look.