Page 46 of Inked Athena

My mind is a mess. I should be strategizing how to destroy my traitorous brother, figuring out my next move now that Ilya’s slithered off to fucking Siberia of all places.

Instead, I’m remembering the way Nova hurled that antique vase at my head last night. The way her eyes blazed with rage when I told her she couldn’t come with me. The sharp sting as broken porcelain sliced my cheek.

Pregnant women aren’t supposed to have that good of an arm.

My phone buzzes with another update from my team in Russia. Nothing concrete, just more speculation about Ilya’s location,his next moves, whether Katerina’s joined him yet. I rake a hand through my hair, resisting the urge to hurl the device through the window.

A month ago, I had them exactly where I wanted them—Ilya exposed as a traitor, Katerina’s schemes unraveling. Then Nova got caught in their crossfire and I had to shift focus to keeping her safe.

Now, here I am, trying to project strength by returning to London to handle Litvinov Group business, while my heavily pregnant girlfriend is hidden away in Scotland.

Mess. It’s all just a big fucking mess.

The office door opens and Myles strides in, shaking rain from his coat. His expression tells me he has news before he even opens his mouth.

“Just heard from Artem,” he says without preamble.

I straighten, shoving thoughts of Nova aside. “The Siberia lead?”

“Still trying to pin down specifics, but it’s definitely Ilya. No sign of Katerina yet.”

“Fuck.” I turn back to the window. Through the curtain gap, I see umbrellas bob through the streets below like black beetles. “What the hell is he doing out there?”

“Maybe the same thing you were doing in Scotland,” Myles suggests. “Hiding.”

I shoot him a glare. Myles just raises an eyebrow, completely unfazed after fifteen years of friendship. His gaze flicks to the cut on my cheek. “How’s that healing up?”

“I regret telling you about that.”

“You deserved it.”

I pivot to face him. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” He meets my stare evenly. “Nova was right. You could have brought her.”

“She’s pregnant,” I growl. The words come out harsher than intended, as if saying them could erase the image of Nova’s tear-streaked face from my mind.

“Exactly.” Myles drops into one of my visitor chairs, propping his feet on my pristine desk because he knows it pisses me off. “Soon, she’ll be stuck at home with your kid. You should let her live a little before that happens.”

“If I thought it was safe?—”

“Itissafe. I put enough security measures in place myself.” He cuts me off with a dismissive wave. “Don’t blame my team for you being overprotective.”

My fist clenches at my side. I’m not above punching him. “Am I the only one who sees the danger?”

“You’re the only one who sees it where it isn’t.” That infuriating smugness remains plastered across his face. “In almost everything else, I defer to your judgment. But when it comes to Nova…” He shrugs like the answer’s obvious. Maybe it fucking is. “Love makes people do crazy things. Like lock up the person they care about and throw away the key.”

“I’ve never used that word.”

“Doesn’t mean you don’t feel it.”

The unease crawling under my skin has nothing to do with Myles making sense. I happen to know another man who kept hiswoman locked away. She turned to drugs and alcohol to control the demons inside because she couldn’t control the one outside. First chance she got, she ran.

I tell myself I’m nothing like my father. But maybe we’re just different shades of the same toxic fucking color.

“Do you think I’m like him?” The question slips out before I can stop it.

Myles’s head snaps toward me, surprised but not confused. He turns back to the rain-drenched windows with a weary sigh. “Come on, brother. Leonid is a brute all the time. You’re only a brute when you have to be.”

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