Page 60 of Sinful Embers

“You grew a conscience?” I look at him skeptically.

“No. I’m Bratva. That’s been bred out of us.” Humor flashes in his eyes.

“Did you just make a joke?” I look at him in amazement.

“I tried.” He shrugged. “I admit to not being very funny.”

“That’s because you’re a…” the truth suddenly dawns on me, and I look at him. The likeness to Oleksi. Setting me up with Radomir to join all the Mirochin and Molchanov Bratva’s. The penny finally drops. Why hadn’t I realized this sooner? “You’re related to Radomir.”

“I thought you’d realized that the minute you called me Oleksi?” He pulls a face.

The world feels like it started to sway as I stare at him in shock for a few seconds before I’m slammed by gut wrenching fear. My breathing becomes shallow, and the thought hits me like a ton of brick—he knows. He was there the day I killed his brother and brother-in-law!

“You’re Dmitri Mirochin!” His names tumbles from my lips, and I hear Vivienne’s voice:Remember this name, Leigh, Dmitri Mirochin he’s the Ice Man!

Chapter 15

LEIGH

“Leigh.”

Dmitri’s voice reaches me through the haze of shock, sharp but not unkind. A hand lands on my shoulder, warm and firm, tethering me back to reality.

I jerk away on instinct, my breath coming in shallow pants. My mind reels, trying to grasp onto something—anything—that makes sense, but nothing does.

He’s Dmitri.

Dmitri Mirochin.

The fucking Ice Man.

I want to scream. To launch myself at him. To demand what kind of sick, twisted game this is. But instead, I force my hands to unclench from the wooden bench beneath me. I focus on my breathing, pushing down the panic that rises like bile in my throat.

I can’t afford to lose control now.

“Are you alright?” His voice is calm, but I hear the underlying tension.

I swallow hard, shoving away the terror clawing at my insides. “You said something changed nineteen years ago,” I rasp. “Before we got sidetracked.”

He watches me for a beat, then exhales slowly.

“Yes,” Dmitri murmurs, turning his gaze toward the Black Sea. The sun is higher now, glinting off the water, but it does nothing to warm the ice in my veins. “Nineteen years ago, the first real love of my life died. She was killed in a hit-and-run while out jogging.”

My brows knit together. A strange sensation prickles at the back of my mind, like a puzzle piece sliding into place.

“My aunt—” The words spill out before I can stop them. “Thea. She died the same way.”

Dmitri’s jaw tightens. His fingers flex against his thighs, but he doesn’t immediately respond. When he does, his voice is softer than I expect.

“She was that person.”

My heart lurches violently in my chest. “No.” I shake my head, the word instinctual, an immediate rejection of the truth. “That’s not—she was married to my uncle Mark. I thought—”

“I know.” Dmitri sighs, rubbing a hand over his face. “At first, I wanted to remove Mark in any way I could.”

My stomach churns.

“But I knew I never wanted to win Thea’s heart that way. And Mark… he changed for her. Gave up everything. Went legit. Became a damn good Wall Street broker.” His lips twist bitterly. “For her, he became the man I never could.”

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