Page 30 of Lethal Alliance

Home.

Being in Roman’s bed. Cooking in the kitchen with the children.

The children who aren’t there.

Who are gone.

Because of me.

Longing snags painfully in my throat. “I thought that would be the last thing you’d want.”

“Christ, Darya.” For the first time I hear the exhausted rasp in his voice. “I was wrong, okay? I got it wrong. I never should have said the things I did. I never should have threatened you like that.” He closes his mouth, abruptly cutting himself off.

Alexei’s warning about Roman runs through my mind on a megaphone:“The Orlovs will take the children. How long do you think Roman will hold out when they start carving up those kids? How long willyou?”

Roman isn’t here for me.

He’s here because I’m the only trade he can make that will get his children back. Any apologies are only to make me go with him.

You don’t have to convince me, I think dully.

As if I could ever rest while I know the Orlovs have the girls. Alexei knew that. It was why he wanted me to run.

Roman doesn’t need the contents of that vault. And there’s nothing he won’t do to save those girls, I know that. He’ll open the vault for the Orlovs. The question is what will happen to me after he does.

Not that there’s any point in asking him. Right now, he’ll say anything, make any promise he needs to, in order to gain my cooperation.

But like I said, there’s no need to convince me.

“We should probably get on with it, then.” I try to keep my voice steady. I try even harder not to think about little Borovsky. That’s one secret I will have to keep to myself. I’m not making this any more complicated than it already is.

Roman frowns. “Get on with what?”

“Whatever deal you’ve made with the Orlovs. I assume they want the vault opened in exchange for the girls’ lives?”

Roman is still frowning. “I think it’s safe to assume that is going to be one of their requests. They haven’t actually made any demands yet.”

“They will.” I force myself to meet his eyes, trying to ignore the thud of connection when I do. “You and I both know what they’re capable of. We need to open that vault. Give them what they’re asking for.”

Roman takes a step toward me, then halts. “Why run, if you were always planning to give in to their demands?”

“I was hoping that if I ran, they wouldn’t have a chance tomakedemands.” I hold his eyes, determined to say at least this much, even if he doesn’t believe me. “I had no idea what they were planning, Roman. None. Alexei came to the ball. He told me the Orlovs were there. He said that if I wanted to keep the children safe, I had to run. I thought that if I did what he said, I’d remove any incentive the Orlovs had to take the children.”

“I know.” His answer is flat, his face unchanging except for a faint tick in his jaw. “I know you ran because you thought you’d keep them safe. But it turns out the Orlovs knew more than either of us could have imagined. They’d have taken the children whether you ran or not, Darya.” He looks away, breaking eye contact. It’s like being released from an invisible tie, both a relief and a strange feeling of being cut adrift. He rubs a hand over his face, exhaling sharply. “Did you read my letter?”

It’s such an odd change of pace that I’m momentarily taken aback. “Yes. I read it.”

Only a hundred times or so, but hey, who’s counting?

“Your brother told you my real name, didn’t he? You discovered who I am—not, as you said at the ball, because of the Borovsky safe in my apartment, but because Alexei told you.”

I nod.

“Alexei also told you that I have the missing key to the vault at your home in Miami.” It isn’t a question. His eyes bore into me, stripping away the flimsy defenses I’ve been trying to muster since I ran from the ballroom. Roman lied to me. Even after he told me he loved me, he lied to me. And despite all that’s happened, that still hurts.

“Do you have the key?” I want to throw the words at him, but they’re little more than a whisper. “You suggested as much in your letter. You said the Orlovs hunted for you because they believed you could open the vault.”

He frowns. “And so you think that I kept you in my home because I want to open the vault and take the contents for myself?”

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