Page 58 of Luka

“Well?” I ask as he faces me.

He raises his brows. “Well what?”

My fingers curl at his obliviousness. “Are they going to let me stay?”

“Did you doubt me?”

I huff. “I haven’t for one moment had more than a shrivel of faith in you. But you’re the only thing I have.”

One side of his lips lifts as he walks toward me. I force myself to stay still as he approaches, my feet rooted to the floor despitetheir urge to back away. My chin lifts to look up at him, my jaw set. Even though I remind myself I should be kind, I can’t find it in me. Not after what he pulled downstairs.

This is nothing but a game to him, and probably a way to save his own ass. If no one finds me, no one can know what he’s done.

His fingers brush my collar bone as he pushes my hair off my shoulder, spreading heat over my chest. I hold my breath while he traces the collar of the dirty shirt.

“This is my sister’s home. Yes, we can stay here, under the condition that you pretend to be my girlfriend in front of my brother-in-law. Mila gets the gist of your situation, minus my involvement, but if the Pakhan finds out you're the daughter of a drug lord, it’s likely we’re both going to get kicked out on our asses. He might even alert your father to cover his ass—or to get rid of me—I don’t know. Let’s just be convincing, yeah?”

I blink, trying to make sense of that. “Pakhan?”

“The head of the Bratva.”

“That’s your brother-in-law? Your sister’s husband?”

He nods. His face shows nothing of what that means for him. No pride, no ego.

I open my mouth out of curiosity, then close it.

“What?” Luka asks, the word clipped like he’s growing annoyed.

“What does that make you?”

His face stays neutral for a few seconds until he must register what I’m asking, then a grin forms on his face. He chuckles lightly, his hands moving to my arms to circle his thumbs over my shoulders. I don’t even know if he realizes he’s touching me, but I’m barely able to register his amusement. His hands take up most of the space in my mind.

“Aguard.”

My head tilts.

“Mila keeps all the advantages to herself. She’s a real gem, that one… But seriously, you should probably stay away from her, or at the very least keep your mouth shut. If she knew what I’d done to you and that she was now an accomplice to your kidnapping, she’d realize the threat you were. And Mila doesn’t like to kill the innocent, but she’d slit the throat of her first born if she perceived him as a threat.”

My lips pucker as I hum. “How convenient for you that the best course of action is keeping my mouth shut.”

“Happy coincidence, isn’t it?”

“No.”

“No?”

“No, I think you’re full of it.” Pride swirls when I pull my shoulder away from him. His hands lower to his sides. “I hear you lying to everyone around you. I know how manipulative you are, and it’s not going to work on me. You’re just saying this because you don’t want me to tell your sister what a sick fuck you are.”

“Ohreally?” He tucks his hands into his pockets.

I nod.

“Well, then you’ll have to ask her what happened to our father.”

My lips start to sag.

“He was an insufferable bastard, so I’m not exactly sad for it, but… Well, let me just say Mila was expected to marry into a powerful family to elevate ours. That’s what my parents trained her for her entire childhood. And about six months ago, the Bratva had a different Pakhan who she’d been with for many years and who my parents expected her to ultimately marry. Mila decided to betray him for another man, and when our father got in the way of that, she killed him. Stabbed him right in the heart.” Luka taps his chest. “To her credit, she wasright. Thenew guy did ultimately marry her and did ultimately take over. Butstill, talk about ambition.”

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