Page 257 of The Devil's Thorn
“Message came through. Lorenzo.”
That name cut clean.
“He knows,” Nikolai said. “Or he suspects. The bracelet. He remembered it. Went quiet for two days—then reached out. He didn’t go to her. He came to us.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What did he say?”
“He wants her brought to him. Alone. In forty-eight hours.”
Yuri let out a low whistle. “That’s not a request.”
“No,” I said quietly. “It’s a declaration.”
He knew. He didn’tsayit. But I heard it between every word. Lorenzo knew exactly who she was. And now he wanted to see her for himself. Not out of curiosity. But because he thought she belonged to him.
The shadows pressed in tighter as Nikolai’s words settled between us. Forty-eight hours.
Forty-eight hours before Lorenzo made his move—one I already knew wasn’t a negotiation.
He wasn’t summoning her. He was claiming her. As if blood gave him that right. As if anything could.
Yuri’s voice broke the silence first. “What are you going to do?”
He didn’t say it casually. Didn’t say it with doubt. He said it like a man already bracing for the consequences.
I kept my eyes forward, watching the men load the crates in the distance like they weren’t moving fast enough. My jaw locked.
“I’m not giving her to him.”
Not now. Not ever. Not even if it meant war.
Yuri let out a slow breath, crossing his arms. “Then we better be ready. Because he didn’t ask. Heinformed.”
“Good,” I muttered. “Then he won’t be surprised when I ignore him.”
Nikolai nodded once, his voice lower. “He’s watching. Waiting for a reaction. That’s why he gave you a deadline instead of taking her himself. He’s testing your next move.”
Of course he was. Men like Lorenzo didn’t swing first unless they knew exactly where the blade would land. This wasn’t about the bracelet anymore. This was about power. Territory.Control.
And he thought she was a loose thread. He didn’t realize she was the blade.
I stepped back from the wall and turned to both of them. “Keep her away from him.”
“Away where?” Yuri asked.
“Anywhere but close to me,” I said. “He knows where I live. He knows my schedule. But he doesn’t know her routine. Not exactly. She’s still smoke in his periphery. Keep it that way.”
Nikolai frowned slightly. “You think he’ll try something before the deadline?”
“No,” I said. “But if she’s close—he won’t need to.”
Yuri cocked a brow. “So we vanish her without telling her?”
“No,” I snapped. “We don’t vanish her. We guard her. At every turn. Quietly. She doesn’t need to know what’s coming. Not until I decide.”
Nikolai met my eyes. “And if she finds out before that?”
“Then I deal with it.”
