Page 190 of Sexting the Boss

“Let her go,” I snarl, turning toward Lev, standing up straight. My fists are still clenched, Roman coughing in the dirt behind me.

Lev smiles like this is a reunion. “Didn’t I tell you he’d come for you?” he says softly to Sasha, like we’re all part of some twisted bedtime story. “Men like Damien—always predictable.”

“Let. Her. Go.”

His eyes flick to the gun in his hand. “Or what? You’ll kill me? Right in front of the woman carrying your child?”

My heart pounds.

Heknows.

And I can’t take the shot. I can’t move.

Because one wrong twitch?—

One pull of that trigger.

And I lose everything.

I lift my hands slowly.

“I’m here. You have me,” I say. “Let her go.”

His smile only grows wider. “You really think this is aboutyou?”

And Sasha—Sasha just keeps her eyes locked on me, her lips barely moving as she whispers, “Please, Damien…don’t.”

But I’m already past the point of no return.

Because if he hurts her…

If he so much as touches her, then I’ll show Lev what a Zaitsev really is.

I’m running every outcome in my head.

No matter how I slice it, I lose.

If I lunge—he pulls the trigger.

If I wait—he still might.

Sasha’s face is tight with fear, but she’s not crying. She’s not screaming. She’s doing what I taught her—even if she didn’t realize it—she’s surviving.

She’s holding her belly like a shield and keeping her eyes locked on mine, as if the connection between us might hold her steady.

God, she’s strong.

“You don’t have to do this,” I say to Lev, my voice low, calm,controlled, even if everything inside me is fraying apart. “You want me. Take me.”

He tuts, tightening his arm around Sasha’s shoulders until she flinches.

“I alreadyhaveyou,” he says. “Or at least…the version of you I wanted. See, this is better. You used to think you were untouchable. Look at you now—knees bent, palms up, begging for a woman.”

“A woman who means more to me than you ever could,” I snap.

Sasha’s breath hitches.

I don’t take my eyes off Lev. “If you kill her, there’s no leverage. No throne. No empire. You get nothing. You think Roman gives a shit once you’re gone? You think the others will follow you when they see this mess?”

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