Page 91 of Shadows of the Past
“Does he know about your connection to us?” he asks, and the truth is, I don’t know. Is Aleksandr sharp enough to put all the pieces together? Maybe.
“It's a possibility,” Julia answers, and I catch the slight tremor in her voice. If Aleksandr has been digging into my past, he might know about her too. Worry pools in her honey-gold eyes.
Instinctively, I reach out and take her hand. No one’s going to lay a finger on her family—not while I’m here. I need her to believe that.
“If you need anything, message me at the numbers Julia gave you. If Aleksandr knows about the connection, you should watch yourself on the street, Roman,” I warn. Aleksandr might not be the best player in the game, but he’s got plenty of resources.
Julia voices what we’re all thinking. “Same goes for everyone else. Aleksandr would rather go after a woman he considers weak than attack you directly.”
Her words hang in the air. No one’s truly safe until we finish the business in Russia.
“If you need help in Russia, call us,” Roman says, and I wasn’t expecting that from him.
It sends something warm spiraling through my chest, and I just nod. “I’ll remember that.”
On the way out, I feel Julia trembling with worry, so I call one of my most trusted men, sending him to Ciudad de Mexico, where her sisters live with their uncle.
“If anything happens to them, Max…,” Julia whispers, her voice shaking, and I can’t stand the way that sounds.
I know what it’s cost her to keep her distance all these years, to stay in the shadows with me. Even if she always says shedoesn’t regret it, I still feel like I don’t deserve a sacrifice like that.
I can’t imagine living a single day without her—without the sweetness of her scent, without the salt air that clings to her skin. But part of me always wonders if, someday, she’ll hate me for it—that she gave up too much.
Suddenly, her pinky hooks around mine. I look up, and she meets my eyes. “I’m right where I’m supposed to be, Max. My worry for them won’t go away, not even when I have them close. But I’m not leaving you.”
I nod, but the doubt lingers. What if she regrets it someday? What if she wants to move and live with her sisters when this is all over?
We’ve never really talked about what happens after the plan finally works—it always felt too far off, too fragile to hope for. But now? Now it’s real. Tomorrow is coming, and neither of us knows what to expect.
We board the private jet, and I move like a ghost until we’re airborne.
Julia leans into me, her arms draping over my shoulders. “Come back to me,” she whispers, her lips just a breath from mine.
“Do you wish you’d left back then?” My voice wavers. It’s a pathetic question, but if she says yes, if she wants out, I’d take her to her sisters myself, no matter how much it breaks me. I’m selfish with her laughter, her touch, every golden inch of skin that glows next to mine, but I’ll never be selfish with her happiness.
For a moment, she just looks at me, searching my face for something.
“Not even for a second,” she whispers, kissing the corner of my mouth. “Not even if I knew I’d never see them again.” Her lips find mine, soft and sure, and her hand covers my chest, right over my heartbeat. “Because if I wasn’t with you, I wouldn’t know how to breathe. I couldn’t be the sister they need, because my heart would still be here with you.”
I pull her closer, my hand settling at her waist. The need that always rises in me when she’s near, others might call it obsession, even madness. I know my mind is damaged, haunted by memories that shake me at night, but if anyone could put me back together, piece by piece, it would be her. That smile, brighter than every star in the sky. That touch that feels like it washes every scar from my skin. Her body—she’s made me a believer, and I know I don’t deserve any of it: to touch her, to hear her gasp my name when I push her to her edge, to see her face right after. No one deserves a privilege like that.
?
We spend the flight catching up on the sleep we’ve barely had lately, knowing we’ll need it soon enough.
As the plane touches down in Moscow, heavy snow is falling, the cold biting at my face. I zip my coat, take Julia’s hand, and lead her toward Akim, who’s waiting by the SUV.
He gives me a smile, and that’s all it takes—I know he understands what we’ve just claimed. We’ve taken back some of our power.
“Did everything go as planned?” I ask as we approach.
He just nods, and we drive on one last trip back to the estate that’s given me nothing but nightmares.
Ivan’s lawyer is waiting outside. I find myself grinning when I see he’s been kept out in the snow, even with drifts up to his ankles.
“Carrol, good to see you,” I say.
He practically flinches backward.
