Page 248 of Legacy
There’s a long pause.
“Oh, fuck you Amato,” Maksim mutters under his breath. “You’re an idiot. He’s going to kill you.”
“I’m done lying,” I say. “I have to come clean.”
“I don’t have time to deal with Scythe,” he snaps. “I’ve got my own problems.”
In the background, I hear a woman’s voice, low, muffled, annoyed. Maksim says something back gruffly, too quiet for me to catch.
“I need to leave town anyway,” he mutters, and then—click.
The line goes dead.
Fucking typical.
A moment later, Adriana walks back in with a box tucked in her hands, her high school ring on top, an old notebook, jewelry, photos, pieces of a life she’s reclaiming, piece by piece.
My altar holding myshrine.
She sets it down on the nightstand, takes a breath, and meets my eyes.
“I’m going to call Vasilisa,” she says. “Invite her for dinner tomorrow night.”
“Why would—”
She raises a hand to stop me. “Santo isn’t speaking to you. Vasilisa’s our way in.”
I chuckle, despite the tension pressing at my chest. “You know my brother already.”
“I do,” she says, lifting a brow. “The way his eyes track her? He won’t let her come alone—especiallynot when he’s pissed at you.”
I cross the space between us in two strides.
I need to touch her.
To feel her.
To know she’s real.
My hands find her waist, tug her close. The shirt she wears slips low on her shoulder, exposing soft skin I ache to sink into. I press a kiss there. Then another. My mouth drags along the column of her throat until I’m breathing her in—home, lust, love.
“Your alliance with the Russians,” she murmurs, her voice starting to waver. “Maksim needs to know the war plan.”
“Can’t,” I say, lips brushing her jaw. “He’s leaving town.”
Her breath hitches when my teeth graze that spot beneath her ear.
“That’s annoying,” she whispers. “Who’s his second in command?”
“Vaska,” I reply, my fingers slipping beneath the hem of her shirt, tracing the curve of her hip. “His right hand.”
“Oh,” she breathes. “The knife guy.”
I grin against her skin. “The very one.”
She shivers beneath my touch, and I feel her hands on my chest like she might pull me closer.
But instead, she murmurs, “Let me call her now.”
