Page 49 of Sin Wager
"Of what?"
"Of all of it. Of them, of what they might do if I stop cooperating. Of what might happen to Elvin if I can't pay for his treatments."
I close the distance between us, slowly, giving her time to move away if she wants to. She doesn't. Instead, she looks up at me with those green eyes that have been haunting my thoughts for weeks.
"You don't have to be afraid of me," I say, brushing my knuckles across her cheek. "I'm trying to protect you."
"I know. But there are things you don't understand, things I can't explain."
"Then trust me to help you figure it out."
I lean down and kiss her gently, nothing like the demanding intensity of our previous encounters. This kiss is about reassurance, about offering comfort instead of taking it. It feels toxic to my sense of self-preservation at first, deadly to my pride and ego. And then it feels natural and intimate, and I find myself being grounded by it too.
She melts into me, her free hand gripping my jacket as though I'm the only solid thing in her world. The envelope crinkles between us, a reminder of the web of lies and threats that surrounds us both.
She pulls away, still leaning against me. "What happens now?" she asks.
"Now you go do your job, and I do mine. But Vera?" I tilt her chin up so she has to look at me. "This isn't over. Sonya and her crew, the betting scheme, the threats—I'm going to end it. All of it."
She nods, though I can see the doubt in her eyes.
"Stay close to me today," I tell her. "And if anyone approaches you, anyone you don't recognize, you find me immediately."
"Okay."
I watch her walk back toward the stable entrance, the envelope still clutched in her hand. She'll follow Sonya's instructions today. She has no choice, with her brother's life hanging in the balance. But the conversation I overheard has given me new information about their operation, new insights into their vulnerabilities.
More importantly, it's confirmed what I've suspected for weeks. Vera is a pawn, not a player. She's being used by people who see her desperation as a tool, her love for her family as a weakness to exploit.
The cold anger returns, sharper now and more focused. Sonya Radich thinks she can operate on Vetrov territory, using our people, bleeding our resources, threatening those under our protection.
She's wrong.
But first, I need to get closer to her operation. And the only way to do that is through Vera—which means maintaining her trust while using her access to destroy the people who've been manipulating her.
It's a dangerous balance, protecting someone while using them. But as I walk back toward the track office, the taste of Vera's kiss still on my lips, I know I'm in too deep to turn back.
The feeling of her leaning into me, trusting me despite her fear, leaves me more unsteady than I want to admit.
But I can't sit and examine that. Right now, I have a war to plan.
19
VERA
My hands shake as I push through the feed shed door, the envelope from Sonya crumpled in my grip. The dim space suffocates me, but it's familiar and safe compared to the concrete tunnel where everything went wrong. I lean against the rough wooden wall, trying to catch my breath, trying to make sense of what happened. Misha was following me, and why wouldn’t he? He asked me to stay away from her and to stay close to him, and I ignored that request.
The door opens behind me, and I know without turning that it's him. It scared me, the look in his eyes, but he's only trying to keep me safe, and I should've listened.
"Vera."
I don't turn around to face him because shame has contorted my face. I can feel the pinch in my nose, the tension in my shoulders.
"Look at me."
His voice is gentler than it was in the tunnel, but there's still an edge there. The same controlled tension I saw when he cornered me, when his eyes went cold and dangerous.
"I need a minute," I whisper.
