Page 72 of Twisted Pact
“What?” I ask.
“We’re being recorded. Someone in here has been filming us since we arrived. They just caught that whole display and posted it all over social media.”
My stomach sinks as the implications hit me.
That video will be everywhere within the hour. Every rival family, potential ally, and enemy will mark me as someone they can use against him.
When Alexei flips the screen in my direction, my face is clear in the footage—the woman who can make the second most powerful man in Moscow lose control in a public restaurant.
By tomorrow morning, the bounty on my head will triple, and every mercenary in the city will know what I look like. The protection he’s built around me just crumbled with a single, drunken stranger and a smartphone, and now, there’s nowhere to hide.
20
Alexei
We’ve been home from the restaurant for forty-three minutes when my phone starts ringing.
The estate’s main room feels like a tomb. Mila sits on the couch staring at her hands while I pace in front of the fireplace. Neither of us speaks. What is there to say? One video has destroyed months of security planning in thirty seconds.
My phone buzzes again. Dmitri’s name flashes for the fourth time. I ignore it.
“You should answer,” Mila says without looking up.
“Not yet.”
“He won’t stop.”
She’s right. My brother never does. The sound of a car in the driveway confirms it.
Dmitri walks in without knocking. “We need to talk.” His voice is flat and controlled, the kind that means someone’s about to get their ass handed to them.
Mila finally looks up.
“How bad?” I ask.
“Seven families called in two hours. They’re asking if the Kozlov heir has lost his head over a girl.” He drops into the chair opposite us. “The video’s already at thirty thousand views.”
Mila goes pale. “Thirty thousand?” she whispers.
“And climbing. Comments are already saying you’re distracted, and that you’ve gone soft.” Dmitri scrolls through his phone. “Novikov shared the clip an hour ago, calling it proof the Kozlovs are losing focus.”
I stop pacing. “He said that?”
“Direct quote.” Dmitri’s eyes shift to Mila. “He’s using you to question our control.”
“This is my fault,” she whispers. “I pushed you to take me out. I just wanted to feel normal.”
“This isn’t your fault,”I assure her.
“You told me it was dangerous. You said we should stay hidden, but I pushed until you gave in.”
Dmitri exhales, his expression caught between sympathy and irritation. “The damage is done. Now, we focus on controlling it.”
My phone vibrates. Leonid’s name flashes on the screen.
“Answer it,” Dmitri says. “We need to know how he’s reacting.”
I put the call on speaker. “Leonid.”
