The emotional roller coaster had taken a toll on her. I’d carried her from the bathroom and lay in bed with her, the soft blankets around the two of us. I tucked Dahlia into my bed.

Wrapping her in my arms, I rocked her until her sobs turned to tears and then steady breathing. She always tried to be so strong and so tough. But some things were too much, and today had been way too much.

I hated myself for what I’d done to her. Brushing her hair back off her face, I wiped away the last of the tears on her cheeks. So many things were left unsaid, and I had no idea where we stood. She’d let me hold her and comfort her, but what would happen when she woke up?

There were no more secrets between us. She knew it all now. The complete, ugly, shameful truth I’d been so afraid for her to finally figure out. There weren’t many things I’d wished for. I’d long since given up on the idea that those came true. If they did, my parents wouldn’t be dead. I wouldn’t have had to leave my sister behind in Russia. Dahlia’s dad would be alive, and I’d never have hurt her. Her sweet smile should have been enough to know she wasn’t for me, but I’d been stupid.

“You think you get to determine your own destiny, boy?” Sergei said through clenched teeth. I stood in his office with my fists clenched at my sides. “You go out and get involved with some girl? The daughter of a cop? One of the ones who helped kill my son. Are you that fucking stupid?”

“I don’t care what you say. I’ll do whatever the fuck I want to do. You think you can rule my life.”

He punched me in the mouth. It happened so quickly I didn’t even have time to react. He grabbed me by the collar with his spit splattering my face. His hot, rum-laden breath smacked me in the face.

“I own you, Ivan. You will do whatever I tell you to do.” He released me, and I stumbled backward.

“Fuck you,” I spat.

“Fuck me? No, fuck you. Because if you don’t do exactly what I say and stay away from this girl, I’ll make sure you never see your sister again.”

That threat was like cold water being dumped on my head. It scared me more than the punch ever could.

“Elena is back in Russia. All I have to do is give the word and she’s gone.”

“She’s your fucking niece,” I roared. The muscles in my neck were so tight I thought I might snap something. Threatening Dahlia was one thing, but his own flesh and blood?

“You do as I say. You understand that I am the one who gets to decide if she will be fine. No harm will come to her, and you’ll never have to worry about it. But if you go against me again, you will not like what happens to her. My own brother knew he shouldn’t have married that woman, your mother, with her ideas of leaving this family behind. His mistakes have been passed down to you. I don’t want you to have the same problems he had.”

He walked to the bar cart in his office and poured two glasses of vodka. He handed me mine like we were celebrating something. Not like he hadn’t just threatened the woman I love and my baby sister.

“Remember who’s in charge, Ivan.” He clinked his glass to mine. “Na zdorovie!” he said cheerfully, but his eyes were hard. Angry and vile, like everything else about him.

“Na zdorovie,” I said, tipping the glass to my lips. Sergei threw his back and smiled. I enjoyed the white-hot burn as the liquor seared its way down my throat.

That was the day I promised myself I’d kill him. He’d kept Dahlia from me. But I’d gotten Elena to the shores, out of his clutches back in Russia. Soon I’d make him pay.

I fell asleep with Dahlia in my arms, and when I woke, her side of the bed was empty. Like she’d been a figment of my imagination, she was gone. Scrambling for my phone, I checked the time and the surveillance videos.

Before she filled the screen, tiptoeing out of the apartment, it crossed my mind that perhaps this had been a vivid dream. A dream where I got to live out one of my worst nightmares of her finding out without it actually happening. But as I pressed my face into the pillow beside me, I smelled her. Her wildflower smell that clung to her skin now clung to my sheets.

I’d give her space with eyes on her. A little bit of time to come to terms with things, and then I’d go to her. Let her know that I would spend the rest of my life being the man she needed me to be. I’d figure out the stuff with Alexei and Elena later. I couldn’t breathe without her. Could barely think straight. I wouldn’t make it the rest of my life without her, and I didn’t plan on it.