chapter 4

The days after the discovery passed like a dream Alex couldn’t wake up from. He returned to the velvet prison of Kai’s arms each night, and by morning, found himself drowning in the silence between them. Kai hadn’t spoken of the file again. He didn’t need to. The knowledge lingered like a bruise — invisible, but aching.

But something shifted.

Kai became more tender. More careful. He brought Alex his favorite pastries from a bakery downtown, the one with the flaky raspberry tarts. He played old records at dinner — jazz, soft and low — and watched him with eyes that searched for cracks. As if he knew Alex might break.

And Alex… was breaking.

Because he still wanted him.

He hated that.

One evening, rain poured against the glass like a warning. Lightning split the sky, illuminating the penthouse in sharp, ghostly flashes.

Alex stood at the window, arms crossed, watching the city blur into streaks of light and water. Behind him, Kai’s voice was low, speaking into his phone in Russian. The conversation was clipped, angry. Something had gone wrong again.

Another deal. Another body.

Alex turned. “You're bleeding.”

Kai looked down at his side — a thin line of red growing beneath his shirt. “It’s nothing.”

“You need stitches.”

“I need loyalty.”

They stared at each other, the words heavier than the storm outside.

Alex moved toward him anyway, grabbing the first aid kit from the cabinet. “Sit.”

Kai obeyed. Not like a man defeated — but like one who chose to surrender, just for a moment. Alex knelt beside him, pressing gauze to the wound.

“You’re going to get yourself killed,” he muttered.

“I’ve been dead for years,” Kai said softly. “You just make me forget.”

Alex paused, fingers trembling.

“You think saying that makes it okay? That it justifies locking me away?”

“No,” Kai said. “Nothing justifies it. But I’d do it all again.”

Silence.

Then Alex leaned closer, his voice a whisper. “Then don’t be surprised when I do what I have to.”

Kai’s jaw tensed. “Are you planning something?”

Alex didn’t answer.

He didn’t have to.

That night, he found the burner phone hidden in the vent behind the bookshelf — the one Dmitri, one of the younger guards, had slipped him weeks ago. A favor, in exchange for silence. Alex powered it on, heart pounding.

One message.

One chance.

He typed: “It’s time. I’ll leave the door unlocked. Midnight.”

He hit send.

But when midnight came… no one arrived.

Instead, the door swung open slowly — and there stood Kai, holding the phone in his hand, the screen still glowing with Alex’s message.

His voice was low. Controlled. Dangerous.

“Who were you trying to call, Alex?”

Alex backed away. “You read my messages?”

Kai stepped inside, closing the door behind him. “I read everything.”

Alex’s heart thundered. “Then you already know why.”

Kai nodded. “Yes. And I should be furious. I should kill that traitor Dmitri and lock you in the basement.”