14. Aria #2
“That’s not what?” Nikolai leans down, putting his face level with mine.
His eyes are like chips of ice. “Not true? You didn’t run?
You didn’t keep Maksim’s son from him? You didn’t let that boy grow up in poverty when he could have had everything?
” His voice drops even lower. “Or is it that you didn’t lie?
Lying is all you’ve done since my brother found you. ”
“Nikolai,” Maksim says sharply, half rising from his chair. “Enough.”
But Nikolai ignores him, keeping his focus on me. “Alexander is my right hand man and has never put a toe out of place. And you want me to investigate him because you—a woman who’s proven herself to be a liar and a runner—say you heard something suspicious eight years ago?”
I’m shaking now, tears streaming down my face, unable to speak. This is what I feared.
“I checked the security tapes. Everything she described happened.” Maksim says, his voice tight with controlled anger.
Nikolai straightens, and I see him pause and consider Maksim’s words. But the security tapes didn’t capture sound.
But then Nikolai shakes his head. “She could be lying about the conversation. The tapes only show who was there. She’s using it to make her story sound credible.
” His expression hardens even more. “I’ve seen women manipulate good men before.
They take small details, weave them into elaborate stories, and make themselves seem vulnerable and in need of protection. It’s a tale as old as time.”
“She’s fucking scared shitless of him,” Maksim snaps. “She has been since the first time he visited. Why would she react that way if she’d never seen him before?”
Nikolai shrugs. “Because she’s dramatic?
Paranoid? Guilty about running and projecting her fears onto someone in our organization?
Take your pick. Or maybe she researched us before you found her, learned who the key players were, and decided Alexander would make a convenient scapegoat for her lies. ”
“I’m not lying,” I finally manage to say, my voice stronger. “I know what I heard. I know—”
“You know nothing.” Nikolai cuts me off.
“You heard fragments of a conversation eight years ago that you’ve spent nearly a decade twisting in your mind to justify your cowardice.
You’ve convinced yourself it was about protecting your son when really it was about protecting yourself from a life you were too weak to handle. ”
The words are like acid, burning through every defense I have.
“Enough.” Maksim stands, his voice hard and his eyes flashing anger. “You’ve made your point, brother.”
“Have I?” Nikolai turns to his brother. “Because it doesn’t seem like I have. You’re still looking at her like she’s telling the truth. Like she’s some innocent victim instead of a manipulative woman who’s using your feelings to turn you against your own family.”
Maksim scowls. “She’s not manipulating me.”
“Isn’t she?” Nikolai steps closer to Maksim.
“Think about it, brother. Really think. She shows up after eight years, and just oh so conveniently is pregnant with your child. She gives you just enough affection to keep you interested but maintains distance and keeps secrets. And now, when you’re finally falling for her again, she tells you this elaborate story about Alexander—my most trusted man, your biggest competition for influence in the organization—being a traitor.
” He cocks his head to the side. “Doesn’t that seem convenient? ”
“That’s not—” Maksim starts, but Nikolai keeps going.
“She’s isolating you and turning you against the people you trust. She’s making you doubt your own judgment.
Classic manipulation tactics.” His voice softens slightly, and for the first time I hear something like concern.
“I know you loved her. I know you never stopped looking for her. But love makes us blind, Maksim. It makes us see what we want to see instead of what’s really there. ”
Maksim’s jaw clenches, and I can see him fighting to control his temper. “I’m not blind. And she’s not manipulating me.”
“Then prove it.” Nikolai crosses his arms. “Prove to me that you’re thinking clearly and this isn’t just about getting the woman you love back into your bed and your life.”
My heart is in my throat. Maksim has to believe me, right? He wouldn’t believe anything Nikolai is saying. Right?
“I won’t investigate Alexander based on this,” Nikolai says flatly. “I won’t insult a man who’s been nothing but loyal based on the accusations of a woman with every incentive to lie.”
My last hope—that Nikolai would believe me and would protect us from Alexander—dies right there.
Maksim is quiet for a long moment. “Then don’t investigate. But do me one favor.”
Nikolai raises an eyebrow. “What?”
“Don’t tell Alexander about this conversation. Not yet. Give me two weeks to prove she’s lying or telling the truth. If I find nothing, I’ll drop it. But don’t mention this to him until I’ve had time to look.”
My stomach drops. Prove I’m lying? I look at Maksim, betrayal flooding through me. After everything—after I finally told him the truth, after he said he believed me—he thinks I might be lying?
Nikolai studies his brother, suspicion clear on his face. “Why?”
“Because if she’s lying, I need to know.” Maksim’s voice is measured, and each word feels like a knife to my chest. “I need to see it for myself before I can move forward with her. And if I’m investigating, I don’t want Alexander knowing and treating her differently. It’ll muddy my judgment.”
I can’t breathe. Can’t process what I'm hearing. He doesn’t believe me. After everything, he still doesn’t—
Then I see it. The way Maksim isn’t looking at me. The careful neutrality of his expression. The specific words he’s choosing.
He’s lying to Nikolai.
Maksim is framing this as testing my credibility instead of Alexander’s loyalty. He’s giving Nikolai exactly what he wants—proof that Maksim isn’t being manipulated—while buying us time to build a real case against Alexander.
It’s brilliant, actually. And it means Nikolai won’t warn Alexander. We’ll have two weeks where Alexander doesn’t know we’re coming for him.
But it also means I have to sit here and listen to the man I love tell his brother he thinks I might be a liar. I have to keep my face devastated while Nikolai smirks at me like I’ve already been exposed.
Nikolai considers this for a long moment. I can see him weighing the request, looking for the trap.
Finally, he nods. “Two weeks. You investigate your woman, prove to yourself she’s manipulating you, and we move on. But I won’t have you poisoning our organization with baseless accusations, Maksim. If you can’t prove she’s lying within two weeks, you end this obsession with Alexander. Understood?”
Maksim nods curtly. “Understood.”
“And one more thing.” Nikolai’s eyes are cold again.
“If I find out she’s been spreading these accusations to anyone else—to other members of the organization, to outside parties, to anyone—I’ll handle it myself.
We can’t have someone going around claiming one of our top lieutenants is a traitor without proof. It’s bad for business.”
I nearly whimper. The threat is clear. If I talk, Nikolai will make me disappear.
“She won’t talk,” Maksim says firmly. “She knows the stakes.”
Nikolai looks at me one last time, his expression filled with disdain. “I hope for your sake you do, Miss Delano. Because if you’re lying—if you’re using my brother’s feelings to play games—you’ll discover that the Bratva doesn’t take kindly to manipulation.”
Then he’s gone, the door closing behind him with a soft click that feels like a judge’s gavel.
I’m shaking so badly I can barely stay in the chair. Tears are dripping down my face, and I can't seem to stop them.
“He thinks I’m lying.” My voice is broken. “He thinks I’m manipulating you.”
Maksim is beside me in an instant, pulling me into his arms. “He’s protective of Alexander. But I bought us time. We have two weeks to out him.”
I pull back to look at him, needing to see his face. “You don’t actually think I’m lying, do you? When you said you needed to prove it—”
“I was lying to Nikolai.” He gently kisses my forehead and I breathe him in. “I believe you, Aria. But if I’d defended you too hard, if I’d insisted on investigating Alexander, Nikolai would have warned him. This way, Alexander thinks everything is fine. He doesn’t know we’re coming for him.”
Relief floods through me so intensely I nearly collapse. “I thought for a moment you—”
“No.” He cuts me off fiercely. “Never. I believe every word you said. But Nikolai needed to think I was being rational. I needed him to think I was investigating you, not Alexander.” His thumbs brush away my tears. “I’m sorry I had to say those things. I’m sorry you had to hear them.”
I nod, understanding even though it hurt. “What if we can’t prove it? What if all we have is my word?”
“Then we’ll have to make him prove it himself.”
“How?”
“I don’t know yet. But we’ll figure it out.” He presses his forehead to mine. “Together.”
I nod, even though I don’t see how this ends well. I’m scared shitless that Alexander will find out, and Nikolai will decide I need to be eliminated.
But Maksim believes me. And right now, that has to be enough.
Hours later, after we’ve gone over everything again, I’m sitting in the armchair by the fire, staring at nothing.
The fire is burning low in the fireplace. The clock shows 5:15 a.m. We haven’t slept at all.
Maksim is at his desk, reviewing files, but my eyes keep drifting closed. The exhaustion is bone-deep, pulling me under. The emotional roller coaster of the night—the confrontation with Nikolai, the fear, the relief that Maksim believes me—has left me completely wrung out.
My eyes close. Just for a moment…
“Aria.”
I jolt awake to find Maksim crouched beside the chair, his hand gentle on my shoulder.
“Come on, moya. You need sleep.”
“I’m fine,” I mumble, even though I can barely keep my eyes open.