Chapter 33 Aria
ARIA
The fluorescent lights in Nikolai's security office buzz overhead like angry wasps, the sound drilling into my skull as I stare at my sister.
Maya sits handcuffed to a metal chair, her thin frame hunched forward, mascara streaking down her hollow cheeks in black rivers.
She looks like a stranger wearing my sister's face, all sharp angles and desperate eyes that won't quite meet mine.
"Tell her," Nikolai says from behind me, his voice cold enough to freeze blood. "Tell your sister what you've been doing."
Maya's lips tremble, and for a heartbeat I think she'll refuse. Then the words start pouring out in a rush, each one landing like a physical blow.
"I've been meeting with Cane. He said if I gave him information about Nikolai's schedule, about when he leaves the house, about you, he'd forgive part of my debt.
" Her voice cracks. "And he'd keep supplying me.
I didn't think it would hurt anyone. I swear I didn't know he was selling the information to Nikolai's enemies. "
The room tilts sideways. My hands grip the edge of a nearby desk, knuckles going white against the metal surface. "You've been spying on us? Reporting back to that loan shark about our lives?"
"I didn't have a choice!" Maya's voice rises to something close to a shriek. "He was going to hurt me, Aria. He showed me pictures of what he does to people who don't pay. I was scared."
"So you decided to put us all in danger instead." The words taste like copper in my mouth. "You had access to this house. To me. To information about Nikolai's business. And you sold it all for drugs."
"It wasn't like that." But even as she says it, I see the lie written across her face. It was exactly like that. My sister, the person I've sacrificed everything to protect, chose her addiction over my safety. Over my child's safety.
The betrayal cuts deeper than any blade.
I think of all the times I believed her promises, all the money I scraped together for rehab, all the nights I stayed awake worrying while she was out getting high.
Every sacrifice I made, every boundary I crossed, every piece of myself I gave up to keep her alive, reduced to this pathetic scene of withdrawal and manipulation.
The urge to scream wars with the instinct to gather her into my arms like I did when she was twelve and our mother had just died. But I remain frozen, caught between fury and a heartbreak so profound it steals my breath.
Nikolai's presence behind me radiates controlled violence.
I can feel the tension coiling through his body, the way his breathing has gone shallow and measured.
This is the Pakhan in full force, the man who eliminates threats without hesitation, and Maya just became a threat to everything he values.
The knowledge makes my knees weak.
I turn slowly to face him, my hands moving instinctively to my stomach where our child grows. The protective gesture is becoming habitual, a constant reminder of what's at stake. His eyes meet mine with an expression carved from stone, and I see death written in those frozen depths.
"Nikolai." My voice comes out barely above a whisper. "Please."
"She betrayed you." His accent thickens with barely controlled rage. "She put you in danger. Put our child in danger."
"I know." The admission costs me something. "I know what she did. But she's my sister."
"She's a liability." Nikolai's jaw tightens, a muscle jumping beneath his skin. "In my world, liabilities get eliminated."
The casual way he says it, like he's discussing a business transaction rather than my sister's life, makes ice spread through my chest. I step closer to him, close enough that I have to tilt my head back to maintain eye contact.
Close enough that I catch the scent of his cologne mixed with something darker, more primal.
"Please don't hurt her." The words tumble out in a desperate rush that strips away every shred of pride I possess. "I'm begging you. I'll do anything. Accept anything. Just please, don't kill my sister."
Something flickers across his face, too quick to identify before his mask slams back into place. For a terrifying moment, I think he'll refuse, that I'll watch him make a phone call that ends with Maya disappearing forever. My heart hammers so hard, I can feel it in my teeth.
"Anything?" His voice drops to something rough and intimate despite the circumstances.
"Yes." I don't hesitate. "Whatever you want. Whatever it takes."
His hand lifts to cup my jaw, thumb brushing across my cheekbone with devastating gentleness that contradicts the violence radiating from his body. "You don't know what you're promising."
"I don't care." And I don't. Maya is all I have left of my family. I can't watch her die. "Please, Nikolai."
He studies my face for a long moment, those ice-blue eyes searching for something I'm not sure I'm giving him. Then his expression shifts, calculation replacing rage, and I know he's made a decision.
"Maya goes to a private rehabilitation facility." His voice is cold, clinical, the Pakhan issuing orders. "The kind with locked doors and twenty-four-hour supervision. No visitors except approved medical staff. No phone calls. No contact with the outside world until the doctors declare her clean."
Relief floods through me so intensely, my knees nearly buckle. "Thank you. God, thank you."
"I'm not finished." His hand tightens fractionally on my jaw. "She stays until she's clean. No negotiation. No early release because she promises she's better. And if she relapses again after she gets out, you won't be able to protect her. She's done. Do you understand?"
The finality in his tone makes my throat tighten. "I understand."
"And Cane Harris." The way he says the loan shark's name makes my blood turn to slush in my veins. "I'll handle him personally."
I don't ask what that means. I don't want to know the details of what Nikolai has planned for the man who's been using my sister as a pawn. Some part of me feels a dark satisfaction at the promise of retribution.
Behind me, Maya makes a sound that's half sob, half scream. "I'm your sister!" Her voice cracks on the word. "How can you let him do this to me?"
"Because you need help." The words come out steadier than I feel. "Real help. Not another promise that you'll do better, not another stint in outpatient therapy that you'll quit the moment things get hard. You need to be somewhere you can't run from your problems."
"I hate you." The venom in her voice makes me flinch. "I've always hated you. Perfect Aria, always so responsible, always so together. You've controlled my life since Mom died, and now you're sending me to prison with your monster boyfriend's blessing."
The accusation lands like a slap. Part of me wants to defend myself, to list all the sacrifices I've made, all the times I've saved her from herself. But exhaustion pulls at my bones with enough force that I can barely stand.
"I love you, Maya." My voice breaks on her name. "But I can't save you anymore. You have to save yourself."
Nikolai makes a gesture, and two security guards materialize from the shadows. They move toward Maya with professional efficiency, and she starts thrashing in the chair, screaming obscenities that echo off the concrete walls.
"You'll regret this!" She's sobbing now, her face contorted with rage and fear. "Both of you! I'll never forgive you for this, Aria! Never!"
The guards unlock her handcuffs and haul her to her feet. She's still screaming as they escort her from the room, her voice fading as they move down the hallway. The door closes behind them with a soft click that sounds far too final.
Silence descends like a curtain.
I stand frozen in the middle of the security office, my arms wrapped around myself, trying to hold together pieces that feel like they're crumbling. Tears stream down my face, hot and bitter, and I don't bother wiping them away.
Nikolai's arms come around me from behind, pulling me back against his chest. His warmth seeps through my clothes, and I feel his heartbeat steady against my spine. For a moment I let myself lean into him, let myself take comfort from the solid strength of his body.
"You did the right thing," he murmurs against my temple.
"Then why does it feel like I just destroyed what's left of my family?"
"Because love is complicated." His lips brush my hair. "And sometimes, saving someone means making them hate you."
I turn in his arms, pressing my face against his chest, breathing in the scent of him. "Thank you. For not killing her. For giving her another chance."
"Don't thank me yet." His hand slides up to cup the back of my head, fingers threading through my hair. "There's a price for my mercy."
Something in his tone makes my stomach tighten with apprehension. I pull back enough to meet his gaze, and what I see there makes my breath catch. Not anger. Not violence. Something else entirely, something that looks almost like vulnerability wrapped in steel.
"What price?"
His eyes hold mine with absolute certainty. "You promised you'd do anything to save your sister. I'm holding you to that promise."
"Okay." The word comes out steadier than I feel. "What do you want?"
"Marry me."
The words hang in the air between us like smoke.
For a heartbeat, I think I've misheard him, that the stress and exhaustion have finally broken something in my brain.
But his expression doesn't change, doesn't soften, just watches me with that predatory focus that makes my pulse hammer in my throat.
"What?"
"You heard me." His thumb brushes across my lower lip, the touch sending unwanted heat cascading through my body. "The price for saving Maya is marriage. To me. Right away."