Bound by the Blood

JUDGEMENT

POV: Sasha

---

The door clicked shut behind Marco.

Antonio didn't turn around. He stood at the window, back to me, shoulders rigid. I could see the tension in his jaw, the way his hands curled into fists at his sides.

I'd imagined this moment a hundred times. How it would feel to face him. What I would say. How he would react.

None of my fantasies had prepared me for this silence.

"You can kill me," I said. "I won't fight. I won't run. I came here to tell you the truth. I'll accept whatever you decide."

He turned.

His eyes were cold. Not furious – worse. Measured. Calculating. The look of a man who'd killed before and would kill again.

"Sit down," he said.

I sat.

He didn't. He leaned against his desk, arms crossed, and studied me.

"You're Viktor Petrov's daughter."

"Yes."

"You came here to destroy my family."

"Yes."

"And now you're telling me you changed your mind because you fell in love with Marco."

"Yes."

"Love." He said the word like it was poison. "You expect me to believe that?"

"I expect you to believe nothing. I'm not asking for your trust. I'm not asking for forgiveness. I'm asking for a chance to prove myself."

"A chance."

"Let me help you take down Dmitri. I know his operations. His safe houses. His men. I can give you everything you need to destroy him."

"And in exchange?"

"I ask for nothing. Do what you want with me after. Kill me. Imprison me. Send me back to Russia. I don't care. Just let me help you end this first."

He pushed off the desk, walked toward me. Stopped a foot away.

"You understand that Marco is like a brother to me. If you hurt him – if any of this is a lie – I will make you wish you'd never been born."

"I understand."

"And you understand that Sofia considers you a friend. She'll be devastated."

"I know."

He was quiet for a long moment. Then he stepped back.

"I'm not going to kill you."

I blinked. "What?"

"Not yet." He returned to his desk, sat behind it. "You're too valuable alive. And Marco would never forgive me."

"Antonio—"

"I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for him. He's been alone for eighteen years. He's never looked at anyone the way he looks at you." He met my eyes. "If you break him, I will break you. Are we clear?"

"Yes."

"Good." He pulled out his phone, typed something. "Marco. Come back in."

---

The door opened. Marco walked in, Sofia behind him.

Marco's eyes went to me first, searching. I nodded slightly. He exhaled.

Sofia crossed to Antonio, put her hand on his shoulder. "Well?"

Antonio looked at her, then at me, then at Marco.

"She stays," he said. "She helps us take down Dmitri. And then we decide what happens next."

Marco moved to my side, took my hand. I didn't pull away.

"Thank you," I said.

"Don't thank me." Antonio's voice was cold. "Thank Marco. And prove me right."

I nodded.

The meeting continued – plans, strategies, information. I told them everything. Safe houses. Men. Weaknesses. Ivan's role. Dmitri's paranoia.

They listened. Asked questions. Took notes.

By the time we finished, the sun had set.

Marco walked me to his car.

"You're shaking," he said.

"I thought he was going to kill me."

"So did I." He opened the passenger door for me. "He didn't."

"No. He didn't."

I got in. He walked around, slid behind the wheel.

"Where to?" he asked.

I looked at him – at this man who'd chosen me over everything. Who'd stood beside me when he should have walked away.

"Home," I said. "Take me home."

He didn't ask which home.

He just drove.