She is not a pawn. She is not a prisoner.
She is a queen sharpening her own blade.
And fuck me, but there’s a part of me—deep and dark and reckless—that is proud.
But it doesn’t change the fact that I can’t let her walk into this fight.
“Clock’s ticking,” Maxim shouts. “We need to move.”
I exhale sharply, forcing myself to step back. “Wait outside,” I tell her, voice like gravel. “This conversation isn’t over.”
Her lips part like she wants to argue, but something in my tone stops her.
She glares at me, but she turns on her heel and storms toward the door.
I turn back to the men, rolling the tension out of my shoulders before speaking. “We’ll reconvene in ten minutes. Be ready to go.”
Maxim just smirks. Dmitri nods. No one says a word about what just happened.
When I step into the hallway, she’s already on her phone.
Her back is to me, shoulders tight, fingers tapping fast across the screen.
Something in my gut goes cold.
My voice drops into something soft. Terrifyingly quiet.
“What did you do?”
She stiffens.
Her fingers tighten around her phone, her shoulders going rigid, like she’s already bracing for a fight.
Too late.
I already know.
My voice drops into something soft. Terrifyingly quiet.
“What did you do?”
I close the distance in a single step.
She gasps softly, tilting her head back to meet my gaze. Her pulse flickers at the base of her throat, too fast.
I pin her against the cold stone wall, my arms braced on either side of her. Caging her in.
I see the moment she realizes there’s no escape.
“I contacted Darren. Told him. I want to make a deal.”
Everything inside me goes still.
She keeps going, rushing now, as if saying it faster will make it less insane.
“He’s expecting me tomorrow night. You leak the intel to prove I decrypted the drive, and I meet him. He thinks he’s getting the files in exchange for a million bucks. Instead, I put a bullet in his head.”
My fists clench at my sides. My knuckles crack under the force of it, a sharp, warning sound in the silence.