Page 127 of Mission Shift

Braxton, who had been staring at the screen, suddenly straightened. “First of October?”

Nikolai arched a brow. “Yeah. Why?”

Braxton rubbed his jaw, a slow grin forming. “That’s good. It gives us time to make it back to Tacoma with a few days to spare.”

I frowned. “For what?”

Braxton glanced over at me. “Atticus and Samantha’s wedding. October fifth.”

A wedding. Family. Normalcy. The words whirled strangely in my mind, so far removed from everything we had been dealing with—so far from my everyday life. This was the second time Braxton had left me speechless in a matter of minutes.

Nikolai tapped on the keyboard for a few seconds. “Great. So we survive the North Atlantic, dodge any bounty hunters, and get Braxton home in time to watch his brother tie the knot. Simple.”

Braxton smiled and let out a gentle sigh of relief.

He leaned against the bar, watching me pick at the open-faced sandwich I’d made.

“You’re gonna like them,” he said.

I forked a slice of cucumber, glancing up. “Like who?” I asked, popping it into my mouth and chewing.

“My brothers—Atticus and Conan—and Samantha, Atticus’s fiancée.” His lips twitched. “She’s tough. You’ll get along.”

I chewed slower. Braxton said all of this like it was inevitable, as if I’d already agreed to be part of his world.

“And you’ll like Anastasia too,” he added, glancing at Nikolai. “Nik’s twin, who’s starting a fresh life in Tacoma.”

Nikolai chuckled as he continued to tap on the keyboard, half-listening. “You’ll get to meet the entire Thorin bunch. I warn you, though, they’re loud.”

I didn’t want to continue this conversation—I hadn’t yet mapped out a plan for my future. Nikolai turned toward me, something in his expression shifting. He tapped his fingers against a water bottle on the table, studying me like he had just remembered something. “Speaking of fresh starts, I have a full set of documents for you,” he said with all the casual arrogance of a man who decided people’s fates like it was no big deal.

I stilled. “Documents?”

Nikolai took a drink from the bottle, placed it back on the table, and turned his chair to face me. “Your father actuallymade my job easier than usual. He’s been paying a full team to erase you from every Kremlin system and database in Russia.”

My pulse hammered against my ribs. The Devil had promised to disown me but had actually erased me? “Explain.”

Nikolai shrugged. “I was able to finish the job, so Daria Melnichenko doesn’t exist anymore.”

The floor beneath me seemed to tilt. I planted my hands on the bar. “What the hell did you do?”

Braxton stepped in. “Nikolai and I knew you’d need a safe place to land,” he said softly, as if trying to defuse a bomb. “You’re on the Kremlin’s kill list. Not to mention, the Tambovskaya Bratva wants your head on a pike. You needed a new identity—one that keeps you alive.” He inhaled slowly, a proud sort of grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. “You’re an American now. A photographer. Artist. You’ve got travel papers, a passport—hell, even a Washington State driver’s license. Everything checks out too. It’s clean. Bulletproof.”

I stared at him. He looked…pleased with himself.

“You’ll be safe in the US,” he went on. “You can start over—with or without me around. It’s your choice. I just want you to have a good life.”

A choice. He thought this was a choice?

“You think I want this?” My words came out harsh, slicing through whatever warm sentiment Braxton had been trying to build. “You think I want to run and play house in America while people are still dying in Ukraine?”

His jaw clenched. “Daria—”

“No.” Heat flooded my chest, burning through every nerve. “You think you get to decide this for me? That I need rescuing?” I turned to face Nikolai. “You think you can just rewrite my life? You’re not any different from the bastards who tried to control me before!”

Nikolai’s chair scraped against the floor as he stood. “Your past life is over.” His tone carried command, not suggestion. “We are saving you whether you like it or not.”

I jumped to my feet, my fists curled. “I can fight in Ukraine.”

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