Page 48 of Mission Shift

I twisted, trying to break his grip, but he was unrelenting.

“It was my father who sold her to Moretti,” he bit out. “My own father. And I did what I had to do to protect her.” His voice cracked, but the steel in it never wavered. “She is my life. My blood. My responsibility. I will protect her. Now. Always.”

“And now…Daria…is mine,” I said, forcing the words through clenched teeth, my lungs screaming for air.

Nik’s grip slackened, just enough for me to suck in a large breath. His body went rigid.

“Fuck,” he muttered. “You fell for her, didn’t you?”

I didn’t answer. I didn’t have to.

His grip loosened entirely, and I twisted, shoving him off. I rolled onto my side, coughing, trying to suck in air.

He exhaled sharply. “You stupid motherfucker.”

I pushed myself up onto my elbows, dragging in gulps of air. “You’re gonna fucking help me,” I rasped, looking him dead in the eye. “Or I swear to God, I’ll tell the world your and Luca’s little secret.”

Nik’s jaw twitched.

I had him.

There were only a handful of people who knew the truth—that Viktor and Valentina Volkov weren’t actually dead. That Nik’s parents were still alive. And that Luca Genovese had them locked away in his basement.

Nik’s nostrils flared. “You don’t fucking say that out loud,” he snarled.

I smirked, letting out a humorless laugh despite the throbbing in my ribs. “Then do everything in your power to save Daria.” I leaned in until we were nose to nose, speaking in a deadly quiet voice so the others couldn’t hear. “Or the world finds out, and you’ll really learn how fragile Anastasia’s safety is.”

The fury that crossed Nik’s face was enough to kill a lesser man. His fists clenched like he was seconds away from snapping my neck.

But instead, he shoved me back and let out a guttural growl, rolling away and getting to his feet in one fluid motion.

I sat upright, resting my forearms on my knees, then wiped the blood from my busted lip with the back of my hand.

Nik’s men stood around us, silent spectators to our personal battle.

Nik cracked his neck, breathing hard, his eyes dark and brimming with unspoken fury. Then he took a step closer, peering down at me.

“I didn’t know Daria was a double agent.” He scrubbed a hand over his chin. “All I knew was the Kremlin was desperate to get her back, which makes sense. They’ll want to squeeze out every detail about her Ukrainian defection and learn about any others now in their fold. They told me they had tracked you to a farmhouse and you wouldn’t make it over the border. If they couldn’t capture you, they were going to kill you both and leave you to rot.”

He glanced up at the men surrounding us. “These guys are captains in the Volkovi Notchi. They’ve sworn their allegiance to me as their new Pakhan. Their allegiance is to me—not any government. But there are others who are old school and loyal toMother Russia. Not to mention they’re suspicious of me after I took Viktor, Valentina, and Elenaout.”

That hit differently. I needed to watch my mouth and not let my temper get the best of me. I couldn’t risk revealing too much information. The Volkovi Notchi was in a tenuous place; its members were deciding whether to follow Nik or make a move to break away. The last thing Nik wanted was there to be a power vacuum collapsing his entire regime. Not to mention, that would make it impossible for him to help me get Daria back.

“Understood,” I said, jutting my chin and locking eyes with him. “But you’ve got to understand, I owe Daria a life debt. She not only saved me, not only blew her cover…she told me your family is her father’s greatest enemy. You know they’ll see her as a traitor to both Russia and the Bratva—they make her pay in the worst sort of way.”

Nik scrubbed his jaw as he narrowed his eyes and frowned. The situation had thrown a monkey wrench into his life.

“I’ll help you,” he said darkly. “But if you ever disrespect me like that again, I will skin you alive and drop your sorry ass in a field of fucking land mines.”

I held his glare, my breath still uneven, my heart still hammering. Then, slowly, I nodded. “Yes, sir.” He needed to ensure that his men knew he was the boss and that I would follow orders. I didn’t care about any of that bullshit. The only thing that mattered to me was rescuing Daria.

Nik exhaled heavily, rolling his shoulders, and extended a hand.

I stared at it for half a second before grabbing it and letting him haul me to my feet.

“I was just trying to get you back,” Nik said with a grunt.

Around us, his men gave me subtle nods of approval.

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