Matvei has the room now.
Whatever revenge Yakov planned has spiraled into chaos. This was supposed to be surgical, controlled. But now the plan is bleeding out in front of him, twisted into something personal and feral.
A phone rings.
Matvei’s. His scarred mouth stretches into a grin as he answers, putting it on speaker like he’s inviting a friend to a dinner party.
“Hello, Volkov,” he purrs.
Vasiliy’s voice slices through the static, low and lethal. “If you touch her?—”
“You’ll what?” Matvei cuts in, mocking. “Kill me? That’s the goal, right? But first, I’m going to make you suffer. Like I suffered.”
My pulse pounds. Even just his voice cuts through the fear, replacing it with something sharp and anchoring.
He’s coming.
God, he’s really coming.
I should be terrified—Matveiwantshim here—but all I feel is a savage, simmering satisfaction.
He has no idea who he’s lured into his trap.
“You better come alone,” Matvei continues. “No cops. No cavalry. Or your preciouslisichkapays the price. I wonder,” he turns, smirking at me, “if your baby can survive what I’ve got planned.”
The way he uses Vasiliy’s pet name for me—lisichka—feels like a violation. A cold hand around my throat. But it doesn’t scare me.
It ignites me.
All I feel is rage.
Primal. Protective. White-hot and absolute.
Matvei ends the call. “Get the place ready,” he tells one of his men. “Volkov’s on his way.”
“And the women?” the guard asks, nodding toward us.
“Keep them visible.” His grin widens, cruel and gleaming. “I want him to watch. I want him to see what it looks like to lose everything.”
The men start moving. Rearranging. Strategizing. Creating the stage for a performance they’ll never finish.
And then I see it.
Just for a heartbeat.
A figure in the shadows, near the back of the warehouse. Too fluid to be one of Matvei’s men. Too precise. And gone just as quickly as he appeared.
My breath catches.
He’s not coming.
He’s already here.
Beside me, Katarina’s spine straightens. Her eyes flick toward the spot I just saw, then back to me.
She saw it too.
Hope surges through my chest. Then caution clamps down hard.