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“Not by choice.”

“Who's the father?” I finally ask.

“Dmitri Petrov,” Alex says, his voice flat. “It wasn't consensual.”

“He raped her?" Something cold and vicious unfurls in my chest.

“With the help of your darling new grandfather, they took her eggs,” Alex shifts on the bed to find a less painful position. “I think you can draw the conclusion from there.”

“I'll kill him.”

“Get in line, Luca. Though let’s be honest, Vesper will beat us both to it if we make it that far,”

I try to process this information, but my mind keeps snagging on the same impossible fact. “My sister has a child,” I say it aloud, testing how the words feel. "I'm an uncle."

“Yes,” Alex confirms, watching me carefully.

I stand and pace the small confines of our shared cell, energy suddenly coursing through me despite my weakened state. The pieces are clicking together with sickening clarity, my capture, Vesper's torment, and now this impossible task set before her.

I stop pacing and face him. “Do you think she can do it?”

Alex considers the question. “Yes. She’s not the same person you remember. The Collector made sure of that.”

I sink back onto the bed, trying to reconcile the sister I knew with this new version Alex describes. “What did he do to her?”

Alex’s expression tightens. “It’s not my story to tell. But she survived. She always survives.”

“So you and my sister,” I say after a moment, keeping my voice casual. “How complicated is 'complicated'?”

“Would you believe me if I said I'd die for her?”

"I believe you've already tried,” I reply, nodding toward his injuries.

A ghost of a smile touches his lips. “Fair assessment.”

“And the others? The Petrovs and St. James?”

“The last thing I want to do is dive into your sister’s sex life with her brother.”

Sex life? Jesus, is Vesper sleeping with one of them? More than one? All of them? How the fuck did that happen? He has to be messing with me. Vesper’s naive, innocent, or well, was. I can’t see her going down the non-traditional route when it comes to relationships.

“Are you saying…?”

“She’s well-protected and cared for. The three of them circle around her like her own personal pack of protectors. If we make it out of this, and you get to see her again, you’ll understand what I mean.”

The way he hesitates before choosing that word tells me everything I need to know. I feel a strange mixture of protectiveness and resignation wash over me. My sister, always the center of gravity, pulling others into her orbit whether she means to or not.

“Tell me what she's like?” The question slips out before I can reconsider. “Vesper, I mean. Now.”

“She's...” He pauses, searching for the right words. “Stubborn as hell, smarter than she gives herself credit for. Savage when cornered.”

I nod, picturing my sister, the one I remember, not this hardened version he describes. “And the scars? The ones that don't show?”

Alex's jaw tightens. “Deep. But healing, I think. Before all this—” he gestures vaguely to our surroundings, “—she was starting to find herself again. To trust.”

“And now?”

“Now she's probably burning the world down looking for us.” A ghost of a smile touches his lips. “The Collector thinks he's using us to control her, but he's just given her something worth fighting for.”