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“It gets us through the door,” she continues. “I become the Trojan horse.”

I lean forward, the pieces clicking together in my mind. “It's not the worst plan,” I admit, earning a murderous glare from mytwin. “Strategically speaking, it gives us access we wouldn't have otherwise.”

“You too?” Z spins to face me, betrayal etched across his features. “Have you both lost your fucking minds?”

Talon clears his throat. “Let's hear her out before we dismiss it entirely.”

Vesper nods gratefully at him before turning back to Z. “We could have a timeline of ten years, and we will never be able to get that close to him, Z. This is the only way.”

“Ten years or ten minutes, it doesn't matter,” Z argues. “You're not offering yourself to Victor Petrov.”

I watch the tension between them build. Z's protective rage versus Vesper's iron determination. It's a standoff neither will easily concede.

“What exactly are you proposing?” I ask, cutting through their silent battle. Strategy demands clarity, and right now we need specifics, not emotions.

“I contact Victor directly. I tell him everything. Mario and Bianca deceived him, how they had me taken by The Collector, and harvested to produce his grandson.”

“And then what?” Talon asks.

“Then I offer him what he truly wants,” Vesper says, her chin lifting with resolve. “A legitimate alliance through marriage. Myself to Dmitri, just as was originally planned before I was taken.”

The silence that follows is deafening. I can practically hear the gears turning in everyone's heads, especially Z's, whose face has gone frighteningly blank.

“It's actually brilliant,” I admit, earning a murderous glare from my twin. “Victor would never expect it. After everything that's happened, you offering yourself will seem like a legitimate surrender rather than a trap. You’re the head of the Rossi familynow,” I stand, moving to the center of our small group. “It would get you through the front door.”

“And then what?”

“I give my grandfather what he wants. The keys to the Petrov kingdom.”

The pieces fall into place in my mind like a strategic chess game unfolding. I rise from my chair, a plan crystallizing with clarity. Vesper is a fucking mastermind. This plan…is a masterclass of deception.

"Wait," I say, my voice cutting through the tension. "That's exactly what we need to do. We play them against each other. The Collector wants Russia, he wants the Petrovs destroyed. It's been his endgame for decades." I begin pacing, the excitement of this strategy energizing me. "And Victor? He's obsessed with legacy, with heirs, with continuing the Petrov/Rossi bloodline."

Z's expression shifts from rage to interest as he follows my logic. "So we tell Victor about his grandson..."

"And about who orchestrated everything," I finish, nodding. "When Victor discovers what happened with your son, he'll want blood."

Talon leans forward, understanding dawning on his face. "Victor already hates The Collector from their past conflicts. This would be personal."

"We don't just offer Victor an alliance. We offer him revenge. We turn Victor's rage away from us and toward my grandfather.”

“Let them destroy each other,” Z repeats, something like approval flickering across his face.

“It's brilliant,” I admit, the tactical advantage becoming clearer with each passing second. “We don't need to kill Victor, Dmitri, or Bianca ourselves. just need to make Victor believe The Collector is his true enemy.”

“My grandfather thinks I'm coming to kill Victor, but instead I'll be revealing everything—how The Collector engineered myabduction, how he arranged for my son's conception, how he's been plotting against the Petrovs for decades.”

“Victor will do the rest,” Talon adds, his tactical mind already mapping the fallout. “He'll mobilize everything he has against The Collector.”

Z's tension hasn't fully dissipated, but I can see him recognizing the potential. "And while they're tearing each other apart..."

“We rescue Luca and Alex,” Vesper finishes, her voice stronger than I've heard it in days. “And my son.”

I move to the laptop, pulling up a new document. “We need to prepare exactly what information to reveal and what to withhold. Victor needs to believe this is about his family's honor, not just another power play.”

“He'll want proof,” Talon warns, coming to stand beside me. “Victor doesn't trust easily.”

“We have proof,” I say, pulling up another folder on the laptop. “The records from the clinic show your male embryos being sent to Russia, the money trail from Mario making the storage payments. The photos of you while captive. I can transmit enough of it to whet his appetite, with the rest available when we meet face to face.”