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Nikolai cuts through the banter. “We always planned to return Katarina to her father. That was the endgame—just on our terms after we'd neutralized the immediate threat and gained leverage.” His steel-gray eyes find mine. “We needed information and time. We've extracted most of what we need. This simply accelerates our timeline.”

I feel something dark and possessive rise within me. “You say that like she's a tool we're finished using.”

“Isn't she?” Nikolai asks, his expression unreadable.

The others continue discussing logistics, but I've stopped listening. My mind is with Katarina, wondering how I'll tell her, how I'll explain that after everything that happened between us, I'm handing her back to her father.

After the others disperse, Nikolai motions for me to stay. Once we're alone, he turns to me, his gaze penetrating.

“You need to back off, Erik.” His voice is quiet but unyielding. “Whatever you feel for the Lebedev girl ends now. The exchange happens, clean and simple.”

“Nikolai—”

“No.” He cuts me off with a sharp gesture. “There's no alternative to explore here. No other path. Dmitri needs this, and family comes first. Always.” His expression softens fractionally. “I understand what you're feeling more than you know, but you will step aside and let this happen without interference.”

I stand at attention before Nikolai, my body automatically responding to the command in his voice. Years of Spetsnaz training have conditioned me to react this way—spine straight, shoulders back, emotions tightly locked down. The soldier in me acknowledges the order without question. The man in me bleeds.

“Yes, sir.” The words taste like ash in my mouth, but they come out professional and detached.

My brother studies my face, searching for cracks in my composure. I give him nothing. I've survived interrogations, torture, and war. I can survive this, too.

But deep in my chest, something tears. Something I didn't know existed before Katarina walked into my life with her fire and defiance.

“The exchange will happen in two days’ time at midnight,” Nikolai continues. “You'll prepare her yourself. No one else touches her.”

A small mercy. At least I can ensure she's treated with respect until the end.

“Understood.”

Inside my head, images flash unbidden—Katarina's smile as she cracked the security breach, her trust when I carried her to safety, and her vulnerability when she shared her past. The way she fits against me like she was made to be there.

The soldier compartmentalizes. Locks away the pain. Focuses on the mission parameters.

The man wants to rage against the unfairness of finding something worth fighting for, only to surrender it without a fight.

“You've never questioned an order before,” Nikolai says quietly. “Don't start now.”

I meet his gaze, keeping my expression neutral despite the storm raging inside. “I won't compromise the family.”

It's the truest thing I can say. Family loyalty is carved into my DNA. Even for Katarina, I won't betray my brothers.

But as I turn and walk away, each step feels like moving through concrete. The training that's kept me alive through countless missions now feels like a prison. I follow orders because that's what I do. Because that's who I am.

And who I am is about to hand over the one person who made me feel something beyond duty and violence.

21

KATARINA

Two days. Erik has vanished for two whole days without a word—again. My skin prickles with anger and something else I refuse to name as I pace the compound like a caged animal.

The gym doesn’t help. Neither does reading. The walls of my gilded prison close in with each passing hour.

I corner Viktor in the hallway outside the kitchen, his hulking frame blocking the light from the windows. “Where is he?”

Viktor’s face remains impassive, like I asked about the weather rather than his boss. “Who?”

“Don’t play stupid. Erik. Where did he go?”