Page 73

I open the door before she knocks, maintaining positional superiority while communicating awareness of her arrival. Her eyes widen momentarily—genuine surprise quickly masked behind practiced neutrality.

"You came alone." Not a question but assessment, gaze scanning the grounds behind her for security personnel she might have concealed.

"As instructed." Her voice betrays nothing despite the pulse visibly accelerating at her throat. "Though my father's security will note my absence within the hour."

"Sufficient time." I step aside, gesturing her into territory she recognizes as dangerous yet enters anyway. The power dynamic shifts subtly with her decision—no longer predator cornering prey but equals engaging on contested ground.

She moves past me into the reception room, gaze cataloging escape routes, defensive positions, variables with the practiced assessment of someone trained in Bratva security protocols. Not just diplomatic princess but asset—confirmation of assessment that has shaped my planning.

"The ancestral Baranov estate." She studies tarnished gold fixtures, dusty chandeliers, faded opulence of pre-revolutionary aristocracy. "Interesting location choice for... whatever this is."

"Secure ground." I close the door, engaging locks with deliberate sound that communicates privacy rather than imprisonment. "No surveillance. No observers. No pretense."

"No pretense." Almost a laugh, though no humor reaches her eyes. "Says the man who's been lying since Paris."

The direct reference to our shared history creates the perfect opening. Operational discipline suggests careful navigation of revealing partial truths while maintaining cover necessary for primary mission. But disclosure will gain trust while preserving essential secrecy.

Yet something beyond logical consideration drives what follows—something dangerously close to the genuine connection I permitted myself that night in Paris.

"I was tracking a shipment." The partial truth emerges with surprising ease. "Your presence in the alley in Paris was... an unexpected complication."

Her posture shifts slightly—tension recalibrating as new information integrates with existing assessment. "You knew who I was. Even then. You had already targeted my father, wanting to work your way into his inner circle. Many men want to work with him, for him. But you seem to want it for darker purposes."

I nod, maintaining eye contact to communicate sincerity within limited disclosure. "Markov's daughter in need of an intervention against a rival faction… how could I not step in to help."

"Intervention." The word carries bitter edge. "Is that what you call what happened between us?"

The question cuts too close to uncomfortable truth—that my assessment gave way to genuine attraction, that discipline faltered in the face of unexpected connection. That for those hours in Paris darkness, the mission receded beneath something I hadn't experienced in years of single-minded focus.

"What happened between us wasn't planned." Another partial truth, carefully navigating between necessary deception and damaging lies. "A miscalculation that created vulnerabilities."

"A miscalculation." She turns away, controlled movement that fails to hide genuine emotion beneath Bratva princess exterior. "At least you're consistent in your assessment of our... interaction."

"I left to protect you." The statement emerges unbidden, a disclosure yielding to unexpected impulse toward honesty. "The operation collapsed. Extraction teams deployed. Witnesses eliminated. Your connection to me would have placed you in immediate danger."

She turns back, searching my face for deception with unnerving intensity. "You expect me to believe you disappeared for my protection? Left without word because you cared about my safety?"

"Believe what you want." I move toward her, eliminating distance with deliberate closeness. "But consider the evidence. There was no immediate benefit in cultivating a connection with Markov's daughter at that point. No false edge in the pleasure we shared. No logistical advantage in the truth I told you in darkness."

Her breath catches audibly, memory of Paris nights visibly rippling across her features before iron control reasserts itself. "And now? What battlefield dominance do you gain from this conversation? This location? This... disclosure?"

The question carries legitimate suspicion beneath an emotional response—the assessment I would make in her position, the calculation beneath personal reaction. The reminder that whatever exists between us remains framed by Bratva politics and organizational positioning.

"Clarity." I stop within arm's reach, close enough to detect her perfume, to see the slight tremor she fights to control. "Our arrangement proceeds regardless of personal history. But secrets create weaknesses. Vulnerabilities that threaten both our positions."

"So practical." Bitterness colors her tone despite perfect composure. "Addressing weaknesses rather than human consequences. Perfect Bratva lieutenant assessment."

"Would you prefer emotional appeals?" I challenge, something dangerous breaking free from my restraint. "Declarations that change nothing about our circumstances? The truth remains unchanged—we're bound by an arrangement neither of us chose, positioned within organization that tolerates no weakness, navigating history we can neither acknowledge publicly nor completely ignore privately."

"The truth." She nearly laughs, though the sound holds no humor. "Which version, Viktor? The Paris truth where you disappeared without a trace after a night that clearly meant nothing? The Bratva lieutenant truth where you monitor my every movement with obsessive surveillance? Or this new truth where you claim to have protected me through abandonment?"

Her anger—justified by the limited information available to her—triggers an unexpected response. Not a reassessment but a genuine need to bridge distance created by necessary deception. To offer explanation. To connect despite mission requirements.

"Paris meant something." The admission violates discipline yet emerges as an unavoidable necessity. "More than benefit. More than momentary distraction. Enough that leaving without a word cost more than you know."

Something shifts in her expression—anger giving way to confusion, suspicion yielding to uncertainty. "Then why?—"

"Because the mission required it." Partial truth necessary to maintain cover while offering explanation she deserves. "Because the organization I infiltrated would have eliminated any witness to what followed. Because your safety mattered more than a connection neither of us anticipated."