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I gave him a dry smile. “Must’ve made for good reading.”

“You run toward the fire instead of running away from it.”

I tilted my head. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“It’s a dangerous thing,” he corrected. “And this time, it’s different.”

I folded my arms. “You gonna tell me what you mean or keep speaking in fortune-cookie riddles?”

He exhaled, long and slow. “It’s about your father. And Stillwell.”

That hit me like a glass of cold water right to the face.

I stepped closer. “What do you know?”

He held up a hand, eyebrows raised.

“I’m not saying shit unlesshe’shere.”

“Nikolai?”

Mikhail nodded once. “Yeah, I’ve got no interest in watching you go rogue and walk straight into something you don’t understand.”

I stared at him, jaw tight. “You’re afraid I’ll get myself killed.”

“No,” he said calmly. “I’m afraidI’llget you killed. And thenhe’llkill me with his own bare hands.”

My voice dropped. “Would he really kill you?”

Mikhail didn’t blink; he just looked at me with that flat, serious stare. No hesitation, no bravado.

“When it comes to you?” he said. “He wouldn’t hesitate.”

I hated how much of that rang true.

CHAPTER 31

Nikolai

My phone buzzed in my breast pocket just as Maxim began reviewing the updated import figures from the harbor. I listened to him talk about some issue with the warehouse manifests that didn’t match the numbers from our Polish distributor. Sergei was beside him, nodding as he flipped through the digitized logs. I didn’t even glance down the first time it vibrated. Just let it sit against my chest, assuming it wasn’t anything important.

Then it buzzed again.

I reached for it slowly, already knowing what it would say.

It was from Ivan.

I unlocked the encrypted thread and read the message with a breath that never made it to my lungs.

Ivan: She’s gone. Left twenty minutes ago. Had one of our men follow her to the gym.

I didn’t react, didn’t lift my head or stiffen my shoulders or do anything that would give away the fire blooming low in my gut. My pulse didn’t spike, it settled.Heavy. Dark. A slow, grinding knot of possession squeezing tight behind my ribs. It wasn’t rage and it wasn’t surprise either.

It was anticipation.

I stared at the screen for a long moment, thumb hovering above the reply. I didn’t send anything. I didn’t need to, because this—this—was exactly what I’d been waiting for. My cock was already rock-hard imagining what would come next.

I closed my eyes for just a second and let the fantasy take hold.