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Lev’s calling card.
He’s not just sending messages now. He’s drawing blood.
And he’s doing it while I’m distracted.
My mind flashes to Sasha. The soft sound of her laughter in the garden. Her legs tucked under her on my office couch. The way she looked at me the night I told her who I really was.
I feel something cold coil in my stomach.
He’s escalating.
And I’ve been standing still.
I need to end this before he attacks.
Oleg appears at my side. “We lost everything here. Inventory, routing plans, the fallback shipment details. It’s a damn sweep.”
“Double security at the estate. No exceptions. No off hours. I want eyes on Sasha twenty-four seven,” I say.
“Time to go home, boss,” Oleg says. “There’s nothing we can do here anymore.”
“Where the hell is Roman?” I say, looking around.
The moment I turn toward the car, I hear it.
A voice from the shadows. Cool. Controlled. Familiar.
“Still cleaning up my messes, Dima?”
My blood goes ice-cold.
Oleg freezes beside me, hand already drifting toward his jacket.
I pivot slowly, eyes scanning the burned-out husk of the warehouse. Smoke curls lazily upward, and then—like he stepped straight out of hell—Lev emerges from behind a crumpled support beam.
His hair is longer now. The scars on his neck have faded but not disappeared. He wears a suit—dark, unbothered by ash and soot—like he came here just to gloat.
“Long time,” I say, voice low.
Lev grins. “Thought you’d never show up. I even left you a little art installation.” He gestures to the slashes on the wall behind us. “Too much?”
“Just the right amount of pathetic,” Oleg snaps, stepping forward.
Lev’s smile doesn’t move, but his eyes flick—shark-like—toward Oleg. “Still dragging your watchdog around, I see. Loyal, huh? Shame.”
“I don’t think you even know the meaning of that word,” Oleg spits out.
I take my gun out, pointing at Lev.
“Easy now,” Lev says, pointing his gun back at me. “You don’t want to know how this ends.”
Oleg lunges forward before I can stop him.
“Oleg,” I shout. “Stay back.”
But I’m too late. Lev smiles as he nocks the gun into his side.
“You won’t get away, I won’t let you,” Oleg swears.