Page 89 of Bride of Vengeance

"Listen to your woman," Harrison says. "She's the smart one. Smart enough to realize she backed the wrong horse."

"Did I?" I let doubt creep into my voice. "Is that true?"

"What?" Mikhail turns to me, and the betrayal in his eyes looks so real I almost believe it myself. "What are you talking about?"

"Have you been working with Pavel all along?" The words taste like poison, but Harrison needs to believe I believe it. "The warehouse rescue, the protection, the marriage—all part of Pavel's plan, isn't it?"

"That's insane—"

"Is it? You just happened to be there when I needed saving? Just happened to fall for the FBI agent hunting you?"

Through my earpiece, Mila whispers: "Selling it perfectly. Harrison's buying every word."

"You believe him?" Mikhail's voice cracks with what sounds like genuine hurt. "After everything?"

"I believe the evidence. And the evidence is telling me that you've been Pavel's weapon from the beginning."

"Bravo," Pavel claps slowly, the sound echoing in the empty space. "Though not entirely accurate. Ghost was never my weapon. He was my opponent. But you, Agent Castillo? You were easier to manipulate than expected."

"What?"

"Did you think Harrison came up with this plan alone?" Pavel laughs, the sound like breaking glass. "I've been feeding him information for three years. Every witness who died, every family destroyed—that was us."

"Pavel—" Harrison starts, alarmed.

"Oh, don't look so nervous, Cole. She's wearing a wire, obviously, but my men swept for frequencies. Nothing's transmitting." He pulls out a device, aims it at me. It screams immediately—but it's screaming at everything, just like before. "Fucking Mila Morozov. Girl's too smart for her own good."

"So what now?" I ask.

"Now you choose. Work with us—really work with us—or die here tonight."

"That's not much of a choice."

"It's more than what Ghost gave my men three years ago."

"Your men were trafficking children," Mikhail says flatly. "They deserved worse than death."

"Perspective."

"Then you're standing in the wrong place."

Pavel pulls out a gun, aims it at my head. "Choose, Agent Castillo. It's simple. Join us or die."

Through the earpiece: "Teams ready. Say the word."

But I need more. Need the full confession.

"If I join you, what happens?"

"You help us destroy the legitimacy movement. We need someone reliable and skilled out there doing field work. You will use your federal knowledge and training to identify reformed families, their weaknesses, their protections."

"And Ghost?"

"Dies tonight, obviously. Can't have him running around causing problems."

"You think you can kill me?" Mikhail laughs, dark and dangerous. "Better men have tried."

"Better men didn't have your wife as leverage."