Page 93 of Bride of Vengeance

"We're going. Pavel doesn't know, but we hunters know: sometimes moving into familiar territory makes you much more predictable. He will fall, and his own decision will be the cause."

Chapter nineteen

Breaking Point

Mikhail

The Volkov estate sits forty miles north of the city like a cancer on the landscape. I know this place—Pavel showed it off three years ago before everything went to hell. Twenty acres of paranoia disguised as luxury, with enough security to repel a small army.

Which is why we brought a large one.

"Thermal imaging shows at least forty bodies," Mila says through our earpieces from her mobile command center. "They're not trying to hide."

"Because they wanted us to come from the beginning, but they knew we wouldn't do it until we had no other choice," Marianasays from beside me. Her shoulder is bandaged, but she refused to stay behind. Stubborn woman. "This is their endgame."

"Or ours," I counter, watching the estate through binoculars.

Boris and his men are positioned around the perimeter. Alexei arrived an hour ago with his own team—the legitimate businessman setting aside his new image to help family. Even Rodriguez is here, coordinating with the FBI tactical units waiting for our signal.

"Why haven't we moved?" Rodriguez asks over the comm. "We have probable cause, tactical advantage—"

"We have shit," I interrupt. "Pavel's expecting a frontal assault. Harrison's probably counting on it. They want the narrative of federal agents aiding fugitive criminals and attacking a private residence. A rebellion from the lowest echelons of the department. He'll be seen as a victim, and you'll all go down with us."

"So what do we do?"

I look at Mariana. We've been married for barely nine days. Nine days of insanity that feel like a lifetime. Her hand rests unconsciously on her stomach where our poppy seed grows.

"We give them what they want," she says. "But not how they expect it."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning I go in alone."

"Absolutely not," I say immediately.

"Hear me out—"

"No."

"Mikhail—"

"You're injured. You're pregnant. You're not going anywhere near that house."

Her amber eyes flash dangerously. "I'm functional. I'm barely pregnant. And I'm the only one who can get Harrison to admit everything on record."

"We have his confession from the warehouse—"

"Which his lawyers will claim was coerced. I need him to admit it freely, proudly, thinking he's won."

"Send someone else."

"Who? You? The Ghost that Pavel wants dead? Or Rodriguez, the agent Harrison knows is loyal to the system?" She touches my face. "It has to be me."

Every instinct screams against it. The thought of her walking into that house, surrounded by enemies, carrying our child...

Alexei's voice crackles through: "Three vehicles approaching from the south. Looks like Pavel called in more reinforcements."

"Or Harrison called in federal backup," Rodriguez adds. "Shit. Six FBI vehicles from the north. They're boxing us in."