Page 97 of Bride of Vengeance

"Hello, Harrison," I say, stepping from the shadows. "Miss me?"

"Ghost." Harrison clutches his shoulder where my knife struck. "Right on time."

Something about his tone makes me pause. He's in pain, but not afraid. Why isn't he afraid?

"The whole time. Watching you threaten my wife and child." I pick up his gun. "Listening to you brag about killing my sister."

Harrison laughs, blood bubbling from his lips. "Killing her? Oh, Mikhail. You really think I'd waste such valuable merchandise?"

My blood turns to ice. "What?"

"Anya Kozlov. Pretty eighteen-year-old Russian girl fleeing from her husband. Young, desperate, alone. Do you have any idea what she was worth?" He grins through bloody teeth. "She's been one of my best investments."

"You're lying."

"Am I?" Harrison pulls out his phone with his good hand, shows me a photo that stops my heart.

A woman, seemingly in her late thirties, thin, haunted eyes. But the bone structure, the way she holds her shoulders—

"Anya," I breathe.

"Alive and relatively well. Has been for twenty-three years. Different names, different locations, but always under my control."

"No—"

"She thinks you're dead, of course. Thinks her whole family died at Chernobyl. Makes her easier to manage."

Mariana grabs my arm before I can kill him. "Mikhail, wait. Think."

"She's alive." The words come out broken. "Twenty-three years, and she's been alive."

"Here's the deal," Harrison says, gaining confidence. "You surrender yourself to me. Come quietly, no resistance. In exchange, I let Anya go. Full freedom, enough money to—"

I speak before Harrison can continue. "Just me. Mariana walks away. Full immunity, no pursuit, she raises our child in peace."

"Mikhail, no—"

"That's the deal," I tell Harrison, ignoring her protest. "I surrender, you get Ghost. But my wife and child go free."

Harrison considers this, glancing between us. "She knows too much."

"She knows what you've already confessed on recording. That's out there now, nothing changes that. But you get me—the prize you really want. Ghost, captured by the heroic Deputy Director who survived a criminal assault."

"Mikhail, I'm not leaving you—"

"Yes, you are." I turn to her, touching her face. "Our baby needs you safe."

"Our baby needs both parents!"

"Better one parent than none."

Harrison laughs. "How touching. Fine. Ghost surrenders, the woman goes free. But if she interferes, if she comes after me—"

"She won't." I look into Mariana's eyes, willing her to understand. "She's going to disappear. Raise our child. Live a normal life."

"I can't—"

"You will." I kiss her, soft and desperate. "For the baby. Promise me."