Page 9

9

OLEKSI

Nadia sits in the back seat, quiet as stone. She’s barely said a word since we pulled away from Dragunov Village. Arms crossed, eyes on the window. Like she’s watching the mountains pass but not seeing them.

Nikolas keeps glancing at her in the mirror. Not just once or twice—he keeps doing it, like something’s itching at the back of his mind and he’s waiting for the right moment to speak.

I finally break the silence. “You okay, Nikolas?” I raise an eyebrow.

He flicks his eyes to me, then back to the mirror. “Nadia, something’s bugging me.”

That gets Nadia’s attention. She turns slightly in her seat, brows raised. “Something I can help you with?”

Nikolas doesn’t answer right away. He meets her eyes through the mirror, gaze steady. “Why won’t your brother approve of the person you’re in love with?”

She doesn’t even blink.

“Because of who their family is,” she says evenly. “And…” she pauses for a second, but her voice stays proud, unflinching, “because the person I love is a woman.”

Ah.

It clicks. Nadia’s family is traditional and wouldn’t accept a union like that.

I glance at Nikolas, who exhales through his nose like something just fell into place.

I turn in my seat slightly to look at Nadia as I ponder what he’s thinking. “The woman in the facility with Sabrina… that’s her, isn’t it?”

Nikolas fires off another question, “That’s your contact in the RMSAD as well, isn’t it?”

“One of them,” Nadia confirms with a nod. “And yes. That’s Valeska. The one who showed you Sabrina earlier.”

My jaw tightens. “Why is Valeska in the detention center with Sabrina?”

Nadia’s eyes flick to mine. “Like Sabrina,” she says quietly, “it’s due to a misfortune of birth.”

I don’t like the sound of that. “How unfortunate?”

She doesn’t hesitate.

“Like being Valeska Ergorov unfortunate.”

The name hits like a bullet.

I go still. Even Nikolas tenses beside me.

“Jesus Christ,” I mutter. “She’s the General’s daughter?”

Nadia nods. “His only daughter. Trapped in the legacy of her family.”

“Why doesn’t she just leave?” I ask, glancing back at Nadia. “She’s not a kid. She looks to be in her twenties.”

“Twenty-four,” Nadia says, her voice clear. “And she’s tried. How do you think we met?”

Nikolas shoots her a quick look through the mirror. “How did you meet if she’s been trapped in a facility?”

“The General needs her to look after her mother,” Nadia explains. “The woman was once a brilliant scientist. Now she’s a lush who can barely get out of bed.”

I snort. “I can imagine being married to the General would be enough to turn anyone into an alcoholic.”

“It wasn’t the General that drove her to drink,” Nadia says flatly. “It was her son. Valeska’s older brother, Mikhail.”

The name drips venom from her mouth, and for good reason, I’m starting to suspect.

“He’s the nastiest, sickest piece of work you’ll ever meet. He doesn’t just torture people for information. He does it because he enjoys it. It’s like a drug to him. And he’s violent on another level—the word berserk doesn’t even come close.”

“Shit,” I mutter. “Maybe they should use him as a test subject in the RMSAD instead.”

Nadia shakes her head. “Valeska thinks that’s exactly what happened. Something went wrong with his treatment.”

“What treatment?” Nikolas and I ask at the same time.

Nadia meets my eyes. “Genetic enhancement.”

I feel the blood drain from my face.

“He was designed to be genetically superior,” she says, her words razor-sharp.

“What? Violently?” Nikolas hisses.

“I’ve never seen a temper like his,” Nadia continues. “When he snaps, it’s like something else takes over. A fire ignites in him, and it burns until he’s spent. By the time he comes back down, the damage is done. And the damage is extensive.”

“Leaving a wake of destruction behind,” Nikolas mutters.

“Yes.” Nadia’s eyes glint with rage now. “I met Valeska through one of his violent rages. And then a few more. He put her in the hospital more times than I can count.”

“Jesus,” I breathe. “He hit his sister?”

Nadia shakes her head, and for the first time, I see her hands clench in her lap. “Not just hit her. He’s raped her. Then let his friends gang rape her more than once.”

My stomach flips. Nikolas swears under his breath.

“She ended up in my ER so many times,” Nadia adds, voice tight. “I was a trauma surgeon before General Ergorov had my medical license pulled for daring to accuse his precious golden boy of harming Valeska and their mother.”

I blink. “You were a surgeon?”

“Were being the operative word,” she says bitterly. “But I’ll get my license back. Once Valeska and I have a new life.”

Nikolas shifts in his seat. “How do you know we can trust her?”

Nadia turns toward him. “Because there’s only so much abuse a person can take. Full body casts. STD tests. Being held down by your own brother while his friends do what they want to you—that changes a person. Or it breaks them.”

“And her father?” I ask, my voice low and dangerous. “Why hasn’t he stopped it?”

“Because he thinks Valeska is jealous of her genetically superior brother and just wants attention.”

I can’t stop the disgust from curling through my tone. “So what? Does he think Valeska throws herself down the stairs for fun?”

Nadia’s lips tighten. “Mikhail blames his mother for the brutality against Valeska. And the General always believes Mikhail.” Her voice is bitter and angry. “Then he throws his wife into a rehab facility that he conveniently runs. While Valeska’s mother is being tortured, Mikhail makes sure Valeska suffers for having run to their father.”

Nikolas growls. “He deserves to be put down.”

“I agree,” Nadia says without hesitation. “And Mikhail’s back tomorrow evening. They live in the main house on the compound. The same one Sabrina is currently being held in.”

A pulse kicks behind my eyes. My hands clench the edge of the seat. “That bastard better not lay a hand on her.”

“Mikhail’s been known to play with anyone he wants at his father’s compounds,” Nadia warns us. “He shows some restraint with Valeska. But there are rumors. Women who’ve disappeared after he’s done with them. His father buries the mess, and their legal team takes care of the rest. They have an enforcer who makes sure Mikhail’s ‘mistakes’ stay buried.” Her eyes narrow, and her lips spread into a thin line.

Nadia leans forward, her voice changes to one of urgency. “But that’s not the only reason we have to get there before noon tomorrow.”

My eyes cut to hers. “What else is happening at noon?”

She holds my gaze. “Tomorrow is the day they’ll take blood and other genetic samples from Sabrina.”

The breath punches out of me. Nadia knows.

“You know?” I ask.

She nods once.

“Know what?” Nikolas looks between us, his eyes narrowing, then widening. “Sabrina’s pregnant?”

“Yes,” I answer quietly. “But you can’t tell anyone. No one else knows. Not even Carla.”

“Fuck,” Nikolas swears. “I won’t tell a soul. Jesus, Oleksi. If the General finds out—and there’s no denying who the father is…”

“I know,” I say, my voice like gravel. “That’s why we need to move now. I’ll call Clyde. Find out if that lead panned out.”

“You don’t have to,” Nadia says softly. “It did.”

I turn to look at her.

“I was the one who sent him the lead.”

I blink. For a moment, all I can do is stare. Then I let out a breath. “Shit, you’re more strategic than you let on.”

“I’ve had to be,” she says simply.

I reach for my phone. “I’ll get the helicopter back. Or did you take care of that too?”

She smiles. “No. That one’s all yours.”

Before I can make the call, my phone buzzes. Clyde.

I pick up. “I was just about to?—”

“She’s here,” he cuts me off. “We’ve seen her.”

A rush of relief floods my chest. “Send the helicopter. We’ll be ready the second we get back to the farm.”

“Already done,” Clyde confirms. “Are you sure you don’t want us to move in?”

“No. Don’t engage until I’m there. We’ve got someone on the inside.”

“Copy that.”

I hang up and stare out the window. Everything’s about to go to hell if we don’t get this right.

Forty minutes later, we’re in the air. Nadia sits between Nikolas and me, silent until she turns and says, “Thank you for taking me to see Elena.”

When we got back to the Morozov farmhouse, Nadia asked to see Elena. I didn’t have time to overthink things at the time, and took her to the nursery where Elena was sleeping. I did notice her eyes fill with tears and the way she’d gently traced the little angel’s cheek, whispering something in Russian I couldn’t quite hear.

Now that I think about it, I find the whole thing unsettling, and I have a bad feeling that Nadia knows all about Elena. I want to know how she does and why it was so important for her to see my little niece.

“It was a noble thing Sabrina did,” she continues. “For Gavriil. For my sister. And for Tara.”

Nikolas frowns, asking before I can, “What do you mean?”

Nadia looks between us, then hesitates. “Do you know the truth about Elena?”

I nod slowly. “I do.”

“So do I,” Nikolas says. “Galina, Carla, Mark… we all know. We know that Tara and Gavriil are Elena’s real parents.”

“Well, damn,” I say. “You could’ve told me you all knew about that!”

“We didn’t know how much you knew,” Nikolas mutters.

“And Sabrina doesn’t know that you all know?” I ask him.

“No,” he says, shaking his head.

I feel I’m getting a bit tongue-tied with all this we know, you know, she knows, when Nadia clears her throat, getting our attention, stopping our who knows what scene that was turning into a bad slapstick skit.

“You’re both wrong,” Nadia tells us.

We both look at her.

“Elena’s not Tara’s daughter,” Nadia says, her voice steady. “She’s Irina and Gavriil’s. Tara carried her as a surrogate.”

The silence that follows is deafening.