Page 40 of Brutal Reign

Vadim stands near the window, one shoulder pressed to the frame, a half-empty whiskey glass in hand, while Eva is perched on the edge of the desk, her blonde ponytail tucked neatly over one shoulder as she studies satellite photos of Hong Kong’s harbor.

I pace the room, trying to release all the tense energy in my system.

Roman sits in a wingback chair on the opposite side of the room, his phone on the coffee table in front of him. Maxim is on speakerphone.

We’ve brought Maxim up to speed on all the shit that went down in the last twenty-four hours, including the biggest revelation of all: The Black Company is operational again with Simon Lau, a man we all believed to be dead, at the helm.

“How do we know Simon is really alive?” Maxim growls from the other end. “This could be false information meant to lead us in the wrong direction.”

“Dinara’s confirming now,” I say, referring to our best hacker. “Her initial deep dive pulled financial records showing Simon’s been active for a few years. Bank transfers, real estate acquisitions, corporate shell structures. It’s all the hallmarks of someone rebuilding a criminal empire.”

And rebuilding is exactly what he has to do. After Switzerland, Maxim called a government contact in Hong Kong and tipped him off about Lai King’s tax evasion. The government froze all of King’s assets, so if anyone tried to rebuild in his name, they’d have no money.

Roman sweeps a hand over his face, exhaustion evident in every line of his body. “The villa had an extensive tunnel system that connected to the forest behind. We thought we’d accounted for all the exits when we set the charges, but Simon found a way out.”

“Mudak,” Maxim spits. “That means he didn’t stay and fight until the end. He abandoned his men and his boss.”

“Coward’s move,” Nikolai agrees grimly. “But I have to ask—how did you miss an entire triad rebuilding? I thought your network spanned most of Asia.”

The room goes quiet. It’s a fair question.

“From what Dinara uncovered, Simon kept operations small, worked through intermediaries. When he was recruiting, he was doing it in person, away from our network’s reach. And triads are notoriously closed; they don’t trust outsiders with operational details,” I explain.

Roman shifts in his seat, clearly frustrated. “We’ve also been focused on more immediate threats, like the Italians pushing into our European markets and establishing footholds in North America.”

Maxim sighs heavily. “This is about more than revenge. If Simon marries Hope, he gets the legitimacy to unite every scattered triad faction. The Black Company won’t just return; it’ll be unstoppable.”

Eva taps her pen against the satellite photos in front of her. “According to my Hong Kong sources, Lai King was practically an emperor before you took him down. Marrying his daughter positions Simon as the rightful heir to that legacy.”

“We need to stop this wedding,” I state flatly. “Nothing else matters.”

Strategically, it makes sense, but it goes deeper for me. The thought of Hope pledging herself to Simon triggers something primal. I want to burn down everything he’s built and take back what should have never been his.

Maxim’s voice comes through the speaker. “Pavel implanted a tracker in Hope King. That should show us exactly where she and Simon are and where the wedding’s taking place.”

Roman, Niko, Vadim, and Eva all turn to look at me expectantly, waiting for me to provide information that doesn’t fucking exist.

I let them assume I could find her all this time. I never lied, but never corrected their assumptions either.

No point in dancing around it now. “There is no tracker.”

“What?” Roman’s voice drops to something dangerously quiet, his entire frame going rigid.

“I didn’t implant the chip.” I hold each of their stares, refusing to look away. “I made a call that Hope was innocent, that she didn’t deserve to live her entire life under our watch.”

“Innocent?” Niko slams a palm down on the desk in front of him. “She’s about to marry Simon Lau in three fucking days.”

I drag a hand over my face, but what I really want to do is throw my fist through the wall.

“Christ, Pavel.” Maxim’s tone cuts deep. “We’ve been operating under the assumption you could find her if needed.”

Roman’s mouth flattens. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

I sigh, feeling the full weight of my failure. “I wanted to protect her. The woman I followed in London was surviving on scraps, working in a shitty pub and living alone in a flat the size of our closets. She wasn’t a danger. She wanted nothing to do with this life. Maybe I was stupid, but I made the only choice I could live with at the time. I was wrong, and that’s on me.”

The room goes quiet. Maxim exhales slowly. Roman looks away. Even Vadim’s jaw ticks, like he’s biting back judgment.

“Anyhow, we need to consider another possibility.” Eva stands, breaking the tension. “From everything our intel tells us about Simon, he’s ruthless and power hungry. It’s possible Hope is being forced to marry him.”