Page 90 of Shadowed Sins: Nitro

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." But her pulse jumps at her throat. "Viktor's assistant has interesting documentation on his tablet. Container manifests."

I follow her gaze. The assistant stands near the windows, scrolling through shipping data. TCX-7749, KLM-8832, PLK-9901 visible on the screen.

"I can get closer—"

Her entire body goes rigid. Not professional stillness—complete paralysis. The champagne glass trembles in her hand, and her face drains of color so fast I'm afraid she might faint.

"Mira?"

She doesn't answer. Her hand moves slowly toward her thigh where her blade is holstered. Every line of her body shifts from elegant socialite to predator about to strike.

"Who is that?" I follow her gaze to a man near the windows. Silver hair, expensive suit, the kind of presence that commands attention. He's watching us—no, watching HER—with a slight smile that makes my skin crawl.

"Alexei." The name comes out like broken glass.

The man who killed her parents. Who destroyed her life. He's here, thirty feet away, raising his champagne glass toward us in a mock toast. But his eyes aren't on her anymore—they're on me. Studying me like I'm something interesting he might collect.

Or destroy.

"I'm going to kill him." Her voice is perfectly calm, which is terrifying. "Right here. Right now."

"No, you're not."

"Watch me."

Her weight shifts forward, muscles coiling to move. I catch her wrist, gentle but firm.

"If you kill him here, we lose everything," I murmur against her ear. "The trafficking intel, the victims we can save, all of it."

"He's right there. Ten seconds and he's dead."

"And so is our cover. So is our chance to save those people in the containers."

Her body vibrates with barely contained violence. I can feel her calculating angles, counting security, measuring distances.

"Mira. Look at me."

She does, and her eyes are wild. Dark blue turned almost black with rage.

"We're leaving," I decide. "Right now."

"Ghost, we have the container numbers and confirmation of tomorrow's transport," I say into comms, already steering Mira toward the exit. "But we need to extract. Now."

"What's wrong?" Cole's voice sharpens.

"Alexei Petrov is here. If I don't get Siren out in the next thirty seconds, she's going to kill him in front of three hundred witnesses."

Silence on comms. Then Kade: "Go. We'll handle the rest."

The valet takes forever to bring my car. Every second, I can feel Mira pulling against my grip, wanting to go back. Alexei watches us from the windows, that satisfied smile never wavering.

The drive starts in complete silence. She stares out the window, body coiled so tight I'm afraid she might shatter. I don't have a destination in mind, just driving to put distance between her and Alexei.

Ten minutes pass. Fifteen. Finally, she speaks.

"He looked at you." Her voice cracks slightly. "He was studying you like—like he's already planning how to use you against me."