Page 68 of The Russian's Revenge Bride

“Which would have been bad for business.”

“Which would have been catastrophic for someone whose entire value proposition is his ability to keep things smooth and quiet. Dmitry’s usefulness depends on stability, on being able to manage conflicts without them spiraling into chaos.”

“So he made sure the attack would fail.”

“He made sure you would be in the right place at the right time to save her. He’s the one who flagged the anomaly in her movement pattern, remember? He’s the one who brought it to Rafael’s attention.”

The realization hit me like a sledgehammer; my previous confusion over the oddness of the rescue faded. “He set up the whole fucking thing.”

“He orchestrated a scenario where Beaumont would make his move, you would heroically rescue your wife, and he would be there to help clean up the aftermath. Everyone would be grateful to him, everyone would trust him even more, and his position in the organization would be more secure than ever.”

“Except Eleanor almost died.”

“Except Eleanor almost died,” Lev agreed. “Which suggests that Dmitry either miscalculated the level of violence involved, or he was willing to accept her death as an acceptable risk.”

I stood up abruptly, pacing to the window and staring out at the city below. Somewhere out there, Dmitry was probably sitting in his office, answering phones and coordinating deals and playing the role of loyal associate while planning his next move in a game I was only beginning to understand.

“There’s more,” Lev said quietly.

“More?”

“The bribes, the government connections, the network of contacts he’s built up over the years. I don’t think it’s just about facilitating our business. I think he’sbeen systematically collecting information, building leverage, creating dependencies.”

“For what purpose?”

“Power. Control. The ability to manipulate outcomes to serve his own interests.” Lev stood up, moving to join me at the window. “Maxim, I think Dmitry Chertov has been playing a longer game than any of us realized. I think he’s been positioning himself to take over this entire operation.”

“Rafael would never….”

“Rafael trusts him completely. So did you, until yesterday. So does everyone else in the organization. If something happened to Rafael, if he were killed or arrested or forced to step down, who do you think would be the natural choice to replace him?”

The answer was obvious, and it made my blood run cold. Dmitry had the connections, the respect, the track record of success. He was the logical choice to lead the organization if Rafael was removed from the equation, regardless of blood ties.

“How long do we have?” I asked.

“That depends on what his timeline is, what his ultimate goal looks like. But I can tell you this.” Lev pulled out his phone, scrolling through what looked like call logs. “The night Eleanor was attacked, Beaumont and Dmitry had a phone conversation that lasted exactly fifteen seconds.”

“Fifteen seconds?”

“Just long enough to confirm that the plan was in motion, or to call it off, or to provide last-minute instructions.” He showed me the timestamp. “This call happened twenty minutes before the first shots were fired.”

I felt rage building in my chest, hot and murderous and focused on a single target. Dmitry hadn’t just betrayed us. He’d gambled with Eleanor’s life, treated her like a pawn in hiselaborate chess game, and been willing to accept her death as the cost of advancing his own agenda.

“Where is he now?”

“His office, as far as I know. Acting like nothing’s changed, playing the role of concerned associate who’s helping investigate the attack on your wife.”

I turned away from the window, my decision crystallizing into something hard and unforgiving. “Set up a meeting.”

“Maxim, if you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking….”

“I’m thinking that Dmitry Chertov has been playing games with my family’s lives, and it’s time for those games to end.”

“You can’t just kill him. He’s too connected, too visible. His death would raise questions we can’t answer, create problems we can’t solve.”

“Then we don’t kill him immediately. We make him useful first.”

“How?”