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VADKA

The thumb drive clicks open.

Matvei doesn’t speak at first. He just leans back in the metal chair and stares, his lips pressed in a solid line, breathing heavily.

I don’t breathe. Ruthie doesn’t move.

Matvei gestures to the screen.

“Not just targets,” he says, voice flat. “It’s a full family map. All Bratva branches. Children. Lovers. Everyone tied to the old bloodlines.”

I feel it before I see it, a cold rush behind my ribs.

And then—there it is. Her name.

Ruth Wexler.

Under a red header that reads:

Purge the Line. Erase the Heirs.

I sit back like I’ve been punched.

“Fuck,” I whisper. “They don’t want a fucking war. They want a genocide.”

I lean forward, eyes locked on the screen like I can kill it with a stare. My hands are fists on my knees. “This isn’t… new. This isn’t in retaliation for what you did, is it?”

Matvei swallows. “Worse. There’s surveillance footage. Luka and the nanny walking. Timestamps after our last sweep.”

I’m on my feet.

The air changes.

“They’re watching Luka,” I whisper. “They’re fucking watching Luka .”

“I’ll leave you to it. Let me know what you want from me.”

Matvei knows better than to argue, and he leaves.

The door clicks shut.

Silence swells between us, thick and brutal.

Ruthie runs her hands through her hair. “We need to pull everyone into a secure location. Lockdown. Total sweep. No movement unless?—”

“No.”

She blinks. “No?”

I shake my head at her. “You want to turn my son’s life into a prison because you’re afraid? ”

“No,” she snaps. “Because I’m not a fucking idiot, Vadka. Because he’s a kid. Because they’ve got his face on a list?—”

“They won’t touch him.”

Her laugh is sharp and bitter. “You don’t know that.”

“ I do. Because I’m going to end this before it gets to him.”

She throws her arms in the air. “You don’t get to gamble his life to prove how powerful you are.”

I glare at her. “And you don’t get to dictate tactics because you’re scared of losing again. We can’t hide like sitting fucking ducks. Do you have any idea how hard it is to hide with a child?”

We stare at each other like enemies. Like lovers. Like two creatures who can’t decide whether to tear each other apart or protect the other with our last breath.

She swallows hard. “Then use me ,” she says suddenly.

I feel my body go deadly still.

She goes on, even as she looks afraid. “I’m on the list. Let me draw them out. Use me as bait.”

“ No .”

“It’s the cleanest way?—”

My voice slices through the air. “You’re not bait. You’re mine . And I don’t trade what’s mine.”

“Vadka.” Her voice cracks. “You’d rather die protecting your fucking pride than live with your family safe.”

“No. God, Ruthie, no.” My voice is low, lethal. “You still don’t get it. This isn’t about fear. This is war . ”

I move toward her.

She stands her ground.

“They killed my wife. I won’t let them hurt my son or you.” My voice breaks. “I can’t. I won’t. Not again.”

I reach for her and kiss her hard, bruising, a punishment we both crave.

I pull back and press my forehead to hers.

“Don’t you understand? If I had it to do over again, I wouldn’t have hid with Mariah.

I wouldn’t have taken her and run. I would’ve come earlier and taken bigger fucking guns with me.

I would have slaughtered every motherfucker who even thought about touching her.

” I kiss her temple. “Just like I would for you, Ruthie.”

I want her, right here, right now. In my bed. Under my protection. Tethered to me in a way that can’t be undone.

I bite her lip, and she groans. “Tonight, baby,” I whisper. “Come back tonight. Come back every night. I want you in my bed. I want you to be mine. For now, we need to go back to the bar to set up a surveillance sweep.”