Her eyes flash with something. “I’m the only person in this world that cares for you,” she says. “You may try to convince yourself otherwise, but it remains the truth.”
“Rest. Pray. Drink. Do whatever old women do when they are no longer useful in the room.”
A few of my men go very still.
Larisa’s mouth tightens. “You forget who you’re speaking to.”
“No,” I say. “I remember exactly who I’m speaking to. That is why I’m asking politely.”
For a moment, she looks like she might argue. Then her gaze drops to the map, to Anya’s ring beside my gun, and something coldly satisfied enters her face. “You will need me before this is over.”
“Then I’ll send for you.”
She turns her cane once under her palm. “Don’t hesitate tonight.”
“I won’t.”
“Good.”
She leaves without another word. The door closes behind her.
Viktor looks at me from across the table. “This is where you either listen to me or get yourself killed.”
“I’m listening.”
“No. You are standing very still and pretending that’s the same thing. I know you still intend to go through it.”
Alexei, near the window, mutters, “He has a point.”
I look at him. “Then save your breath.”
He raises both hands. “A small point. Tiny. Almost decorative.”
“So,” I say, sliding the ring into my pocket, “we stop pretending this is still a family disagreement.”
Alexei steps closer to the table. “How far?”
“All the way.”
The room changes. Not dramatically. These men are not boys. They have seen bodies, betrayals, fires, empty chairs at breakfast. Still, they understand what I mean.
We are going to take the old Volkov kingdom apart with our hands.
Viktor’s face hardens. “Then we do it properly.”
“Good.”
He exhales once, sharp and controlled, then bends over the map. “Kirill will expect you to hit the house first.”
“Yes.”
“So we don’t.”
“No,” I say. “I need them to feel all the doors closing on them before we move in. But we still need to plan what happens afterwards.”
Viktor points at the map. “Kirill’s house has three public entrances. Main gate, west service gate, and the south garden access. The garden access has been closed for years, but that doesn’t mean it’s useless.”
“Men?”
