Page 167 of Cruel Demands

“Not after we dismantle his organization.”

“That will take years.”

“And killing him takes seconds. Is that the appeal?” she asks. I say nothing. She mistakes it for hesitation. “You have Taylor back. Your mother is alive. Whatever immediate justification you believed you had is gone.”

“He will never stop.”

“He will be imprisoned.”

“He does not need freedom to order another attack.”

“You cannot know that.”

“I know him.”

“So do I.”

“No. You know his accounts. I know what he becomes when he is humiliated.”

Orlov strains against the tie.

“Mikhail.” His voice has changed. Not yet frightened. Personal. Olga hears it. The familiarity between us answers whatever doubts remain about our connection. “You kill me,” Orlov says, “and my men tear apart your government.”

“Your men failed to remove two unarmed women from a hospital.”

His face twists. I look toward the cart where my gun disappeared.

Olga follows my eyes. Her expression changes. “Mikhail.” I cross the room. “Mikhail, don’t.”

I crouch beside the cart and reach beneath it. My fingers close around the weapon.

Olga’s voice rises. “Do not do this.”

I stand. Orlov stops smiling. Olga steps between us. “He is under arrest.”

One of my men appears at the edge of the room, weapon drawn. Another stops behind him. Neither speaks. Olga looks toward them, then back at me. Everyone in this room knows whose orders they will follow.

“Lower the weapon,” Olga says.

“No.”

“If you shoot him, this becomes an execution witnessed by a government official.”

“It is an execution whether you see it or not.”

“You understand what this will cost you?”

“Yes.”

“Your office. The reform. Every alliance you have built.”

“Yes.”

“You will expose everything you are.”

I almost smile. “Arkady already handled that.”

“This is not a joke.”