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Vera steps toward him. “Marina is dead. This was never a game.”

Belov smiles through the blood.

I hit him before anyone can stop me.

He falls against Dima as another tooth drops onto the concrete. I grab the front of his shirt and drag him upright.

“Say her name again.”

Belov’s eyes move toward Vera. “Which name worries you more, Orlov? The nurse’s or Misha’s?”

I hit him again.

Dima keeps hold of his bound arms, but I drive Belov into the table and close my hand around his throat. His face darkens beneath the blood.

“You watched the boy through my walls,” I say. “You put his photograph on a gate and sent men to take him.”

Belov struggles against my hand. “Your hidden heir will always be a target.”

I tighten my grip.

Maksim speaks behind me. “Enough.”

I keep Belov against the table.

“Alexei,” Maksim says, his voice quiet. “Let him tell us who else touched the child’s file.”

Vera’s hand closes around my wrist.

I look at the marks Belov’s men left on her skin, then release his throat.

Belov collapses against Dima and drags in a wet breath. Dmitri takes him by the collar, while Abramov orders the loading-yard vehicles brought around.

“Put him beneath the estate,” Maksim says. “Separate Chernov and Rudenko. No phones, no lawyers, and no shared guards.”

Dmitri hauls Belov toward the loading hall.

Belov twists in his grip and looks back at me. Blood runs over his teeth as his smile returns.

“You think I was the last one?”

34

VERA

Dima takes Belov back in the first armored van, while Dmitri drives Alexei and me to the estate. Two Volkov cars follow us into the lower garage before the doors close, and Abramov’s men check each vehicle at the inner gate.

Misha has been with Elena, Cara, and the children since we left in the ambulance. As we wait for the security gate to open, Elena calls Alexei’s secure phone.

“We’re waiting for you in the inner family suite,” she says, then sends him a photograph.

Misha stands beside Mikhail in dinosaur pajamas with a paper crown balanced on his head and chocolate staining his teeth. Cara grins behind them, while Elena holds Lev at the edge of the frame.

Abramov’s men escort us up the security stairs. Alexei and I follow the passage past the chapel, take the turn into the corridor, and approach the sealed doors protecting the inner family suite. Sergei waits outside with one hand near his pistol.

He sees Alexei holding his side and reaches for his radio. “Irina is waiting in the medical bay. Abramov has sent for Dr. Yelena to examine both of you, and Dr. Grachev is treating the wounded men downstairs.”

“Five minutes,” Alexei says as Sergei opens the door.