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"Not impossible."

"No," Art agrees. "Just resource-intensive."

Ariadna studies me for a long moment. "You trust her?"

"I do."

"Why?"

The question hangs between us. I don't answer immediately because I don't entirely know.

She has every reason to betray me. As soon as she’s out of this house she could run. When she gets in front of a judge, she could blurt out every detail she’s read in my financial documents.

And yet... Matilda’s eyes flash through my mind, cold blue and level. She’s honest. Almost to a fault.

"I believe she'll keep her word."

Ariadna's expression hardens.

"Based on what?"

"Based on her."

A dry laugh escapes one of the captains before he catches himself.

"You kidnapped a defense attorney days ago," Ariadna says evenly. "Now you're asking us to gamble this organization on your ability to read her character."

"I'm asking you to trust my judgment."

"We always have."

The emphasis lands exactly where she intends it.

Have. Not will.

I look around the table. Art says nothing. Timur avoids my eyes. Even Ariadna, who has stood beside me through worse than this, waits for an answer I don't have.

For the first time since Mikhail's arrest, I feel something unfamiliar settling into the room. Not fear—doubt.

And not theirs. Mine.

I chose Matilda because she was the smartest solution available. With Beaumont floundering and the possibility of losing the empire I’ve built here in the mountains, she was the logical choice. Now I find myself wondering whether intelligence had anything to do with it.

The thought irritates me more than any challenge from Yuri ever could. Because if I made this decision for the wrong reasons, I haven't just endangered myself.

I’ve endangered everyone sitting at this table.

* * *

By the time I leave the property, the knot between my shoulders has settled in for the evening. Driving usually helps, but today it doesn’t make a difference. I only find myself more frustrated with the stop-and-go pace.

The streets of Lake Placid are busy with tourists wandering between restaurants, ice cream shops, and outdoor outfitters, blissfully unaware that they're walking through the middle of two criminal organizations quietly trying to destroy one another.

I park two blocks from Main Street. Normally, I would've sent one of my men. Kevin responds better to them than he does to me.

I'm the man who reminds him this life has consequences.

Art reminds him to eat. Ariadna teases him about needing a haircut. Some of the soldiers are borderline cruel to him, which he expects.