Chapter 20
DAMIEN
The city sounds so much louder after the hush of our tropical vacation. I let out a long breath and take in the skyline, all steel and angles, stark after palm trees and ocean. The air presses heavier, grittier.
I glance at Lyra as the car pulls to a stop in front of her apartment.
Her hand is in mine, fingers soft and still warm.
She’s been quiet the entire ride. I don’t think it’s exhaustion, it must be something else.
Her walls are going back up. Maybe she’s thinking about all the stress she left behind and all the reasons she shouldn’t be with me before.
I lean over and kiss her, slow and deep, one hand cupping her cheek.
Her lips part for me, and I take my time tasting her, memorizing her again now that we’re back in this other life.
I feel her soften as she leans into me. Her fingers curl around the lapel of my jacket like she doesn’t want to let go.
Neither do I, but I have to.
There’s work waiting for me across town. This vacation was a distraction, but the clock is ticking on Rurik, and I have plans to make. I kiss her again before I pull back, my forehead resting against hers.
“I’ll call you tonight,” I murmur.
She nods but worry flickers behind her eyes.
She tries to hide it, she’s good at that.
I’m learning how to read her. I press one more kiss to the corner of her mouth, then squeeze her hand before she steps out of the car and disappears into the building.
Only when the door clicks shut do I finally exhale and turn to my driver.
“Let’s go,” I say.
Alek has our headquarters set up in an old brick building off Canal, tucked between two properties we’ve owned for decades. From the outside, it looks abandoned, one of a hundred faceless structures. It’s the perfect place to plan our attack.
My men are waiting for me inside. Alek is already at the head of the table, arms crossed, posture tense. Mikhail and two others stand at the floor-to-ceiling screen on the far wall, studying the latest location feeds.
They straighten as I walk in, every one of them silent.
Alek nods. “You’re back.”
“Brief me.”
He gestures toward the screen, and one of the others starts cycling through images: drone stills, heat signatures, satellite footage.
“Rurik moved early,” Vadik says. “He’s not scheduled to arrive until Friday, but we picked up movement from his second crew yesterday. Confirmed rendezvous point is the Redcliff warehouse, same as in the intercepted recording.”
“Why the change?”
“Paranoia, probably. Or he caught wind of something. Either way, he’s going early, and we’re ready.”
I cross my arms and study the photos. The warehouse is surrounded by forest on three sides and a service road on the fourth. Two entry points. One escape route. We’ve already mapped every detail, but I go over it again anyway.
“What’s our setup?”
“We have three men posted in the surrounding brush. Two snipers on the hill. One inside, posing as a buyer. Once Rurik arrives, we wait until he steps out of the vehicle. We confirm his identity. Then we take the shot.”
“And if he doesn’t get out?”
“We breach it. Fast and clean.”
I consider this. “No survivors?”
Alek nods. “We’ve accounted for his security detail, driver, and any backup vehicles. If this works, Rurik will go down before he even has a chance to run.”
I glance at the terminal in the corner of the room, the small blinking light confirming that Lyra’s anti-jamming program is still running. Alek assures me it’s been flawless.
“We wouldn’t have caught Rurik’s change of plans without it,” he says. “We wouldn’t have intercepted the signal, located the crew, or mapped the shift. Her code made this possible.”
Without Lyra’s code, I wouldn’t be this close to finally avenging my father’s death.
“Good,” I say. “We move when he does. Nothing changes unless I say so.”
“Yes, boss,” Alek says, and the others echo him.
They begin to disperse, murmuring among themselves, already prepping for the mission. I stay behind, watching the screen as it returns to standby.
Only Alek remains. He leans against the table with a casual air, but I know him too well to miss the way he studies me, as if he’s waiting for something more.
“Have a nice trip?” he asks.
I raise a brow. “It was fine,” I say, noncommittal.
He smirks. “I assume it wasn’t a solo venture.”
“Do we have any booze around here?” I ask, changing the subject.
“Only the finest.” He laughs and reaches under a cabinet, pulling out a bottle of vodka.
He takes a swig before handing it to me. Alek watches me carefully as I down at least two shots’ worth.
He tries again. “She’s not just some fling, is she?”
He catches the way my jaw tightens.
“Damn,” he mutters, taking another drink. “Should I start helping you pick out rings?”
I know he’s joking, but the thought has crossed my mind more than once. It’s getting increasingly difficult to imagine my life without Lyra in it.
“I was just going to give her my mother’s,” I say with a shrug.
His eyes go wide as he realizes that I’m serious.
“You really want to marry her? It’s only been a couple of months.”
I give a short nod. “It’s fast. I know that. But when you know, you know.”
Alek exhales through his nose, thoughtful. “Does she know who you really are?”
I go still at that. It’s the one thing I’ve been putting off telling her. I don’t know how she’d react. But after this week, I know she feels the same way I do, even if she can’t bring herself to say it.
“I’ll tell her soon enough,” I say, because it’s the best answer I can give him.
He tilts his head. “And what if that makes her run away from you? You can’t control how she feels, D.”
“I guess I’ll cross that bridge if I come to it,” I answer carefully, not even wanting to consider that possibility.
“Well, then,” he says. “I support that. We’ll protect Lyra as a part of the family.”
I nod once, the weight of that promise settling deep in my chest. After Rurik is dead, I’m going to put a ring on her finger.
“Thank you,” I say to Alek, my voice steady but my chest still tight.
Just as we’re starting to relax, Radimir stops by. One look at him, and my body tenses.
He’s not the kind of man who hesitates. Not ever.
Even with the worst news, he delivers it with a detached ease.
Whatever he isn’t saying weighs heavily on him, and that gives me pause.
I straighten immediately, already running contingencies through my head.
If this has something to do with Rurik, if that bastard has changed his plans again after we’ve put so much work into this setup…
“I have some news about Lyra,” Radimir says, his voice low.
I freeze, and Alek fixes me with a look. He takes one final gulp of vodka before he puts the bottle back where he got it, then politely excuses himself. He’ll be chomping at the bit to hear this later, I’m sure of it.
I narrow my eyes at Radimir. “What is it?”
“As you may remember, you asked us to keep a tail on her,” he begins.
My stomach turns before he’s even finished speaking. For a second, I don’t respond. I forgot I even gave that order. It was a gut reaction, a precaution. She seemed off, and I told myself it was just me being cautious. I didn’t expect anything to come of it.
But now Radimir is standing here like he’s holding a live grenade.
I clench my jaw. “She’s been with me for a week,” I remind him. “I dropped her off less than an hour ago. What could possibly be wrong?”
“It’s nothing like that,” he rushes to explain. “She’s home safe and sound.”
“Then what exactly is the problem?” I ask, exhaling through my nose, trying to keep my temper in check.
“She’s been to a medical office twice,” he says slowly. “We couldn’t get the exact details right away. But we finally found out what suite she’s been visiting.”
My hands curl into fists at my sides, and suddenly I’m worried.
Is she sick? Is that what she’s been hiding from me?
I catalog every mental image of her I have, from the moment I met her at that restaurant to the moment I dropped her off.
I’m trying to determine whether she’s lost weight, whether she looks more tired than before.
A weight forms in the pit of my stomach as I run worst-case scenarios. But logic wins and reminds me that the man with the actual answers is standing right in front of me.
“Radimir, spit it out,” I demand.
“It’s an obstetrician.”
The words hit like a bullet to the chest. I go completely still. For a second, all I can hear is the blood rushing in my ears. An obstetrician. There’s only one reason she would see an obstetrician twice in as many months.
Once the news finally settles and I can think again, I move. Radimir steps aside as I storm past him. I don’t even grab my coat. I don’t wait for my car. I just walk out into the street, hand already dialing her number.
It rings once, then twice, then goes to voicemail. I try again. Still nothing. I’m halfway down the block when Alek catches up with me, grabbing my arm.
“Damien. What the hell is going on?”
“She’s pregnant,” I snap. “And she didn’t tell me.”
His eyes widen, but he doesn’t say anything.
“You’re sure about this?”
“She’s been hiding something from me for weeks,” I say. “I’m sure about that. What else would it be?”
He puts his hand on my shoulder to stop me, but I shove it off and start walking faster.
“She’s been going to a doctor and hiding it, Alek. Here I am planning our future together, and she’s been keeping this huge secret from me.”
He keeps pace beside me, silent.
The world feels different now. Tilted. I don’t even know how to process it. My brain keeps flashing back to the island. Her soft sighs. The way she touched her stomach when she didn’t know I was looking. The way she declined wine at every dinner.
She’s been keeping my child a secret from me. I’m furious. I’m terrified. I need to know why she didn’t tell me, and I need to hear it from her lips right now.
“At least let me call your driver,” Alek says when we’ve crossed two blocks. “She’s two miles away!”
“I need the walk to clear my head,” I tell him. “Otherwise, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”