Chapter 27
ALEXI
Pale morning light filters through the window as I slowly return to consciousness.
I reach for Iris and find cold sheets.
My eyes snap open.
She’s standing by the window, already fully dressed in tactical black. Her hair is pulled back in a sensible bun, and her face is stripped of last night’s vulnerability.
The woman who confessed her love is gone, and in her place stands the Phantom.
“How long have you been up?” I ask.
She doesn’t turn. “Since four.”
I check my watch. It’s six-thirty.
“Come back to bed.”
“We need to leave in an hour.” Her voice is flat. “I’ve been running scenarios.”
I sit up to study her rigid posture. “And?”
“None of them end well.”
“Iris—”
“They have everything, Alexi.” She finally turns, and her eyes are hollow. “Morrison’s dead, but Sentinel isn’t. Project Nightshade isn’t.”
I swing my legs out of bed and pull on my jeans. “We have leverage. The files. The journalists—”
“Leverage only works if they care about exposure.” She crosses her arms. “These people disappeared my parents and almost killed me in the process. They made it look like an accident and buried the evidence for three years.”
“We’re not your parents.”
“You’re right.” Her laugh is bitter. “We’re worse. We killed a federal agent, broke into a government facility, and stole classified intel.”
“Morrison was dirty.”
“Doesn’t matter.” She turns back to the window. “They’ll spin it however they want, and make us out to be the criminals, and let’s face it—you are your brothers are criminals.”
I close the distance between us and place my hand on her good shoulder.
She flinches but doesn’t pull away.
“Look at me.”
She doesn’t move.
“Detka.” I apply gentle pressure. “Look at me.”
Slowly, she turns, and the fear in her eyes guts me.
“We’re not going to survive this.” Her voice cracks. “You know that. Even if the meeting goes perfectly, and they agree to back off. Sentinel doesn’t forgive. We will always be looking over our shoulder.”
“The difference,” I say, “is that your parents worked for the government. They were employees. Assets. Expendable.”
She opens her mouth to argue, but I’m quicker.
“We’re not.”
“You think being criminals makes you safer?”
“I think being bratva makes us untouchable.” Her eyes arrest mine. “Your parents had no backup. No army. No network that spans three continents and controls a portion of the dark web.”
“Alexi—”
“Morrison came after you and your parents alone. You were isolated and vulnerable.” I release her shoulder and cup her face. “You think Sentinel can just disappear four Ivanov brothers? Our wives? Our entire operation?”
“They disappeared my parents.”
“Your parents didn’t have two hundred armed men at their disposal. They didn’t have enough dirty secrets on half the intelligence community to bury it twice over.” I stroke her cheek with my thumb. “They didn’t have me.”
“You really believe that?” she asks.
“I know it.” I lean closer. “Sentinel operates in shadows because they can’t survive exposure. We are the shadows. We control them.”
“The government has resources—”
“So do we. Nikolai’s been running this empire for a decade. Erik has connections in every intelligence agency from Moscow to Langley. Dmitri’s network reaches into places Sentinel can’t touch.”
“And you?” she asks quietly. “What do you have?”
I smile at her. “I have every backdoor into every system that matters. Including theirs.” I pull her against me. “They want a war? I’ll burn their digital infrastructure to the ground before they finish typing the declaration.”
“It might make a difference,” she admits. “Having an army at our backs.”
“It will make all the difference.” I grab her hand and squeeze. “Come on, let’s head to the kitchen and see if everyone is ready.”
She nods in agreement, and I stop only a moment to grab my shirt and pull it over my head as we exit the room.
Once we get to the kitchen, the strong scent of coffee hits my senses.
Everyone’s already gathered around the granite island. Nikolai stands to one side with Sofia beside him, looking sharp in dark slacks and a blazer. Dmitri leans against the counter with Tash perched on a barstool. Erik has Katarina tucked against his side.
Maya sits alone at the far end, the cut on her face healing but still bright red.
All conversation stops when we enter.
“Status?” I ask, heading straight for the coffee maker.
Nikolai’s steel-gray eyes flick between me and Iris. “We leave in forty minutes. Three vehicles. Erik’s team will establish a perimeter outside the Federal Building. Dmitri’s handling our legal cover.”
“Who’s going inside?”
“You. Me. Dmitri.” Nikolai’s tone brooks no argument. “Erik stays outside with his men.”
I pour Iris a coffee, too.
“That’s it?” Alexi’s voice carries an edge. “Five people total?”
“The women stay here,” Nikolai says flatly. “With a security detail.”
Maya’s shoulders relax slightly.
Iris’s, on the other hand, tense.
“No,” she says.
Every head turns toward her, and I already know what’s coming.
“This is my fight,” she continues, meeting Nikolai’s icy stare. “Morrison killed my parents, and Sentinel came after me. The data they want? It’s in my head.”
“Which is exactly why you’re staying here.” Dmitri straightens. “You’re the asset they want most.”
“I’m not an asset.” Iris sets her mug down hard enough that coffee sloshes over the rim. “I’m the only person who knows what’s in those files.”
Sofia shifts beside Nikolai. “She has a point.”
“Stay out of this,” Nikolai warns.
“You can’t protect us from everything.” Tash’s quiet voice cuts through the tension. “And treating us like children who need to be locked away for safety isn’t the same as actually keeping us safe.”
“This isn’t a debate.” Nikolai’s tone could freeze vodka. “The three of us go. Everyone else stays.”
Iris steps forward. “They’ll ask technical questions you can’t answer.”
I move beside her. “She’s right.”
“Of course you think so,” Dmitri mutters.
“Because it’s tactical.” Alexi’s voice sharpens. “Iris knows Project Nightshade inside and out. She built the encryption that they can’t crack. You think Sentinel’s going to negotiate with three men who can’t even explain what they’re bargaining with?”
Nikolai’s jaw tightens. “Fine. Iris comes.”
“Like hell she does,” Erik speaks for the first time. “You’re walking three civilians into a federal building to negotiate with people who’ve already tried to kill one of them.”
“I’m not a civilian,” she counters. “I know how these people operate.”
“Exactly.” Erik’s dark eyes are pinned to her. “Which means you know they don’t negotiate in good faith.”
“Then what’s the alternative?” I demand. “We hide? Run? Let them control the narrative while they hunt us down one by one?”
“We hit them first,” Erik says flatly. “Hard. Fast. Eliminate the threat before they can mobilize.”
“That’s your solution to everything.” Dmitri pushes off the counter. “Kill them all and sort it out later.”
“It works,” Dmitri quips.
“Not this time.” Nikolai’s voice cuts through the argument. “This isn’t some rival bratva we can disappear. This is the United States government. We start a shooting war with Sentinel, and we lose everything.”
“We might lose everything anyway,” Sofia murmurs.
The kitchen falls silent.
She’s right, and everyone knows it.
“The meeting happens,” Nikolai says finally. “Iris comes. But we do this my way. Complete information blackout. No phones. No traceable tech. We go in clean.”
“I need my laptop,” Iris protests.
“No,” Nikolai replies.
“They’ll want proof I can deliver what Morrison wanted. That means showing them—”
“You show them nothing.” Nikolai’s tone is final. “We negotiate terms first. Proof comes later, on our turf, with our security.”
Iris opens her mouth to argue, but my hand finds the small of her back and squeezes in warning.
I watch Iris swallow her protests despite that stubborn set to her jaw.
“Thirty minutes,” Nikolai continues. “We’re in and out. Establish contact. Set parameters. Nothing more.”
“And if they try to hold us?” Dmitri asks.
“They won’t.” But Nikolai’s expression suggests he doesn’t believe his own words. “Erik’s perimeter team will have eyes on every exit. First sign of trouble, we extract.”
Maya finally speaks, her voice small. “What about after? When the meeting’s over?”
No one answers.
Because we all know the truth.
After today, nothing will ever be the same.