Sergei
I’m halfway through my second drink when my phone vibrates. Nelson. I answer immediately.
When I got Nelson's first call—there's been an attempt, she's down—it took everything I had not to go straight there. Not to be the one to pull her off the pavement. I know that's irrational. It makes no difference.
Knowing she was less than a second from being crushed by that SUV sits in my chest. Anton threw himself between her and the impact with the commitment of a man who has already decided his life is worth less than hers.
“Tell me.”
“She’s back home. Looks like she’s staying in for the night.”
The tension in my shoulders eases a fraction.
“Anton?”
“He’ll be fine, but he won’t be moving around anytime soon. She’s upped her protection. My cover is blown. I didn’t want to interact, but she hit the ground hard. You want me to change up my looks or pull back.”
“Both. Stay away for a few days. She will clock you. Wear sunglasses. Go with the security guard uniform. That’ll relax her guard.”
“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.”
“It’s fine.”
It’s not. Nelson has been one of my best. He can blend into any crowd, disappear into any background.
But Sofia saw his face. She’ll remember it if she sees him again, and she’s too smart not to start connecting dots.
She’ll assume Nelson is stalking her or trying to kill her.
Maybe both. I know how she is with men. She doesn’t date. I know she doesn’t trust easily.
I end the call and dial Kirill.
“I’m on my way,” he answers. “Just got what you need.”
“I’m in the office.”
I hang up and pour another drink. Knowing she was less than a second from being crushed by that SUV still turns my stomach.
I can’t help but wonder if things would have been different if it hadn’t been Anton there. He was fast. He was alert. The others, not so much.
Anton had been hanging back to avoid being noticed. He still got to her in time. I owe him. The fact that it was his job changes nothing.
I down the scotch. The burn does nothing for the rage building in my chest.
Someone tried to kill her. Again. In broad daylight. In a crowded park.
And I wasn’t there to stop it.
It’s irrational. I can’t be everywhere. That’s why I put men on her. But the thought of her on the ground, vulnerable, exposed makes me want to burn this entire city down until I find whoever gave that order.
I’m pretty sure I know exactly who set it up. And I won’t have to look very far. In fact, he’ll come straight to me.
Kirill arrives ten minutes later. He takes one look at my face and pours himself a drink without asking.
“Talk,” I say.
He pulls out his phone, scrolling through something. “From what I’m being told, the SUV was stolen about an hour before the rundown. It was dumped about a block away from where she was hit.”
“Yuri?”
“Yuri,” he confirms. “One of my operatives confirmed it two hours ago. The driver was a contractor Yuri’s been using since he arrived. Low-level. Expendable. We’re tracking him down now. Probably already fled the city or is dead.”
I drain my glass. “When you find him, bring him to me.”
Kirill nods. He knows what that means. If he’s still alive, the driver will tell me everything he knows before I’m done with him. Then he’ll disappear into the East River.
“This escalates things,” Kirill says carefully. “Yuri’s not testing anymore. He’s trying to remove her. He seems to be in a hurry. You think that means Mikhail’s days left in the land of the living are shorter than we thought?”
“Seems to be the case. I want to know if Mikhail is part of Yuri’s operation.”
“You think Mikhail is okay with Yuri trying to take out his own daughter?”
I give him a look. “You don’t think he would be, just to see which one comes out on top?”
“That’s a harsh test for an heir, even for him.”
“Do I need to remind you of what he did to his own wife?” I hiss the words.
“Point taken.”
“If he succeeds, if Yuri takes over the Baranov operation, he becomes a problem. A significant problem.”
Yuri is ambitious, reckless, and has something to prove. He’ll offer me a sweetheart deal on the surface, only to push into my territory. He’ll challenge my control. He’ll destabilize everything I’ve built because he needs to prove himself to the old guard back home.
Sofia is predictable. She’s smart, cautious, and she understands the value of stability. She knows the rules. She respects the boundaries. She’s been running things for a while and knows the key players. There is respect there.
Yuri is here to shake shit up.
And I don’t like it. With Sofia, I know where the lines are.
“Sofia stays in that chair,” I say.
“Yuri seems…ambitious. Could mean more action.”
“Yuri wants action. Chaos, doubt, intimidation works for his goals,” I say. “That’s not going to do us any good. He’s going to change the landscape, and none of that helps us.”
“Is there another reason?” he asks quietly. “Another reason you want her at the head of that family?”
I meet his gaze and say nothing.
Maybe he deserves an answer. He’s been loyal to me for over a decade. He’s earned the right to question some of my decisions. He knows the consequence if he pushes too far. But I’m not ready to give him this truth. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
“For now, just keep our security on her,” I say instead. “I still want eyes on her twenty-four hours. I want to know if a fucking pigeon lands too close to her. Understand?”
“That’s a lot of resources for someone who’s technically our competition.”
She taught herself to fight after everyone who was supposed to protect her failed her. The least I can do is make sure she doesn't have to fight alone. So no, I don't care what it costs. I land a look on Kirill.
Kirill gets the message. He raises his hands in surrender. “Just making sure you’ve thought this through.”
I have. I’ve thought about nothing else. I’ve run every scenario, every outcome, every possible move and countermove. And they all lead to the same conclusion.
Sofia spent years making herself harder to kill. She deserves to survive long enough to find out it worked. I'm going to make sure of that.
The obvious solutions aren’t enough. More guards. More eyes. More men in the shadows. Today proved that. One second slower and she would be dead on the pavement.
There are only a handful of ways to make someone untouchable in this city. None of them are clean.
My jaw tightens. I don’t let my mind go further than that.
“Set up a meeting with Yuri,” I say. “He wanted to talk. Let’s talk.”
“You’re going to accept his offer?”
“I’m going to make him think I’m considering it. I need data. His timeline. His resources. Who else he’s recruiting. He’s working all of us. I’m not foolish enough to believe he only came to me.”
“You think they’ll bite?”
I give him a dry look. “Depends on what he’s offering. Money. Control. We’re all hard-wired to want those things. We’ll all do whatever it takes to get more of both. Even if that means getting friendly with a snake.”
“What if that snake bites her where we can’t stop it? We’re not in that house. Today is a reminder we’re not really her protection detail. We’re observers.”
“If that snake gets close enough to mark her, I’ll teach him what it costs to touch what’s mine.”
The words hang in the air between us. Kirill’s expression doesn’t change, but I see the understanding dawn in his eyes.
“She doesn’t even know you,” he says softly.
“I know.”
“She has no idea you’ve been watching her.”
“I know that too.”
“So what’s the endgame here? Because sooner or later, watching stops being enough, and then you’re going to have to—”
“I know,” I snap. “I know all of it. I don’t need you to tell me what I already know.”
Kirill falls silent. He’s pushed as far as he dares, and he’s smart enough to know when to stop.
She has no idea I’m out here. No idea I’ve been watching over her for years. No idea that I made a promise to her mother eight years ago and kept it every day since.
She doesn’t know me. Not the real me. She knows the ruthless pakhan. Her rival. Her enemy.
But I know her. I know she takes her coffee with cream, chocolate if the cafe has it, and no sugar.
I know she runs the same route every Tuesday and Thursday.
I know she only pretends to be listening to music because it’s an invisible shield to keep strangers from talking to her.
I know she keeps that lethal lipstick between her cleavage in that tight little sports bra because she’s afraid to be without it.
She wants to look and feel normal, but she’ll never be the casual woman she pretends to be.
My girl is brave and stubborn and completely unprepared for what’s coming.
And I know I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her alive.
Even if she never knows it was me.
“Get me that meeting with Yuri,” I say without turning around. “Tomorrow if possible.”
“Done. Want me to check with the Italians? See what they know?”
I think about it. “I don’t want to let on we know anything.”
“I could call your brother. His network could do the asking.”
“No. Don’t call any of them. Not yet. This isn’t their problem. I’m handling it.”
I hear Kirill leave. The door closes quietly behind him.
I pour myself another drink and make a silent vow.
I've already decided how this ends for Yuri. I'm just being patient.
I tell myself I want her in that seat because she's easier to work with than Yuri. A hostile takeover by a man who would burn half of it consolidating his position is risky. Strategically, keeping Sofia alive and in play has value.
That's what I tell myself standing in the quiet office. She is leverage. A chess piece I'm protecting because I may need to move it. Nothing more than that.