Chapter 9
Kira
The warehouse is empty.
I stand in the center of the concrete floor where I've negotiated some of my most important deals, and the silence is deafening. No suppliers. No product. No Misha.
Just me and the echoing evidence of my crumbling empire.
My phone buzzes. A text from Misha: Sorry, boss. Better opportunities elsewhere.
Better opportunities. The words are a knife between my ribs.
Misha was supposed to be loyal. He swore he'd stand with me no matter what.
But apparently "no matter what" has limits.
And that limit is named Maksim Barinov.
I want to scream. Want to throw something. Want to call him back and demand answers I already know.
Instead, I stand in the empty warehouse and feel the walls of everything I built closing in.
This was supposed to be a routine meeting. Suppliers from the south bringing in a shipment I'd arranged weeks ago.
And now another piece of my organization has been stripped away.
I pull up my contacts and start calling. Five remaining lieutenants. Five people who should still be loyal.
Three don't answer.
The fourth—a man that’s been with me for four years—at least has the decency to be honest.
"I'm sorry, Kira. But Maksim came to me yesterday. Made an offer I couldn't refuse."
"What kind of offer?" My voice sounds hollow even to my own ears.
"Better territory. Direct access to the Barinov network. Protection from Roman's consolidation after the wedding." He pauses. "He said you were going under anyway. That I could either go down with you or come out ahead. I've got a family to think about."
"I understand. Good luck."
I disconnect before he can offer more apologies I don't want to hear.
Maksim isn't just stealing my people. He's already stolen them. The organization I built is gone. Absorbed into his control in less than a week.
And I walked right into it.
When I agreed to marry Roman, I was certain I'd come out on top.
But I didn't account for Maksim returning from the dead.
The wedding is in two weeks. Two weeks until I become Roman's wife.
And then what?
Even if I manage to kill Roman—and that's a big if with Maksim watching my every move—what happens next? Does Maksim take over as the rightful Barinov heir? Does he decide to kill me? He’s already taking over everything. He hates me. Why would he keep me around?
If Roman dies and Maksim takes over, I'll be under the control of a man who hates me. Who wants to destroy me. Who's already proven he can strip away my power in days.
Either way, I lose everything. I'm a dead woman walking.
The realization makes my legs weak. I sink down onto a crate. I can't breathe.
Everything I built. Every sacrifice I made. Every cold decision, every ruthless move, every piece of myself I carved away to become the Ice Queen—all of it was for nothing.
Because in the end, I'm still just a pawn. Still just someone's property to use and discard.
No. No, I refuse to accept that.
I force myself to stand. To think strategically instead of emotionally.
There’s one man that I’m certain Maksim wouldn’t have been able to reach.
I’m not going to call. This is a meeting that needs to happen in person.
I drive across Moscow with my mind racing. Planning arguments. Preparing for the conversation that might be my last chance to save something from the wreckage.
Jakob’s office is in a nondescript building in the industrial district. I've been here dozens of times over the years. He’s a German businessman that has an excellent cover. He owns a chain of stores, and no one suspects he’s anything but a businessman. Not even my people know about him.
I take the stairs to the third floor, my heels clicking on concrete. I smile at the woman sitting at the reception desk in his office.
“I’m here to see Jakob,” I say.
She looks…scared.
That’s not all that unusual.
I don’t bother to wait for permission. I walk down the short hallway and knock on the door.
"Come in."
The voice isn't Jakob’s.
I open the door, and my worst fear is confirmed.
Maksim sits behind Jakob’s desk like he owns it. Like he owns everything in this room, including the man standing nervously in the corner.
Jakob won't meet my eyes.
"Kira." Maksim leans back in the chair, completely at ease. "What a pleasant surprise."
This couldn’t be happening.
“What are you doing here?” I snap.
Maksim’s smile was cold. Ruthless. "We were just finishing up some business. Weren't we, Jakob?"
"Yeah." Jakob’s voice is thick with guilt. "Just finishing up."
"Jakob." I turn to him, ignoring Maksim for the moment. "We've worked together for four years. I've always treated you fairly. Given you opportunities to grow. Protected you when others wanted you gone. That counts for something."
"It does," he says quietly. "But Maksim has explained the way things will change after the transition. I'll lose everything I've built. Unless I make other arrangements now. I can’t afford to expose myself. Maksim has promised I can remain anonymous in this world."
"So you're abandoning me." The words come out flat. "Like everyone else."
"I'm surviving." He finally meets my eyes. "Like you would do."
The irony would be funny if it didn't hurt so much.
Jakob walks to the door. “You two clearly have things to talk about. Feel free to use my office.”
He walks out, closing the door and leaving me alone with the man I know is my enemy.
"Well played," I say. "It took you days to steal something that took me years to build.”
"Not stolen." He stands, moving around the desk with predatory grace. "They're choosing the winning side."
"The winning side." I laugh, and it sounds bitter. "Is that what you call working for the man who wants to destroy me?"
"I prefer to think of it as justice." He's circling me now. I turn to keep him in view. "Everything you built, you built on my grave. Now I'm taking it back."
"I didn't—" I cut myself off. We've had this argument. Nothing I say will convince him. "Believe what you want. Clearly you've already decided I'm guilty."
"The evidence decided." He moves closer. I hold my ground even though every instinct screams to retreat.
“So, now you’re working with Roman or are you taking my organization for yourself?”
"Roman wants to consolidate power. I want revenge." Maksim shrugs. "Our goals align."
"For now." I take a step toward him, ignoring the danger. "But what happens after? Do you really think Roman will just let you hold onto something that he believes is his?”
"That's my problem to solve."
"Is it?" Another step. We're too close now, but I can't stop. "Because from where I'm standing, you're being used. Roman is letting you destroy me, and once I'm out of the picture, you'll be next."
"Careful, Kira." His voice drops to something dangerous. "Trying to turn me against Roman won't save you."
"I'm not trying to save myself." The truth slips out. "I'm trying to save you. Because despite everything—despite the fact that you hate me, that you want to destroy me, that you've taken everything I built—I still love you enough to want you to survive this."
The confession hangs between us like a live wire.
"Your love means nothing." But his voice lacks conviction.
"I know." I'm close enough now to see the scars on his face, the ones that disappear under his collar.
Close enough to remember how his mouth felt on mine in the garden.
"But I'm telling you anyway. Because when Roman eventually betrays you—and he will—I want you to remember that I warned you. Even while you were destroying me."
"Stop." He grabs my wrists, but gently. Not restraining. Just... touching. "Stop trying to manipulate me."
"I'm not manipulating you." I look up at him. I don't bother hiding the pain. "I'm telling you the truth. The truth you've been refusing to hear since you came back."
We stand there, too close, his hands on my wrists and my heart breaking all over again.
“I won’t stop until I’ve destroyed you.”
"You already have." The admission costs me. "My organization is gone. My power is gone. In two weeks, I'll be Roman's wife. Everything you wanted to destroy is already destroyed. Congratulations."
"Good." But he doesn't sound satisfied. Doesn't sound victorious.
He sounds hollow.
"Is it?" I challenge. "Does my destruction make you feel better? Fill the void where your life used to be?"
"It's supposed to." His grip on my wrists tightens.
"And does it?"
"I don't know." The honesty surprises both of us. "All I know is that I can't stop. Can't let go of this need to make you pay. Even if—"
He doesn't finish. Doesn't need to.
Even if I'm innocent. Even if it's destroying us both.
"Then do it," I whisper. "Take everything. Destroy me completely. But know that when you're standing in the ruins of what we could have had, it won't bring back what you lost. It won't heal what they broke. It'll just make you like them."
I pull my wrists free and head for the door.
"Where are you going?" he asks.
"Home." I pause at the threshold. "Good luck with your revenge, Maksim. I hope it's worth it."
I leave before he can respond. Before I can see whether my words landed or bounced off his armor.
The walk to my car feels like miles.
The Ice Queen is melting, and there's nothing left underneath but a girl who loved the wrong man and paid for it with everything she had.
I drive home through Moscow traffic, and for the first time in six years, I have no plan.
No strategy. No hope.
Just the countdown to a wedding that feels like a funeral.
And the knowledge that no matter what I do, I've already lost the only thing that ever really mattered.