Chapter 19 Kiren #3
I study him carefully. His pupils are wide now from adrenaline and fear. His shoulders sag, fatigue sinking into his posture. His defiance has dissolved into survival.
“Clarify,” I instruct.
His gaze trembles but remains on my face. He senses that this answer matters more than the others.
“She’s leverage,” he breathes. “That’s what Victor said. That you’d respond differently if it involved her.”
His pulse jumps visibly in his neck. The artery throbs beneath his slick, sweaty skin.
“Differently,” I repeat.
“Less predictable,” he adds quickly. “More emotional.”
The assumption is almost impressive. Arkady believes attachment will weaken the organized structure of the Bratva. He believes Rowan will destabilize me.
I lean forward slightly, my elbows resting on my knees, reducing the distance between us without raising my voice.
“Explain how she becomes leverage,” I say quietly.
Daniel hesitates. Mikel reaches toward the third finger again, not breaking it yet, only positioning the tool where Daniel can see it clearly.
“She wasn’t supposed to be hurt,” Daniel rushes out. “Not directly. Just… exposed. Shaken.”
“To what end?”
“So you’d protect her,” he answers. “So you’d pull resources inward and start guarding her instead of focusing outward.”
The strategy unfolds clearly in my mind. Force protection that triggers an emotional reaction, redirect attention that narrows my focus, and create distractions designed to pull me inward. Arkady believes I can be steered.
Daniel’s breathing becomes shallow, his words tumbling over each other now in desperation.
“Victor said the backer wants patience,” he continues. “Wants you stretched thin. He wants you watching the wrong direction.”
“Define wrong.”
Daniel swallows again, his throat working visibly.
“Looking at enemies you already know,” he mutters. “Instead of the ones you don’t.”
The warehouse remains clinically bright, but the conversation has darkened.
“Who else knows about her?” I ask.
“Only the core team for the operation,” Daniel answers quickly. “Four of us. Victor. And the backer.”
“Names.”
He lists them between labored breaths. Two are already in custody. One unaccounted for. Victor Lansk, intermediary.
And Arkady.
“When pressed about long-term intent,” I continue, my tone unchanged, “what were you told?”
Daniel hesitates again. Mikel applies pressure to the fractured bones in his hand. Daniel cries out, his voice cracking under the force.
“We were told not to escalate,” he gasps. “She’s more valuable untouched. That was the exact phrasing.”
Exact phrasing.
Rowan isn’t random. She’s central to Arkady’s plan.
Daniel’s shoulders slump. His body trembles from shock creeping in at the edges. Sweat is pooling into his shirt collar now. His lips tremble slightly as he inhales through the pain.
“I’ve given you everything,” he says weakly. “I told you what you wanted to know.”
There’s no anger in his voice now, only hope. He looks at me as if searching for mercy. For an indication that compliance will change the outcome.
I rise slowly from the chair. The movement alone causes his breathing to accelerate again.
I meet Mikel’s gaze across Daniel’s bowed head.
“Finish it,” I instruct quietly.
There’s no dramatic flourish. No raised voice or need to emphasize finality.
Daniel’s eyes widen. He tries to speak, but Karp’s hand closes around his throat before the words form fully. The grip is firm. His body slackens gradually rather than violently.
Within minutes, the restraints are removed. The chair is wiped. The tools are cleaned. And the drain in the floor handles what it must.
There will be no body, report, or rumors circulating through the city, only a quiet correction that leaves no trace.
The warehouse empties in stages. Leo checks the perimeter one final time before exiting. Karp carries the chair toward the secondary room without comment. Mikel remains until the last piece of equipment is returned to its case.
Then I’m alone.
The air feels cooler now. The faint metallic scent fades as ventilation cycles through.
More valuable untouched.
The phrase repeats in my mind as if it refuses to be dismissed.
Arkady sees a vulnerability where I see a turning point.
Rowan is already under my protection, but until now, that protection has been immediate and practical, built around visible threats and clear risks.
If she’s central to his plan, then she becomes central to mine in a different way.
Not as leverage or bait, but as the boundary that forces me to rethink how this war is going to be fought.
If he believes getting close to her will destabilize me, then I’ll account for that instead of denying it.
I’ll expand the perimeter, watch the angles he thinks are invisible, and track every person who even considers stepping into her orbit.
I’ll assume he’s patient, because he is, and I’ll make patience work for me instead of against me.
If he thinks she’s my weakness, he’s about to learn she’s the reason he loses.