Chapter 11 Maksim
MAKSIM
“What the hell was that?” Roman mutters at the end of the hallway, his voice edged with irritation.
I step back from the door, letting my hand fall from where I’d been knocking, the skin of my knuckles still buzzing from the contact.
For the life of me, I can’t pinpoint what triggered Ivy’s sudden flight.
One second, she’d been sitting at the table quietly, sorting through files, and the next, she was bolting from the room as if she’d been running from Mikhail himself.
Had we said something to upset her? Mentioned something that dragged her back to the hell she’d just crawled out of? Us mentioning Mikhail had a fiancée? Or was it simply the weight of everything crashing down on her at once?
All of it is a distinct possibility, each one twisting my stomach tighter until it feels nauseating.
The locked door says enough. It’s a silent request for space, a line drawn in the sand I can’t cross no matter how badly I want to. And while it stings for her to shut me out, especially after last night, I force myself to understand.
None of this is easy for her. Not after what she’s endured. It’s only been a little over twenty-four hours since I got her back and with Leo still out there, dealing with any of this can’t be easy.
The impulse to break down that door and demand answers gnaws at me, but that’s not what she needs. That’s not what will help. I breathe out slowly, dragging a hand through my hair, tugging at the roots to try to ground myself before the frustration boils over.
I start down the hallway, my footsteps heavy. Roman steps aside to let me pass, his broad shoulders brushing mine as I move past. His eyes are on me, sharp and intent, scanning my expression for any tell of what’s going through my head.
He’s not the only one. The rest of my inner circle are just as curious, their expectant silence loud.
They want to know what happened, what Ivy’s hiding, why she’s retreating now when we’re supposed to be working together, but for the moment, all I can give them is the same thing she’s given me. Trust.
I let out a short sigh, running a hand over my jaw. “I’m not sure, but let’s continue with what we were working on. I’ll talk to her later.”
Roman’s brow lifts—just slightly, a barely-there twitch—but I catch it. The only outward sign of his skepticism. I don’t comment on it. I don’t have the bandwidth right now to pick a fight with him too.
He follows me silently as I return to the table, the others already drifting back into their roles.
The murmur of conversation resumes with the light tapping of Matvey’s keyboard like a machine slowly restarting.
But Roman doesn’t sit. He stays beside me, arms crossed, shadowing my movements with that unreadable look on his face.
Ignoring him, my gaze drops to the spread of documents Ivy had been reviewing before she bolted. The mess of photos, maps, surveillance stills, and reports lie strewn across the surface in slightly chaotic piles, a visual echo of our operation.
My eyes settle on the folder we’d managed to secure from Emily’s school—a win I’d thought would bring us closer to locating her.
The top flap is open.
I freeze, narrowing my eyes. It hadn’t been open before…
Carefully, I flip it the rest of the way open, exposing the contents Ivy must have seen.
The file is thin—just enough documentation to give us a sense of Emily’s day-to-day life at the school before all of this.
Some background info, emergency contacts, a few staff notes, and a faculty ID photo clipped to the top page.
Even in the photo, she looks kind. Ordinary. Normal in a way that almost feels insulting, knowing what we know. Her dark hair is neatly styled, her smile is soft, her eyes crinkle in a way that suggests she laughs easily.
She looks like a woman who would never willingly involve herself in our world.
I stare at her face for a long moment, my jaw tightening. If I were Ivy… if I had been in her place, staring down this photo, seeing the woman who now shares Mikhail’s bed, I might’ve broken too.
Emily has no idea what she’s in for. No idea what it means to be connected to someone like him.
The danger, the violence, the sickness that runs under his skin is like rot.
Ivy has seen it up close. She knows what Mikhail is capable of, what kind of other monsters he keeps around him. What kind of monster he is.
Maybe this photo had been the final straw, a trigger too sharp to pretend it was anything but. One that made everything Ivy has fought to repress rise up in her all at once.
A quiet sigh escapes me.
I close the folder and press the flap down firmly.
“I’ll have to talk to her before she goes to bed,” I murmur, almost to myself. “To reassure her we’re doing everything we can to rescue Emily too.”
Roman’s voice comes low and quiet. “You think that’s what this is about?”
I glance at him. “What else would it be?”
His eyes flick briefly toward the hallway Ivy had disappeared down minutes ago, then back to me. “I don’t know… maybe she’s hiding something.”
“What?”
He shrugs. “Why would seeing a picture of a woman rattle her that badly? It’s not as if she’s ever met the woman. Not like we have. If I were her, and had seen that photo, I’d assume Emily was just as evil as Mikhail. She’s hiding something else, judging by her reaction.”
I turn to him fully, my eyes hard. “That’s enough.”
He lifts his chin but doesn’t back off. “Pakhan—”
“I said that’s enough.” The quiet warning in my tone is unmistakable. It lands between us like a loaded gun on the table, the bullets in the chamber ready to fire. Roman’s jaw clenches, but he doesn’t challenge me further.
He knows better.
I shake my head slowly, the simmer under my skin threatening to boil over.
“She’s not hiding anything. She’s just trying to survive.
Every time she hears his name, she’s reliving things you and I can’t begin to understand.
So don’t stand here and imply she’s up to something just because she isn’t jaded by the kind of shit we’ve seen on a daily basis.
She’s never been in our world, Roman. Give her a damn break. ”
Roman’s features soften, just barely. The stubborn set of his mouth falters as guilt flickers behind his eyes.
“I understand what you’re saying. She’s clearly scared.
However, scared people make unpredictable decisions.
If we’re going to protect her and get your son back, we need to know what’s going on inside her head. That’s all I meant.”
I stare at him a moment longer. Deep down, I know he isn’t wrong. He’s always made incredibly invaluable points, even during times I’m not in the mood to hear them. He just tends to be… tactless sometimes.
Roman sighs. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to accuse her of anything. It came out wrong.”
I nod once, accepting the olive branch. “She needs space. I’ll talk to her when I see that she’s ready for that kind of conversation.”
Roman backs off, retreating a few steps with his hands raised. “Of course, Pakhan. Whatever you feel is right.”
With that, I grab a seat at the table and begin gathering the documents into neater stacks, forcing myself to focus. But even as I work, Ivy’s face keeps flashing in my mind. Her expression before she fled. Her trembling figure right before she’d pulled the door shut behind her…
I force the thoughts from my mind for the time being.
I’ll find the right words later when she’s ready to hear them. Until then, I’ll leave her be.