“I can’t leave.”
“What do you mean, you can’t leave?” I ask with a scoff.
“I mean I won’t leave. Not yet.”
“Alyssa, whatever game you think you’re playing—”
“It’s not a game.” She steps closer and lowers her voice to barely above a whisper. “Maksim, Troy isn’t just running drugs and weapons through the Serpents. They’re trafficking children.”
I blink at her a few times, sure I’ve misheard. “What?”
“I overheard a phone conversation this morning. They have kids, Maksim. Young kids that they’re moving through the city like cargo. I can’t walk away knowing that’s happening.”
“So we call the authorities—”
“With what evidence? A conversation I overheard while pretending to be here willingly? They’ll disappear the moment law enforcement gets involved.”
I let out a long breath and ask, “What are you proposing?”
“I stay long enough to gather real evidence. Locations, names, documentation that can’t be dismissed or covered up.” She glances toward the door again, checking for Troy’s return. “Then we take down the entire operation.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Maksim—”
“You’re not staying in this situation one more minute than necessary. It’s too dangerous.”
“Children are being sold into slavery,” she hisses. “Their danger trumps mine.”
The conviction in her voice, the willingness to sacrifice her own safety for strangers, is exactly what I should haveexpected from her. This is who Alyssa is—the woman who jumped off shipping containers to help my employees, who learned to fight to protect herself, and who sacrificed her freedom to save Diane.
And this is my moment to prove I can be the man she needs instead of another person trying to control her choices.
“How long?” I ask, hating every word.
“What?”
“How long do you need to gather evidence?”
“Two days. Maybe three.”
“Two,” I counter. “And I stay close enough to extract you if things go bad.”
“You can’t. If Troy suspects—”
“He won’t suspect anything because you’re going to keep playing your role perfectly. But I won’t leave you alone here.”
“Maksim, this is insane. If something happens to you because of my choices—”
“Nothing will happen to me. And when this is over, we take Troy and his entire organization apart piece by piece.”
“You’re sure about this?”
“I’m sure about you.”
The ghost of a smile crosses her face. “That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement.”
“It’s the truth. You’re the strongest person I know, and I trust your judgment.”
