“She went in this morning.”
My blood runs cold. “You let her leave?”
Demyan stumbles back a step, his mouth working. “She said she had your word.”
I stare at him, disbelief turning sharp and deadly. Because Noelledidhave my word. I told her she could resume her shifts at the clinic, but that was before Anton escaped custody. I thought she had changed her mind.
The weight of my own words hits me like a hammer. I did tell her. I gave her that freedom, never thinking she’d use it now.
“You should have told me before you let my wife leave the house.” Rage surges up, black and poisonous. I slam my fist against the desk, papers scattering like frightened birds. “Get the car. Now.”
Demyan nods quickly, already backing toward the door.
“Move, Demyan!” I roar, my chest a furnace.
Because if Anton gets to her before I do—if he so much as touches a strand of her hair—then it won’t just be war. It’ll be the end of everything.
Moments later, the door bursts open again. Demyan is breathless. “Car’s ready.”
I snatch my coat from the chair and head for the hall, my boots pounding against the marble. My chest is tight, my breath sharp.
We’re almost at the front doors when Lev comes striding through. He takes one look at my face, and his hand goes straight to the gun at his hip. “What happened?”
“No time,” I snap. “Get in the car.”
He doesn’t argue. Lev falls into step beside me as we hit the afternoon air. The cold bites, but it’s nothing compared to the storm boiling in my blood.
Inside the car, as the driver guns the engine, I fill him in—the message we just got, the underground clinic, Noelle. Lev listens, jaw clenched, eyes dark with calculation.
After a beat, he says, “Then we need to hide her. Send her into the city. Back to her roommate. Keep her off Anton’s radar until this ends.”
I whip my head toward him, my voice low and lethal. “No.”
Lev frowns. “Niko—”
“She stays with me.” I cut him off, my glare sharp enough to draw blood. “She’s safest in the estate. Beside me. Always beside me.”
Silence fills the car, thick as smoke. Lev doesn’t argue again. He just studies me, like he’s seeing more than I want him to.
I turn back to the window, fists clenching on my knees, watching the city flash by in a blur. Every second we waste is a second Anton might be using to reach her.
And God help him if he does.
Beside me, Lev’s phone buzzes. He glances at the screen, reads fast, then mutters a curse under his breath.
“What?” I snap, already at the edge of my control.
He lifts his eyes, steady but grim. “I’ve been digging. Trying to clean up the financial mess Anton left after his last ploy.” His fingers tighten around the phone. “The Rusnak accountant just confirmed something. Noelle’s ID—her credentials—were used in encrypted financial movement trails. Someone’s funneling money and making it look like her.”
For a second, the words don’t register. Then they slam into me, a brutal punch to the chest. “What the fuck are you saying?”
Lev’s voice is measured, careful. “I’m saying someone inside is setting her up again. Only this time, they’re smarter. They’re using her name to move money under Anton’s shadow. If anyone outside gets a whiff of it, Noelle will look like a traitor. And if Anton is behind it—”
“He’s not just trying to kill her,” I growl, my jaw aching from the force of my teeth. “He’s trying to destroy her. Ruin her in my eyes. In everyone’s.”
Demyan shifts uneasily in the front seat. “Boss…if word spreads before we get proof, the men will start doubting her. They’ll start doubting you.”
The car swerves hard as we round a corner, the city lights streaking past. My pulse hammers with rage and fear.
