“Working on it isn’t good enough, Cassandra.” His tone sharpened. “I need results. A code. A ledger. A secret deal. Something that brings them down.”
My jaw tightened. “I’ve given you plenty—”
“And none of it has been enough.” He cut me off like my words didn’t matter. Like I didn’t matter. “I need something big. Something that bleeds them dry.”
“Why haven’t you involved the FBI?” The question burst out before I could stop it. “I’ve given you intel for two years. Enough to build a case. Why haven’t you done anything with it?”
Silence stretched between us, thick and suffocating.
Then he laughed. Cold. Humorless. “Because I don’t want a clean arrest, Cassandra. I don’t want them in prison playingcards and getting three meals a day. I want blood. I want the Kamarovs tosuffer.”
My chest tightened. “What did they do to you?”
“That’s not your concern.” His voice dropped, lethal. “Your concern is finishing what you started. Or did you forget why you’re doing this?”
My father’s face flashed in my mind. Vague. Blurred. A memory I could barely hold onto.
“I haven’t forgotten,” I whispered.
“Good. Then give me something. Now.”
Every nerve in my body screamed at me not to. Screamed that this was wrong, that Vance was dangerous, that I was standing on the edge of a cliff and one more step would send me plummeting.
But I was so tired. Tired of the lies. Tired of the fear. Tired of waking up every morning, wondering if today would be the day Rafael put a bullet in my head.
“There’s an arms deal,” I said, my voice flat. Dead. “Chicago. Next week.”
“Details.”
I closed my eyes. Felt the words crawling up my throat like poison. “Port 7. Tuesday. 2 a.m. Codename Volkov.”
“Good girl.” The satisfaction in his voice made my skin crawl. “Anything else?”
“What about me?” The question ripped out of me, raw and desperate. “What happens to me when Rafael finds out?”
“You better make sure he doesn’t.” His tone was flat. Final. Like my life was collateral damage he’d already written off.
The line went dead.
I stared at my phone, my hand trembling so badly I nearly dropped it.
What the fuck had I just done?
I’d sold Rafael out. Given Vance the exact intel he needed to sabotage the deal, maybe get people killed, maybe destroy everything Rafael had built.
My chest constricted. Guilt wrapped around my ribs like barbed wire, squeezing tighter with every breath.
My hands were shaking. My whole body was shivering like I’d been dunked in ice water.
I pressed my palms flat against the desk, trying to ground myself. Trying to breathe. But the air felt too thin, like I was suffocating on my own choices.
Footsteps echoed in the hallway. Heavy. Familiar.
I looked up just as Rafael passed my office, then stopped. Backtracked. Leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed, his dark eyes sweeping over me with that unnerving precision he always had.
“You look like hell,” he muttered. “Go to a doctor.”
I forced a smile. It felt like cracking glass. “I’m fine.”
