Nikolai glances at the circle of guns around him, eyes darting—calculating. He’s cornered, and he knows it. In a flash, he lunges for Bella, dragging her in front of him, his arm tight around her shoulders, his gun pressing against her temple.
She gasps, hands flying to his arm.
“Don’t!” I bark, every muscle going tight.
Now every weapon on the tarmac shifts a fraction. Irina’s men adjust their aim. Irina herself watches, gun still pointed in my direction, eyes bright.
“You want to know why?” Nikolai spits, breath hot against Bella’s hair. “Fine. Here. Have your answers.”
He starts backing up, dragging her with him, using her as a shield between us.
“I found out in Russia,” he says, eyes locked on mine. “That last deal you went to close? The one you thought just…fell apart? It wasn’t bad luck. My sources told me Irina was already working around you. Plotting against you. She was going to burn you—burn all of us—to get what she wanted. That’s all we ever were, you know. Pieces to be played. I just wanted to cut my losses and run.”
His grip on Bella tightens. She winces, but he doesn’t stop.
“I ran into Kirov in a club one night,” Nikolai goes on. “Drunk, loud, full of himself. Idiot didn’t even realize what he was saying. Bragging about how he was carrying something that would makeeven Irina kneel if she stepped out of line. Said he had all her dirt in his pocket.”
Irina’s expression flickers, just a fraction.
“That’s when I knew I had to get my hands on whatever he had,” he says.
Bella struggles in his grip. I take a step forward; he digs the barrel into her skin.
“Don’t,” he snaps. “You shoot, you hit her first.”
“Let her go,” I say, keeping my voice low, my aim steady.
His eyes flick to Irina, then back to me. “I couldn’t get close to Kirov alone. Not without spooking him. But I knew someone who could.”
“Elena,” Bella whispers.
“Smart girl,” Nikolai sneers. “She worked that route. Knew the crews, the security. I paid her. I pulled strings. I told her exactly what to look for. At the club, she put on a dress and a smile, sat in his lap, poured him drinks, and he spilled everything. How he carried the drive, where he kept it on him, which flights he was taking.”
His voice turns harder. “Once I knew that, all I needed was to get you on the same plane.”
My stomach drops.
“I couldn’t touch your bookings directly,” he says, “but I could pass the right requests along. A little pressure here, a favor there. Your charter disappears. Suddenly there’s a commercial option. You think it’s bad weather. And imagine my luck when I found out who you had on the plane with you. The ghost whoyou have been chasing for the last four years, drawing like a mad man. She distracted you long enough for me to kill Kirov.”
He shifts his grip on Bella and she chokes against his arm. My finger tightens on the trigger. I can’t get a clean shot without risking her.
Bella’s eyes go wide. Tears spill over, but she doesn’t look away from me.
“Kirov was never walking off that plane,” Nikolai says. “He orders a drink, Elena sneaks the poison on board, but I deliver it. Switch his drinks when he’s being handsy with her in the toilet.” He chuckles almost to himself. “What a fool.”
“But something went wrong,” Bella says hoarsely.
“Yeah,” Nikolai snarls. “Your daughter. She wouldn’t let go of that bunny. Not for anything. You let her carry my payday in her arms like a chew toy.”
He exhales hard, fury breaking through the calm. “I couldn’t grab it in that mess without drawing eyes. And then Irina’s people are sniffing around. Your people. Everyone wants to know who killed their precious Kirov, where the drive went.”
“So you waited,” I say, feeling sick. “All this time. At my side.”
“What better place?” he says. “I watch you tear yourself up wondering who set you up, and I get a front row seat. When Lily finally gets sick, I think, good. IVs. Doctors. Sedatives. She’ll sleep. You’re distracted. I can get the bunny, cut it open, take what’s mine, and vanish.”
“So you helped Elena take Bella from the hospital,” I say.
“The kid I could deal with, but this bitch was a loose end. She could remember things later, and besides, I wanted to hurt her to get back at you. Watch you go insane.” He sneers at me. And it suddenly feels like I’ve woken up from a long dream. How did I never see this? How could I never see his true face?
