I can lie now, endure whatever they do to me, and tell them the truth anyway. Or I can skip the suffering and just be honest.
More importantly, Sasha is probably watching this. Or she’ll see the recording later. I need her to know which parts of me were real.
“I’ll answer every question you have.” I meet Dmitri’s eyes. “Truthfully. No games. No misdirection. You don’t need the hardware.”
“Why should I believe that?”
“Because I’m done lying. To you. To her. To myself.” I shift in the chair as much as the restraints allow. “You’ll find out everything anyway. Might as well hear it from me.”
Dmitri cocks his head and eyes me warily. Then he nods to Boris, who moves behind me and secures my wrists to the chair with additional restraints. My shoulders protest the position, but I don’t complain.
Trust isn’t something I’ve earned here.
“Who hired you?” Dmitri asks again.
I take a breath. “Adrian Belmont.”
The name lands like a grenade. Dmitri’s face doesn’t change, but I see the recognition in his eyes. Boris curses quietly in Russian behind me.
“When?”
“Six weeks ago. He contacted me through a referral from another client.”
“What were your orders?”
“Gather intelligence on your organization, financial operations, and security. Find any vulnerabilities he could exploit. And… get close to Sasha. Make her trust me. Learn everything about her that he could use to hurt her later.”
He blinks. “You were sent to seduce my sister.”
“That was part of it, yes.” I nod.
Dmitri’s hand moves so fast that I barely register it before his fist connects with my face, and my head snaps to the side. My cheekbone throbs, and within seconds, I taste copper.
I spit blood on the concrete floor and straighten as much as I can.
“I deserved that,” I acknowledge.
“You deserve worse.” Dmitri flexes his hand. “But we’ll get to that. Keep talking.”
“Adrian wants revenge. He blames Sasha for destroying his operation at Christie’s. The contract was for eight weeks. I was supposed to make her fall for me while I gathered intelligence he could use to destroy both her and your family.” I swallow more blood. “I have two weeks left on the contract.”
“And what have you given him?”
I shake my head. “Nothing real. False intelligence. Fake financial records. Made-up security protocols. I’ve been feeding him garbage since day one.”
“Why?” Dmitri squints at me.
The question is simple but loaded. Why would I betray my client? Why would I sabotage my mission? Why would I risk everything Adrian could do to me for breaking our contract?
“I fell for her,” I admit through a rush of air. “I was supposed to make Sasha want me, but somewhere along the way, I ended up wanting her instead. Caring about her. Needing to protect her more than I needed Adrian’s money.”
“Convenient.”
“It’s the truth. You can verify everything I’m telling you. Check my communications with Adrian. I’ve been sabotaging this job for weeks because I couldn’t go through with it.”
Dmitri walks back to the table and picks up a pair of pliers. He tests the grip, and the metal teeth click. The sound echoes through the empty warehouse.
“Here’s my problem, Tony. Or should I call you something else? Is that even your real name?”
