This is the part I need to hear. The part that will tell me if any of it was real.
Tony takes a breath. When he speaks, his voice is quieter. “I met her. That’s what changed. Adrian gave me a profile. Kozlov’s youngest sibling, works in art authentication, wants legitimacy. On paper, she was just another job. But then I talked to her at the wedding, and she… wasn’t what I expected.”
“What did you expect?”
“Someone easier to manipulate. Someone who’d fall for the act without question. Instead, I met someone who asked questions that made me work for every answer. Who saw through half my bullshit before I even finished the sentence. Someone whotalked about art with a passion that made me want to listen to her for hours.”
I remember that conversation. Standing on the balcony at Alexei’s reception, while Tony asked me about authentication techniques. He seemed so interested, and I was charmed by his curiosity.
It was all an act.
Except maybe it wasn’t.
“Go on,” Dmitri prompts.
“I started sabotaging my investigation that first week. Adrian wanted detailed intelligence on your financial operations and business associates. I gave him fake records. Made-up security details. Fictional contacts. I’ve fed him garbage for six weeks because I couldn’t…” Tony stops to swallow. “I couldn’t give him the ammunition to hurt her.”
“Why not?” Dmitri’s voice is hard. “You took his money. You signed a contract. Why risk everything to protect someone you were hired to destroy?”
Tony looks directly at the mirror. He can’t see me through the glass, but I know he’s talking to me now.
“Somewhere between the mission and the person, I stopped being able to separate the two,” he explains. “I’d sit across from her at dinner and forget I was supposed to be gathering intelligence. I’d watch her examine a painting and realize I didn’t care about Adrian’s contract. I just wanted to keep seeing that look on her face when she discovered something beautiful.”
My vision blurs. I blink rapidly, refusing to let the tears fall.
“What I feel for her isn’t part of any mission.” Tony is still looking at the mirror. “It’s not something I can fake. That’s real. I know I don’t deserve her forgiveness. I know I’ve destroyed any chance I had with her. But I need her to know that none of my feelings were a performance. Every moment we spent together—the train ride to St. Petersburg, teaching her a card game, and listening to her talk about her mother’s recipes—all of it mattered to me. All of it was real.”
Dmitri crosses his arms. “Why should we believe any of this?”
“You shouldn’t,” Tony admits. “I’ve given you no reason to trust me. But I know Sasha is watching, and I need her to understand that none of my feelings were a performance. I’m not asking for forgiveness. I don’t deserve it. But every moment between us was real. I was just happy to be with her.”
Dmitri moves closer to the chair. “You realize what you’re confessing to. Adrian will come after you for breach of contract.”
“Let him. I’d rather face him than hand over ammunition to destroy her. I’m telling you everything because it’s the only way to protect her from what’s coming.”
“Or you’re lying to me now.”
“Then test me. Use me. Let me prove it by helping you stop Adrian before he finds someone else to finish what I wouldn’t.”
Boris speaks up from behind Tony. “We should kill him. He’s admitted to everything. Why keep him alive?”
My heart skips a beat.
Dmitri doesn’t answer right away. He’s still watching Tony and weighing his options.
“He’s useful,” Dmitri finally decides. “Adrian still thinks Tony’s cover is intact. We can use that.”
“And if he’s playing us?”
“We can kill him later.” Dmitri pushes off the table. “First, I want to verify everything he’s said. Pull his communications. Cross-reference the intelligence against our actual operations. If he’s telling the truth, we have a bigger problem to deal with.”
He turns toward the door and the observation room where I’m standing.
I don’t wait for him to find me. I can’t face my brother right now and let him see how conflicted I am about a man who just admitted to taking a contract to destroy me.
I slip out of the observation room and down the hallway before Dmitri emerges. The warehouse feels like a tomb.
The afternoon sun is too bright outside. I squint against it and lean against the building to catch my breath.
