“Too bad for him we’ve been planning for exactly this moment.”
“Too bad for him.” Tony picks up his fork and pushes eggs around his plate without eating. “Though I’d be lying if Isaid walking onto his property doesn’t concern me. We’ll be surrounded by his people, on ground he knows better than we do, with security measures he’s spent months installing.”
I’ve been expecting this ever since Tony’s meeting at the Knightsbridge club. Adrian gave him a week to deliver me, and that deadline is fast approaching. This invitation is his way of forcing the timeline while maintaining the illusion that he holds all the cards.
“We should loop in Dmitri,” I suggest.
Tony nods again and pulls up the video app on his phone. My brother answers on the second ring, and his face fills the screen with that concentrated scowl I’ve known my entire life. Katya appears behind him and rests one hand on his shoulder.
“What’s wrong?” Dmitri asks without preamble.
Tony gives him the rundown while I watch my brother’s face cycle through comprehension, analysis, and ultimately rejection. By the time Tony finishes explaining the invitation, Dmitri is already shaking his head.
“Absolutely not. You’re not setting foot on his property. We’ll find another approach.”
“What approach would that be?” I swivel the camera toward me and press, “We’ve spent weeks waiting for an opening like this, Dmitri. Adrian is finally inviting us in instead of hiding behind intermediaries and hired thugs.”
“An invitation to his estate where he controls every variable isn’t an opening, Sasha. It’s a trap dressed up to look like an opportunity.” Dmitri crosses his arms over his chest and adds, “We draw him out on our terms, not his.”
“How do you propose we do that? He’s been building his coalition for months. Every day we wait, he adds another ally to his network. Another resource to throw at us. Another contingency plan if his first approach fails.”
Katya speaks up in that matronly tone she uses when she’s trying to mediate between Kozlov stubbornness and common sense. “She has a point, Dmitri. We’re better off confronting him now than after he’s finished consolidating power across half of Europe.”
Dmitri turns to give his wife a look that promises extensive discussion later when they’re alone. “There has to be something between walking directly into his trap and sitting here waiting for him to attack us.”
“There isn’t,” I declare. “Adrian’s obsession with me is the reason our family is in danger. He wantsme, Dmitri. He won’t be satisfied with anything less than confronting me face to face and making me understand exactly why he’s destroying everything we’ve built. If I don’t show up at Thornfield Manor tomorrow, he’ll keep escalating until he finds another way to get to me. One we haven’t prepared for.”
Boris appears in the frame behind Dmitri, and his grizzled face tells me he’s been listening from somewhere just off camera. “The estate has tactical possibilities. Wooded areas around the perimeter, multiple access points we could use for extraction if things go sideways.”
Dmitri turns to his head of security and demands, “You’re entertaining this idea?”
“I’ve known Sasha since she was born, and that look on her face means she’s going whether we give our blessing or not.” Borisrubs his stubbled jaw and adds, “Better we control the backup plan than find ourselves scrambling to catch up after she’s already inside.”
Tony pulls up satellite imagery on his tablet and angles it toward the camera so everyone can see. “There’s a service road on the eastern edge of the property that connects to the neighboring estate. The tree line provides cover almost all the way to the main house, which gives us excellent positioning for a response team.”
“How many men would you need?” Dmitri asks Boris.
“Twelve at minimum. Six dedicated to perimeter surveillance, six ready to breach if something goes wrong inside.”
“What about communication?” Dmitri questions. “If Sasha and Tony are inside the house and your team is positioned outside, how exactly do you plan to coordinate?”
“Adrian’s security will sweep them for electronics before they get past the front door,” Tony answers. “Earpieces and wires are out of the question. But the ground floor has several rooms with large south-facing windows—the main study, the reception areas, and the drawing room according to the property records. If Boris positions spotters in the tree line with binoculars, visual signals should work for basic communication.”
“Should work,” Dmitri scoffs. “Should isn’t good enough when my sister’s life is on the line.”
“It’s the best option available given the constraints,” Tony responds. “Adrian’s paranoid about surveillance. Any electronic device we try to smuggle in will be discovered and confiscated, which says we came prepared for trouble. Visual signals preserve our cover.”
Dmitri lets out a long huff and hangs his head. He’s not happy about any of this, but he’s professional enough to understand this is our best shot despite his personal objections.
“What happens if Adrian takes them somewhere without windows?” he asks Boris. “Some interior room or basement where your spotters can’t see what’s happening?”
“He won’t,” I answer before Boris can respond. “Adrian’s entire motivation for this vendetta is making me understand why he’s doing it. He needs an audience. He needs a stage worthy of his grand revenge fantasy. Whatever he’s planning will happen somewhere he considers appropriately dramatic, with plenty of room for him to gloat.”
Katya nods her agreement and adds, “She’s right about his psychology. Viktor was exactly the same way. He needed me to know precisely why he was destroying my life, to see my face when I finally understood the scope of his betrayal. It gave us the opening we needed to stop him before it was too late.”
The comparison to Katya’s former FSB handler lands with my brother exactly the way she intended. His shoulders drop half an inch, and I recognize the moment he starts transitioning from outright resistance to reluctant acceptance of the inevitable.
“If we do this,” Dmitri carefully begins, “and if anything feels wrong, anything at all, you signal Boris immediately and extract. No heroics, no trying to finish this on your own. You get out and we regroup for another approach.”
