I switch channels. "Hey, Yuri."
"Da."
"Update Connor. Tell him his shipment's intact."
Static crackles. "Will do. Connor just got back with his wife."
"Fee, are you still there?"
"Yes, I'm here." Her voice drops and goes soft. "My Anton."
Her words stop me mid-step.
"Say that again."
A pause. Then quieter, aware now that Yuri and Dominic and Alexei can hear every syllable through the open channel. "You heard me the first time."
"I did." I start moving toward the extraction point, weapon still ready, but my focus is split between danger and the woman on the other end of this line. "I want to hear it again."
"Greedy." There's a smile in her voice. Teasing. "Maybe when you get back, I'll say it as many times as you want. Just you and me. No audience."
Fuck. The promise in those words, the implication of what else she might say when it's just us.
She continues, "So maybe hurry up? Before I start thinking you don't actually want to hear me say it again."
I'm already moving faster.
"I'm heading to you now. Forty-five minutes. Maybe less if I ignore traffic laws."
"Ignore them." Fire underneath again. "I'll bail you out."
My mouth curves despite everything. She does this. Makes the darkness feel less absolute.
The SUV is in sight, Alexei inside. As I reach for the door, Yuri's voice cuts back in, sharp and sudden.
"Boss. Hartley just walked in."
My hand freezes. "To the hospital?"
I wrench the door open and slide into the passenger seat. One look at Alexei conveys everything.
His foot hits the accelerator before my door closes. The SUV lurches forward, tires screaming against concrete.
"Da. He's approaching Connor now."
This is strategy, desperation, or both.
He created a situation where Lorenzo's rage sent him hunting while we're scattered across the city. The shipment was easy to find. We got one of his men, five I've killed.
And now Hartley walks straight into a hospital crawling with Lorenzo's soldiers and mine. He's burning through assets like they're disposable.
He's adapting. And that makes him more dangerous.
Through the earpiece, I catch movement. Yuri had turned on an external mic so I could hear everything. Fabric rustles as he shifts position so I can listen to the conversation unfolding.
"Fee. Listen to me, Solnishko."
"I'm listening," Fee whispers.
