I collapse shakily into the chair once he’s gone, cold nausea rolling through me. Spalding was dangerous, erratic. But Christian... he’s the quiet dread of a storm building slowly, the blade hidden beneath silk. He’s patient, calculating, utterly without mercy—and he’ll wait until precisely the right moment to strike.
I glance helplessly toward the window again, knowing Yuri and the Ivanovs will move heaven and earth to find me. But after facing Christian, after feeling his effortless menace wrap coldly around my throat, I fear it may not be enough.
CHAPTER 37
YURI
The air in the basement control room is tense and electric. Lev, Luk, Alexei, and I stand shoulder to shoulder, gathered tightly around a bank of glowing monitors, their screens throwing ghostly blue shadows across our faces.
Elena sits at the keyboard, guiding the silent drone we’ve dispatched through the suburban twilight. It took every last trick Elena had, every CCTV camera, every city traffic cam, to trace Spalding’s car and locate Astrid. And the only reason we found them was because of Elena’s false blind spot—a baited trap for just this type of betrayal. Tatiana thought she knew our estate security.
She was wrong.
“Approaching the location,” Elena says quietly, eyes locked on the central monitor. The drone glides smoothly above deserted streets and overgrown industrial parks, finally hovering near the edge of a crumbling office complex. The parking lots are cracked with weeds, and shadows cling to every neglected corner.
My jaw tightens. “This has to be it.”
Alexei nods grimly. “Looks like the kind of hole Spalding would choose.”
Elena pushes the drone closer, and we all lean in instinctively as vehicles appear in the feed—two black SUVs, their windows darkened, license plates carefully obscured. Guards stand motionless, heavily armed and positioned strategically around the building.
Then Lev points suddenly, sharply. “Wait—there, on the balcony.”
The drone shifts angles, zooming in with crystal clarity. Two figures stand side by side in tense conversation, lit faintly by the sinking sun. One is unmistakably Spalding, clearly agitated, fists clenching and unclenching at his sides.
The other man steals the breath from my lungs.
“Christian De la Rosa,” I mutter, the words cold and bitter in my mouth. Fury spikes instantly through my veins, white-hot.
Alexei swears under his breath. “How the hell did he get out of jail?”
“They must’ve sprung him,” Elena murmurs. “Spalding’s still got connections. He’d know exactly which strings to pull to make it happen.”
Lev crosses his arms, glaring murderously at the screen. “Explains why De la Rosa looks so damned comfortable. He’s probably got FBI protection right now.”
Luk snorts humorlessly, voice low and dangerous. “I wish this drone had a sniper rifle. We’d end this right here and now.”
Alexei nods slowly. “If wishes were bullets…”
I barely hear their banter. My fists clench tightly at my sides, nails digging painfully into my palms as I stare at the man who nearly destroyed our family. De la Rosa, charming sociopath and master manipulator, free again. Free and standing comfortably within reach of the woman carrying my children.
“Pull the drone back,” I snap.
Elena obeys instantly, easing the drone to a safer distance. The perimeter around the building is crawling with guards, far too many for a clean strike. This isn’t going to be subtle; it’s going to be brutal, messy, an all-out war.
The idea of Astrid alone, frightened, trapped by these bastards, twists like a blade in my chest. The thought of harm coming to her, to our babies, is unbearable.
“We don’t have long,” Elena says quietly, sensing my urgency. “They’ll move soon.”
“Then we move first,” I say. “And fast. Load every weapon, gather every soldier. Spare nothing. I want them overwhelmed and destroyed.”
Lev meets my eyes, nodding once. “They won’t know what hit them.”
Luk turns to Alexei. “Get the strike team ready.”
Alexei nods. “I’ll lead them in personally.”
Elena glances up, eyes blazing. “And what about Tatiana?”
