I took a deep breath, the air thick with the scent of coffee and him. I thought of Lev, of his defiant smile and the fire in his eyes. I thought of Dmitri, with his quiet strength and apparent faith in me. And I thought of Roman, of his reckless charm and what looked suspiciously softer than just his fierce, protective possessiveness shining in his eyes as he was looking at me right now.
I was no longer alone. I was no longer a pawn in their game. I was a part of their family. Maybe even their queen.
“Yes,” I exclaimed. “I’m in.”
He smiled triumphantly. “I knew you would be.”
Then he stepped back, his hands leaving my face, the sudden absence of his touch a physical ache. “Get dressed then,” he said, his tone shifting, becoming all business. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
I watched him leave, my heart pounding against my ribs, a heady mix of fear and excitement coursing through my veins. This was it. The point of no return.
I was no longer running.
I was fighting back.
And the Markovs were by my side.
By the time I walked out of the bathroom, dressed in a pair of black combat trousers and a fitted, long-sleeved dark gray shirt that Katya had found for me, the penthouse was a hive of activity.
Roman and Dmitri were sitting together, discussing something in hushed tones that I couldn’t quite hear. Viktor was lounging on a couch, cleaning a handgun with the methodical precision of a surgeon. Katya stood by the window, her back to us, her gaze fixed on the city below. She looked like a general surveying her troops, her posture ramrod straight, her expression inscrutable. Grigor and Demyan were making phone calls on the other side of the room.
They all looked up as I entered, the conversations dying mid-sentence.
“Good,” Dmitri said with an appreciative rumble. “You’re ready.”
“As I’ll ever be,” I replied, my voice undoubtedly sounding a little steadier than I felt.
Roman gestured to the chair opposite him. “Sit. We need to go over the plan.”
I sat down, my hands clasped in my lap, my back straightening.
“ARCHEON will call at ten,” Roman began, his gaze sweeping over each of us. “They’ll give us a location for the exchange. Then we go. I’ll be by your side the whole time, or as much as they allow.”
“You’ll have this,” Demyan said, stepping forward and placing a small, sleek, flesh-colored earpiece on the table in front of me. “State-of-the-art. Encrypted channel, biometric-locked. Only you and we can hear what’s being said.”
He placed a small silver ring on the table next to the earpiece. “And this. A pressure-activated transmitter. Squeeze it twice if you’re in trouble. We’ll be there in under two minutes. It also doubles as a tracking device. We’ll know where you are at all times.”
I picked up the ring, the metal cool against my skin. It was a beautiful, elegant piece of jewelry, the kind a wealthy woman might wear. I slipped it on my finger.
“It fits perfectly,” I said softly.
“We had it sized,” Dmitri said, his smoldering eyes meeting mine. “We’re nothing if not thorough.”
A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched my lips. “Of course you are.”
Viktor cleared his throat, drawing our attention. “And what about me and my boys? Are we just supposed to sit here and twiddle our thumbs while you lot have all the fun?”
Roman didn’t look away from the layout spread across the table. “Not exactly. ARCHEON will be watching for us. They won’t be watching for you.”
Viktor arched a brow. “Go on.”
“We need you to be the distraction,” Roman replied in a serious, businesslike manner. “ARCHEON will be expecting us, but they won’t be expecting you. If shit goes sideways, create a diversion.Use Revenant’s resources if you have to. Something bigenough todraw their attention away from us.”
Viktor’s eyes lit up, a predatory gleam in their depths. “I think I can manage that. Any particular preferences?”
“Just make it loud,” Dmitri said. “And messy.”
Viktor grinned, a wolfish, bloodthirsty thing. “Loud and messy is my specialty.”
