She nodded, her eyes never leaving her daughter through the doorway.
“Team One, we need an extraction point,” I murmured into my mic. “South side, two minutes.”
“Negative,” came Declan’s strained reply. “We’re pinned down at the main gate. You’re on your own for now.”
I cursed silently. Plan B, then.
“Mikhail,” I said into the mic. “Change of plan. We go in together, now.”
“Ready,” came his terse reply.
I took a deep breath, steadying my aim. “Three, two, one—let’s go!”
I kicked the door open, weapon raised. “Alexei! Let her go!”
Simultaneously, Mikhail burst through the side entrance, his gun trained on his father.
Alexei’s head snapped up, his eyes widening first in surprise, then narrowing with calculation. In one swift movement, he yanked Nora in front of him, using her as a human shield.
“Mikhail,” he said, his voice cold with contempt. “Still playing the hero, I see.”
“Let her go, Father,” Mikhail demanded, his weapon unwavering. “It’s over. Interpol has the evidence. They’re moving on your operations as we speak.”
Alexei laughed, a sound devoid of humor. “Nothing is over until I say it is. And I have something you want.” He tightened his grip on Nora, who whimpered in pain.
I adjusted my stance, trying to find a clear shot, but Alexei kept Nora perfectly positioned between us. “There’s no way out,” I said evenly. “The authorities will be here within the hour. Your best option is to release the girl and surrender.”
His eyes flickered to me, dismissive. “The rancher,” he sneered. “You think you can threaten me in my own home?”
“Jake,” Nora called, her voice small but determined. “I knew you’d come.”
“I promised, didn’t I?” I replied, keeping my voice steady for her sake. “Everything’s going to be okay, Nora. Just stay calm.”
Alexei began backing toward the panic room, dragging Nora with him. “Touching,” he mocked. “But futile. The girl comes with me. She is Petrova blood—my legacy.”
“She is a child,” Mikhail said, his voice razor-sharp. “My child. And you will never touch heragain.”
I saw Ella in my peripheral vision, waiting just outside the doorway as instructed. Her face was a mask of barely contained fury and fear.
Chapter 26
Ella
Icouldn’t bear it any longer. Without waiting for Jake’s signal, I stepped into the study.
“Alexei,” I called, my voice steadier than I expected.
His head snapped toward me, and for a split second, his iron grip on Nora loosened. His face went slack with shock, color draining as though he’d seen a ghost.
“Irina?” he whispered, the name falling from his lips like a curse.
I took another step forward, hands raised to show I wasn’t armed. “No. It’s Ella.”
Recognition dawned in his eyes, followed by something like pain. “Eleanora,” he said, recovering quickly, though his voice remained unsteady. “You have your mother’s face.”
The mention of my mother—his wife, the woman who’d betrayed him with Tomas MacGallan—seemed to harden something in him. His jaw tightened as his gaze traveled over my features, no doubt seeing the echoes of her there.
“Let my daughter go,” I said, inching closer. “Please.”
