This one is acting like he already knows something I don’t. Like he’s watching a play he’s already read the ending to.
His gaze flicks past me, toward the open door. Toward the hallway beyond.
My blood turns sharp.
“Why do you keep checking the time?” I ask quietly in Russian.
His smirk twitches, just a fraction, then he shrugs. “As if you don’t know,” he murmurs.
And the words land like a blade between my ribs. Because in that moment, I understand exactly what he means.
This isn’t about the peace deal. It isn’t about drugs. It isn’t about territory. It’s about timing.
He’s counting down because something is happening elsewhere.
Something planned. Something coordinated.
A single name flashes through my head so fast it barely feels like a thought.
Lily.
Tatiana’s man leans in slightly, just enough that his breath hits my cheek, his voice turning amused.
“Too late,” he whispers.
My watch buzzes on my wrist.
Three short buzzes. Only set to go off with one app. For one person entering.
His eyes darken, like he fucking knows. Like he’s been waiting for that exact vibration.
And then it clicks.
I react without thinking. One hand muffling his mouth, the other squeezing his throat as I push him into the cobbled wall.
“Where the fuck is the real Preacher?” I growl.
His eyes stay locked on mine. Not pleading. Not panicked. Almost satisfied.
“Cunt,” I snarl. “You’ll be my message back to Tatiana. She wants that fucking necklace; she can come and get it.”
With that, I twist his neck, snapping it in one move, and silently lower him onto the ground.
Taking a deep breath, I check my watch, already knowing what I’m about to see.
LILY HAS ENTERED PANIC ROOM.
And like that, I slip back into the man I used to be. Keeping calm, despite my body burning with rage.
With fear for the woman I love more than life itself. For our baby. That’s why I have to do this right.
Grabbing the contract, I take the handgun from the drawer of the desk and screw on the silencer.
Lily is safe in that room. That is one absolute certainty. It’s designed for that exact reason. But she wouldn’t be in there unless Lev ordered it. Which means he saw something. Which means I’m already too late, or I’m about to be.
My steps are heavy as I calmly walk back into the meeting room, the paperwork concealing my weapon.
I stop behind Declan, dropping the contract in front of him. “Trust me,” I whisper to him before straightening.
