Of course she had. Danger lived in her blood.
The family had wanted to use her as a pawn. To them she was a beautiful Russian broodmare with a silken leash. They’d tried to marry her off, lock her down, teach her to smile and nod and shut the fuck up.
But Ana had never had an ounce of submission in her.
They would have seen that if they’d ever paid attention to her.
None of us had expected her to rebel in the way she had though. Me, least of all.
But you couldn’t rewrite genetics.
And the Volkovs? None of us could change the nature of who we were. We’d been forged in the cold, dark Russian nights.
Ana had refused to become what they’d planned for her. She’d held onto something—hope, maybe. While I’d let the darkness define me, she still fought it.
When I reached the door of the office, I didn’t knock.
Didn’t slow down either.
I walked straight in like I owned the place.
Lucian and Lachlan were leaning against the long conference table, arms folded across their chests like twin statues carved out of marble. Gabriel sat in one of the leather chairs, rolling a glassbetween his palms. Julian stood silently in the corner near the one-way glass, staring down at the empty club below.
And Luca? That smug bastard was kicked back in the desk chair, one ankle crossed over his knee, like a king surveying his court. His lackey, Vinny Deluca, stood behind him, eyeing me suspiciously the second I walked in.
I didn’t acknowledge Vinny.
My eyes went straight to Luca.
I crossed the room, stopped in front of the desk, and extended my hand.
An intentional gesture.
One Luca couldn’t ignore.
He unfolded from the chair slowly, rising to greet me. No smile, no posturing—just a cool, calculating look in his eyes as he shook my hand.
“Good to see you this afternoon, Nikolai,” he said, sitting down as though his presence behind my desk was normal.
I pulled out a chair across from him and sank into it, draping an elbow over the armrest. My forefinger rested against my lip, my thumb was tucked beneath my chin, and one leg was stretched out as I studied him in silence for a beat before letting my hand fall.
“I was planning to drop by your office after meeting with the guys,” I said smoothly. “Didn’t expect to find you here. But it saves me the trip.”
“Convenient,” Luca said, settling back into his borrowed seat. “Figured I’d stop by the club, see how things are running. Been hearing whispers—people getting invited downstairs who don’t belong there. Thought it might be time I kept a tighter watch…maybe started working with the boys a little more directly.”
Lucian straightened from the table, dropping his arms to the sides, his hands forming loose fists. “Theboys?”
Luca lifted a brow at the edge in Lucian’s tone. “You know what I mean,” he said. “Just making sure everything’s running the way it should be.”
Lucian’s mouth twitched. “We’ve kept it operating just fine without surprise inspections. Thanks.”
Vinny stepped forward.
Luca didn’t move a muscle, but his voice dropped a note. “Easy.”
Vinny froze, returned to his post.
Gabriel set his glass down. “Is this one of those friendly check-ins? Or the kind where we find out one of us is being replaced?”
