“Not her. She’s stronger than you think.”
“She’s my sister. I know exactly how strong she is. But no one can hold out forever.”
He’s right. The Petrovs have her and they want information she won’t give willingly. They’ll hurt her until she has no choice.
Unless we get there first.
“When we find the location,” I say, “I’m going in.”
“Like hell you are. This is a Vance operation?—”
“She’s there because of me. I’m the one who goes in.”
“You’ll get yourself killed.”
“Then I get killed. But I’m not sitting here while she’s tortured for protecting me.”
Julian stares at me for a long moment. Then he nods once. “We go together. My people and yours. Coordinated assault. We hit them hard and we get her out.”
“Agreed.”
He’s already moving toward the door. “I’ll get my team ready.”
“Julian.”
He stops.
“I will bring her back alive. Whatever it takes.”
“You better. Because if you don’t, I wasn’t lying about the boys. You’ll never see them again.”
He leaves and I’m alone in his study with rage burning through every nerve.
The Petrovs have her. They’re hurting her right now, trying to break her so she’ll give them my name. And she won’t. Because she’s protecting me even though it costs her everything.
We’re going to war.
The boys are in the playroom. I can hear their voices as I pass. Finn is asking Nadia when Mam is coming back. Liam is being quieter, probably sensing that adults are worried even if he doesn’t know why.
I want to go in there. Want to tell them their mother will be home soon. That everything’s going to be okay.
But I can’t make promises I might not keep.
So I leave without saying goodbye and pray I’ll see them again.
37
CASSIAN
The bruiseon my jaw throbs every time I open my mouth to give orders.
Julian hit me hard enough that I tasted blood for twenty minutes after leaving the estate. Now I’m standing in my warehouse with a swelling face and seventeen men waiting for instructions on how to find Aurelia before the Petrovs kill her.
Declan’s on three phones at once. Coordinating surveillance teams, gathering intelligence, mapping every Petrov property in the city. Maps cover every surface. Red pins mark locations. Blue pins mark our people watching those locations.
“Southeast industrial district,” Declan says into one phone. “Two buildings match the profile. Get eyes on both and report back.” He switches lines. “I don’t care if it’s a residential neighborhood. If the Petrovs own it, I want it watched.”
I’m marking another location on the main map when Marcus walks in.
