“Finesse is a waste of time.”
“So is checking your phone every thirty seconds, yet here we are.”
Arseny leans back, swirling his drink. “Isn’t Viktor tailing her? What, the human surveillance isn’t enough now?”
I ignore him and take a sip of water instead.
Victor’s with her.
He always is.
She doesn’t know that part yet—not really—but I don’t take chances. Not with her. Especially not now.
Too many enemies. Too many people who’d take her just to get to me.
Timur clears his throat. “We’re wheels down in fifty. I pulled what I could on the guy from the Summit.”
I straighten and pocket the phone. Business. Focus.
“What do we know?” I ask.
“Name’s Davis Collins. Mid-thirties. American-born, Moscow-trained. Ex-FSB, ghosted after a classified op in Singapore six years ago. Now he freelances—security, recon, corporate sabotage, asset acquisition.”
“Mercenary,” I mutter.
“High-end,” Timur confirms. “Works mostly in Asia. Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau. But his name popped up in Dubai last year. And now… he’s suddenly back here.”
“Why now?” I ask.
Timur gives a look I don’t like. “He used to work for the Mikhailovs. Mostly clean-up work. Quiet. Off-the-books.”
Irina’s family.
Of course.
Arseny whistles low. “Well. Isn’t that a fun little corpse clawing its way out of the grave.”
Timur nods, face blank but tight around the mouth. “If he’s back, and he’s sniffing around Bella—”
“He wasn’t just sniffing.” My jaw tenses. “He spoke to her. Alone.”
“Which means someone paid him to.” Timur closes the laptop. “He doesn’t freelance for free.”
“Could be business,” Arseny says too casually. “Could be someone checking your newMrs.for cracks. Could be theghost of wives past. Could be— Hell, maybe the man just likes brunettes with attitude.”
I’m already shaking my head. “He’s not dumb enough to approach her unless he wanted to be seen. This was a message.”
Arseny shrugs. “Then message received.”
Timur’s silent for a beat. “Want me to dig deeper? Tap old FSB contacts?”
“Do it quietly.”
“Understood.”
I lean back, watching the clouds burn away outside the window. The vodka tastes like nothing. My phone buzzes once.
Bella:Taking black card to get school supplies after science fair. Hope your “business” keeps you gone for a while.
