I glanced at her. “What do you mean?”
“This,” she said, gesturing vaguely. “Quietly just watching and waiting for his next step.”
I should have shut it down.
But I nodded instead. “Yes, and you’re doing really well for your first time.”
The pride that crossed her face was quick and restrained, but it hit me harder than it should have. Again. She belonged at my side far more easily than I was ready to admit. And the thought of it terrified me. My gaze shifted back to the man in front of us, years of cultivated instinct moving inside me. The man was smarter than I’d expected.
Not smart enough, but definitely aware.
I felt it before I saw it. That subtle shift in posture. The way his shoulders suddenly stiffened, his pace changed by half a beat. He glanced into a shop window, not to look at himself but to check the reflection behind him.
He saw the car. I moved first.
“Stay here,” I told Ilana, already stepping outside.
She didn’t argue or freeze. She simply watched, her eyes sharp.
The man turned sharply into an alley, hand dipping into his jacket. Amateur mistake. I followed, silent, efficient, the world narrowing into movement and intention.
He spun and drew the knife out rather clumsily.
I knew Ilana might be watching, but I did not have the time to spare her this scene.
I broke his wrist, driving him into the wall hard enough to knock the breath from his lungs. He lashed out anyway,reminding me how fear makes men stupid. It was only a matter of seconds as I pulled him closer and broke his neck in one swift motion, ending it before it had even begun. He had to die anyway. Better now than later.
I turned and returned to the car.
“Are you hurt?” Ilana asked as soon as I sat down. I shook my head. “You killed him.”
“Yes.”
There was a long moment where I waited for her panic, or revulsion, or breaking point. But none of it came. Instead, she exhaled slowly, like she was grounding herself.
“He would have hurt you otherwise,” she said. It was not a question.
“He was going to try.”
She nodded once, accepting it with a composure that unsettled me more than fear would have.
“Okay,” she said.
I took her face in my hands without thinking, thumbs brushing her jaw, searching for cracks.
“Look at me.”
She did.
“I need to know if you want to go home,” I said. “I can take you right now.”
Her eyes didn’t waver.
“I want to stay with you.”
Something in my chest gave way, but I could not decide whether it was relief or something heavier. I nodded and picked up my phone to call Iosif to inform him about the slight changein orders. He answered on the second ring while Ilana waited quietly beside me.
“Report?” he asked, in typical Iosif manner.
