Through the window, I can see her. She's bent over a desk. Working on something with careful, precise movements.
She's wearing a brown cardigan that matches her hair. I can't see the rest of her, but I'm intrigued by her obvious passion.
I watch for ten minutes. Then twenty.
She doesn't look up, doesn't notice.
Completely absorbed in her work.
I could walk in right now. Pretend I'm browsing. "Accidentally" run into her.
But I don't.
Not yet.
I want to know everything first.
That night, I go to her apartment.
It's absurdly easy. The building is old. The locks are cheap, even the extras that she has obviously just installed. No security cameras. No doorman.
The manuscripts are locked away, but I have no interest in them, and neither would anyone coming in here. People in my line of work don't care about paper when flesh is on the line.
I creep inside her place. She's already asleep. Her lights went out an hour ago.
Inside, the apartment is small. One room serving as bedroom, living room, and kitchen. A tiny bathroom. That's it.
But it's clean. Minus the books. There are books everywhere—on shelves, the table, and even stacked on the floor.
I move through the space quietly. Methodically.
The fridge is nearly empty, which explains her thinness.
The bathroom has the basics. Cheap shampoo. Generic toothpaste.
It's all very nondescript and normal.
In the main room, her bed is against the wall. She's asleep, curled on her side, facing away from me.
I should leave. I have what I came for. Insight. But I don't leave. Not right now.
I stand in the shadows, watching her sleep.
She looks troubled. The lines between her brows are scrunched even in her sleep.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, just enough for me to feel but not enough to wake Seraphina.
It's a text from Leo:Team reports possible tail on subject. Gray sedan. Plates registered to Morozov operation.
My jaw tightens.
Someone else is watching her.
I take one last look at Seraphina. At the girl who thinks she's safe in her tiny apartment with cheap locks.
Then I leave as quietly as I came.
The next day, I confirm it.
