The word hangs between us, loaded with implications I’m not ready to explain fully.
I move back to her front, studying her face. The exhaustion, the fear, the defiance that refuses to die. She’s been in a cell for twenty-four hours with minimal water, no food, no comfort. She’s bruised and shaken and completely at my mercy.
She’s still fighting.
Most people would have broken by now. Would be begging, offering anything, surrendering completely.
Elena Lawrence is demanding to know why I haven’t killed her yet. Impressive doesn’t quite cover it.
“What happens now?” she asks, echoing her question from before.
“Now I decide what to do with you.”
“So my options are?”
“You don’t have options. You have outcomes. Whether those outcomes are pleasant or unpleasant depends on your cooperation.”
“Cooperation with what?”
I step closer, deliberately invading her space. She holds her ground despite how badly she wants to retreat. I can see it in the tension of her muscles, the way her breath catches.
“Tell me about your father’s business,” I say. “The parts you haven’t figured out yet. What do you know about his past dealings with the Bratva?”
Confusion flickers across her face. “I know he partnered with you. Or with Bratva operations. Facilitated shipments, helped with money laundering.”
“And?”
“He tried to pull out. You wouldn’t let him, so he cooperated with authorities.”
“Partial truth. What else?”
“That’s all I know.”
I tangle my hand in her hair, not pulling yet, just holding. A warning. “Don’t lie to me, Elena.”
“I’m not—” Her voice breaks slightly. “I don’t know anything else. My father doesn’t tell me things. Doesn’t trust me with family business because I’m—”
She stops. Bites down on whatever she was about to say.
“Because you’re what?” I prompt, pulling just enough that her scalp stings.
“Nothing. It doesn’t matter.”
“You’re the bastard daughter,” I finish for her. “The unwanted one. The one who has to fight for every scrap of acknowledgment.”
Her eyes flash with something raw and painful. “How do you—”
“I know everything about you, Elena. Your education, your lack of role in family operations, your desperate attemptsto prove yourself worthy of a name that barely claims you.” I release her hair and step back. “Breaking into my facility wasn’t about justice or evidence. It was about proving you could do something your father couldn’t. That you’re valuable even when he treats you as disposable.”
“Stop.” The word comes out broken. “Stop talking like you know me.”
“I do know you. Better than you think.” I move to the door, signaling this interrogation is over for now. “You’re smart, resourceful, and dangerous when cornered. You’re also lonely, desperate for validation, and willing to risk everything to prove you matter.”
I knock once. The door opens, Viktor waiting on the other side.
“She’s been cooperative enough,” I tell him. “Move her upstairs. Guest room in the east wing. Guards posted outside, but make it comfortable.”
Viktor’s eyebrow raises slightly. “Sir?”
