"Nico." Pietro's voice stops me at the door. "Whatever's happening between you and Kristen... it doesn't leave this compound. Not until we know what the Baganovs really want."
I nod once, sharp and final.
But as I walk down the corridor toward my office, I can't shake the feeling that keeping Kristen separate from business is about to become impossible.
Because in our world, the people we care about always become leverage.
And I've just handed the Bratva everything they need to destroy me.
The phone buzzes against my desk, cutting through my review of the quarterly construction reports. The family attorney I assigned to handle Kristen's divorce papers three days ago is calling.
I answer on the second ring. "Talk."
"Mr. Sartori." Her voice carries the clipped professionalism I pay her handsomely for. "I've made contact with Mr. Walker's representation regarding the dissolution of marriage."
My jaw tightens. The fact that Jack Walker even has representation irritates me. The man borrowed money from the Russian mob and let his wife take the fall. He shouldn't be able to afford a public defender, let alone a private attorney.
"And?"
"He's declined to sign."
My fingers stop their rhythmic tapping against the wood.
"Declined." I repeat the word slowly, tasting the wrongness of it. "On what grounds?"
"His attorney cited irreconcilable differences in the proposed division of assets and custody arrangements. Mr. Walker is contesting the terms."
Contesting the terms.
I lean back in my chair, the leather creaking beneath me. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows of my office, Chicago sprawls gray and indifferent under the February sky. Somewhere out there, Kristen is visiting her mother with Lily,blissfully unaware that her soon-to-be ex-husband is still trying to control her life from a thousand miles away.
"Send me the papers," I say.
A pause. "Sir?"
"The unsigned divorce documents. Send them to my office.
"Mr. Sartori, I should advise you that any... unconventional methods of obtaining a signature could?—"
"I'm aware of the legal implications." My voice drops, quieter than a whisper but sharp enough to cut glass. "Send the papers. I'll return them to you signed within forty-eight hours."
Another pause. Marchetti didn't become the Sartori family's attorney by asking unnecessary questions. "Understood. They'll arrive by courier this evening."
"Good."
I end the call without pleasantries. My thumb hovers over Liam's contact for exactly two seconds before I press dial.
He answers before the first ring finishes. "Sir."
"Where's Kristen?"
"Still at her mother's residence. They arrived approximately forty-five minutes ago. Lily is inside with Mrs. Thomas. Kristen stepped onto the porch ten minutes ago—looked like she needed air." A brief pause. "She seemed... tense when she went in."
Of course she did. Her mother sold her out to Jack. Kristen's walking into enemy territory every time she visits that woman, and she does it anyway because she's too goddamn stubborn to let anyone see her break.
"Estimated time of return?"
"Based on what she said, another hour. Hour and a half if the child falls asleep."
