Because I’m not just thinking about what I saw earlier now.
I’m thinking about how he speaks and telling myself to listen to him more regularly and pay closer attention.
Over the next few hours, I keep my eyes discreetly on Anya and Sergei. Even when Mike finds me and holds me at his side, my attention flickers. Anya makes no move toward Mike, but I notice the subtle interactions she shares with Sergei. The shared glances, the brief exchange of expressions that linger a little too long.
It hits me slowly, like ice creeping up my spine. The attack on the way to see Raelyn…the way the kidnappers seemed toanticipate my every move. It wasn’t just luck. It couldn’t have been.
It had to be inside information.
The realization sits heavy in my chest. By the end of the gathering, I understand something crucial: I’m not merely a target. I’m a variable. Someone is manipulating the situation from within, orchestrating events I can’t see, and my presence is being exploited.
The knowledge chills me far more than the attacks themselves. Because if it’s coming from inside, then trust becomes impossible, and everyone, even those closest to Mike, could be part of the threat.
Chapter 10 – Mike
I’m in my office that afternoon when there’s a knock at the door.
I frown, looking up.
Sergei doesn’t knock before entering, and the few times Ellie has come here, she didn’t knock either.
“Come in.”
When the door opens, Ellie walks in.
I lean back in my chair, watching her as she steps inside. It’s been over a week since we had sex, and since then we’ve been circling each other carefully, like two people trying not to step on landmines.
After the alliance party, I thought she might loosen up a little.
Instead, she withdrew again.
I stopped trying to approach her. If she’s waiting for an apology, she won’t get one. I don’t regret what happened between us. Not for a second.
And if the opportunity presents itself again—
I’d do it all over.
“I want to talk to you about something,” she says.
My brow tightens. “What?”
She walks toward the chair across from my desk and lowers herself into it. “It’s about Sergei.”
I immediately lean forward, my attention sharpening. “Did he do something to you?”
“No. No.” She shakes her head quickly, her hair bouncing around her shoulders.
“Then what is it?” I ask, my voice quieter but no less focused.
Ellie hesitates for a moment, like she’s organizing her thoughts.
“At the party,” she begins slowly, “I was sitting at the bar for a while.”
I nod once, waiting.
“I noticed Sergei go through one of the side doors. He was gone for about half an hour.”
“That’s not unusual,” I say. “He was working security.”
