“What do you have for me?”
“I intercepted their communications during the attack,” he says. His voice is sharp with adrenaline. “They were receiving live instructions mid-operation.”
“From who?”
A brief pause.
Then:
“I traced the signal straight back to Sergei’s encrypted device. Real time, Mike. No intermediaries. No relay nodes. It was him.”
Proof.
The final piece.
My jaw tightens as I stare out the window at the passing lights of the city.
“Thank you.”
I end the call and lean back in the seat, my mind completely clear.
No anger.
No hesitation.
Just certainty.
“Turn the car around,” I tell the driver calmly.
We head back toward the estate.
By the time we arrive, I already know exactly what I’m going to do. As much as every instinct in me wants to go upstairs and find Ellie—to see her, touch her, reassure her that the plan worked—I don’t.
Not yet.
There’s something that needs to be finished first.
I step out of the car and head straight inside.
“Get Sergei,” I say to the nearest group of guards.
They freeze for a second.
“Bring him to the basement.”
The men exchange startled glances.
Sergei isn’t just another soldier. He’s one of my senior commanders. For years, he’s been treated like family inside these walls.
But they know my tone.
And they know better than to question it.
“Yes, Boss.”
They move immediately.
I don’t wait to watch them go. I walk down the corridor, past the main hall, past the stairwell that leads upstairs to my suite.
