“He’s not testing boundaries anymore,” Mike adds. “He’s establishing them.”
That makes me pause.
Slowly, I close the folder.
“So the war’s moving closer,” I say quietly.
Mike nods once.
“Closer than you think.”
I study him for a moment.
Mike doesn’t exaggerate. If anything, he underplays things until they’re already halfway out of control. So if he’s saying this now, it means we’re already past the warning stage.
“How close?” I ask.
He leans back in his chair, exhaling through his nose.
“Close enough that he’s stopped operating like an outsider,” he says. “He’s inside the system now.”
“Explain.”
Mike slides another sheet across the table. “Shell companies. Front logistics. Two shipping routes that didn’t exist a month ago now moving through local ports under different names.”
I glance down, scanning quickly.
“And?” I prompt.
“And he’s not doing it alone,” Mike adds. “He’s recruiting locally. Not foot soldiers. Operators.”
That gets my attention.
I look up. “Inside our city?”
Mike holds my gaze. “Yes.”
A slow silence settles. I’m already shifting into strategy in my head.
I’m about to speak when the door swings open.
Misha.
He steps in too fast, phone still pressed to his ear. His expression is wrong immediately. Tight. Alert. Controlled panic barely held in place.
I’m on my feet before he even speaks.
“What?” I snap.
Misha lowers the phone slightly, eyes locking onto mine. “Sir….”
That tone alone tells me everything before the words come.
“A guard just called from the estate,” he says. “Valeria has been poisoned.”
The room goes silent instantly. Like someone cut the air out.
My body moves before thought catches up.
