It’s all he needs.
His hand comes up, gripping my shoulders, and before I can react, he shoves me back.
I stumble into the passage, my foot catching on the uneven ground as I fall hard against the cold floor.
“Papa—!”
The door slams shut.
Darkness.
Complete.
The mechanism seals with a final, unforgiving click.
“No—no!” I scramble to my feet, throwing myself at the wall, my hands slamming against it. “Papa! Open it! Please—open it!”
My fists pound against solid stone.
Nothing moves.
“Papa!”
For a second, there’s only silence.
Then—his voice. Muffled through the wall.
Weaker.
“I’m sorry.”
My breath catches.
“I’m sorry I could not protect you.”
Tears blur my vision, hot and relentless now, but I press closer, my forehead against the cold surface like it will bring me closer to him.
“No—no, don’t say that—”
“I trusted the wrong people.”
The words are quiet.
Heavy with something I’ve never heard from him before.
Regret.
“Listen to me, Valeria.”
I still.
Even now—I listen.
“You will go to America,” he says. “You will find the Rusnaks.”
I frown. Them?
The Rusnaks are the most powerful criminal organization in America. But not just in America. The Rusnaks are known across the underworld as a family that doesn’t forgive and never forgets. Their empire stretches across cities and continents, and their leadership circle is both feared and respected. They don’t trust easily, and last I checked, my father and the Petrov family are their prominent rivals.
