"Your hands are empty now, so I'm okay with it," I say, looking at her.
She glances up at where I've pinned her wrists above her head, then back at me. "For now."
The tension coils tighter. My pulse pounds in my ears. Every instinct I have is screaming at me. She's dangerous. She's a threat. She's the enemy. But there's another voice, quieter and far more reckless, whispering something else entirely.
The streetlamp flickers again. Her eyes catch the light, cold and unreadable.
"So what now?" she asks, her voice deceptively soft. "You going to shoot me?"
"I should."
"But you won't."
"Why not?" I ask, baiting her.
"Because you want answers." She tilts her head, studying me. "And because you're curious."
"Curious?"
"About why I didn't kill you. About why I'm here. What I said before. About what I want. Pick."
"I know what you want. The Volkovs sent you to finish what Cornel started."
"Did they?"
"I said, stop playing games."
"I'm not the one holding a gun, Victor."
I lean in closer, my voice dropping. "Then maybe you should be more careful."
Even in the darkness, I can see her gaze drop to my mouth for a fraction of a second, then back up. "Maybe. It would be a shame to kill you."
Before I can respond, the office door swings open, and a lamp in the corner turns on, flooding the room in a harsh, bright light.
"Who the fuck are you two?"
Bogdan stands in the doorway, a towel wrapped around his waist, water dripping from his hair. His face is red, furious, and confused all at once.
I release the Russian and step into the center of the room.
Bogdan's eyes dart between us, his mouth opening to shout again.
"Cine dracu..."
I don't let him finish.
"For my family," I say, then raise my gun and fire.
The silencer does its job, and a muffled bullet punches through Bogdan's forehead. His body crashes backward into the hallway with a heavy, wet thud.
Blood pools beneath his head, spreading across the ground.
I lower the gun, and when I turn back, the Russian is already moving.
She lunges for the desk.
My gaze snaps to where she's reaching, and I see a blue external hard drive sitting half-buried under a stack of folders.
