Page 108 of Cruel Obsession

“Stefan, go to my private room and bring back the thermal scanner in the gun cabinet,” I say, tossing him the key. “Third drawer down.”

Stefan catches it with one hand, nodding with silent understanding. As he leaves, I notice Yanis watching me, that look in his eyes that says he knows I’m keeping secrets. My brother has always been too perceptive for his own good.

“We move in six hours,” I say, redirecting everyone’s attention to the mission. My voice drops lower, intensity radiating in the stillness I cultivate. “Get prepped, check your gear twice, and be ready. These girls get one shot at freedom.”

My team disperses with purpose, but my mind lingers on Mirabel’s reaction to Stefan. She recognized him—I’m certain of it. But from where? And why the fear?

The questions circle like wolves, but I push them away. Right now, the mission demands my full attention. Innocent lives hang in the balance. Whatever secrets Mirabel is hiding will have to wait.

I fold up the maps with precise movements, control in every crease. Control is what keeps people alive. Control is what I do best.

And yet, as I gather my materials, I can still see her eyes—wide, frightened, knowing. The softness of her mouth as she’d drawn in that sharp breath. Mirabel McLeod has just become a complication I didn’t anticipate. A complication I’m suddenly desperate to unravel.

When this is over, she and I will have a very different kind of conversation.

One where I get answers, not more questions.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Mirabel

I come out of the conference room and lean against the wall, struggling to control my breathing as my heart does somersaults in my chest.

It’s him!

The man I saw in the forest the day Debra disappeared. I’d know him anywhere—impossible to forget that massive frame, that bald head covered in intricate tattoos that start from below his collar, the ones I now recognize as distinctly Russian mob work. The kind of man whose appearance screams danger, the kind who could snap someone in half without breaking a sweat.

And he’s here.

In Arkady’s house.

Memories flood in with nauseating clarity. The darkening forest as we desperately searched for my sister. The panic rising as night fell, and she was still missing. And then—this man, this monster, watching from between the trees. Our eyes met for just a second, but I remember how his gaze flashed in the fading light. At least, I thought it flashed. Maybe it was my fear painting him more demonic than he was, my mind already spiraling with horrible scenarios about my sister.

Oh God!

Oh, my God!

Did he take Debra? Is he the reason she vanished? And if he’s here, working for Arkady…

The implications hit me so fast that my head is spinning. Arkady could be connected to my sister’s disappearance. Theman I’ve been sleeping with, whose hands were on my body, the father of my unborn child, might know what happened to Debra.

No.

No way.

It can’t be true.

My stomach rolls, a wave of nausea that’s equal parts pregnancy hormones and horror. I slide down the wall until I’m sitting on the floor, my head tucked into the crook of my arm as tears burn hot tracks down my face. One hand instinctively moves to my still-flat stomach, protective even as my world crumbles around me.

The conference room door opens. Heavy footsteps stop in front of me, and I don’t need to look up to know who it is. The tattooed giant, somehow even more intimidating up close. I sense him looming over me, a mountain of a man studying the pathetic, sobbing mess at his feet.

“Are you alright?” His voice is deep, unexpectedly quiet.

I look up through tears, then scramble to my feet, suddenly reckless with a fury that burns through my fear.

“No. I’m not!” I blurt, rage and grief dissolving any caution I might normally show around a hulking mobster.

“Can I help?” He actually sounds concerned, which is almost worse than if he’d been threatening.