Page 67 of Black Ledger

It was built into a renovated Gilded Age mansion, hidden behind stone walls and among hundreds of acres of woodland, with an artificial lake nestled within. The property had ten buildings, from security buildings to staff quarters to a training unit, plus three smaller houses. It was like its own small city.

The first time I remembered coming here was when I was four years old, holding a stuffy in one hand and my father’s hand in the other. I remembered looking up, seeing the lions carved into the door, and being very impressed.

I reached up to knock, but the door swung open. My sister’s face appeared before me, my hand still hanging in the air between us.

“Oh, hi, again.” Surprise scattered my thoughts as I stepped back, my hand dropping to my side.

“I saw you pull up on the cameras,” Nika said bluntly. “Who was on the phone?”

“I’m not certain any of that would be any of your business,” I responded before thinking it through, but so had Nika, probably.

It was not appropriate for her to ask such a thing of her boss’s fiancé.

“You’re here for Severin?” she asked, blocking us from entering.

I ran my sweaty palm along my jeans. “Yes, he asked me to come.”

“I see,” Nika said, stepping out of the way and allowing us to enter a great entrance hall with a massive spiral staircase. “I will let him know you’re here.”

“Thank you.” I flashed a false smile.

Nika started up the stairs, presumably to find Severin, when a storm of blonde hair appeared out of a side hall.

A blonde child, maybe around seven or eight years old, marched straight up to me and stomped on my foot.

Hard.

“Ouch,” I said slowly, staring at this little wild creature.

“Good.” She glared up at me with fire in her eyes. “You will never be my mother.”

I let out a snort. “I don’t ever want to be your mother. Who even are you, little spawn?”

I bit the inside of my cheek. It might have been a little too harsh to tell a young child I didn’t want to be her parent. Did that cause emotional damage?

I was not maternal. Except…

Well, that didn’t matter. I certainly wasn’t maternal now. I barely even knew how to speak to a child. What did one even say? It was not like I could talk to her about coding or cutting open a body to prolong life and suffering.

That did not feel remotely appropriate.

Spawn was probably not the best choice of language either.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Nika rushed in and put an arm around the girl’s chest, pulling her back. “Svetlana is not supposed to be in this part of the house right now.” Nika directed the last bit to the girl as a reprimand.

“Is she your daughter?” I asked. If I tilted my head to the side, I could see the resemblance, but the girl also looked nothing like Nika. She had platinum-blonde hair, light skin, and forest-green eyes.

Nika had hazel eyes and a more olive tint to her skin.

“Oh, no, she’s a Volkov.” Nika messed up the girl’s hair. “Volkov blonde, after all.”

Wait. The pieces of the puzzle slammed together… Volkov child… attached to Severin. And she lived on the compound. Holy fuck. Severin had a daughter.

I took a step back, all the blood rushing from my face. Fuck. I rubbed my chest. That hurt more than I expected.

I dragged myself back under control and forced a smile.

But how was this even possible? I’d done my research. I’d spent years stalking the Volkovs. Years.