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“Like you once said, she tried to kill me. I’ll deal with her as I see fit.”

“That sounds familiar.” Vanya smirks. “Didn’t I say something similar to you a couple of weeks ago, Aleksei? And now I’m married to her.”

“My situation is different from yours.” I narrow my eyes at my brother, silently warning him to keep his mouth shut, but the fucker doesn’t listen.

“True. Melani didn’t try to kill me, and I didn’t play sick games with her.”

I push back my chair and stand, adjusting my jacket. “I’m done here.”

I half expect Aleksei to stop me, but he doesn’t say a word as I leave the conference room. Walking down the hall toward the main living room feels both familiar and foreign. The structure is the same one I grew up in, but the vibe is entirely different.

Noah is waiting outside with the car already idling. “Anything happen?” he asks as I get into the passenger seat next to him.

“Nothing.”

“Kyle reached out to me. Said he couldn’t get through to you.” I glance up sharply, and the grin spreading across his face answers before he does. “He found Ghostbridge.”

My mood flips, and I grin back as we pull out of the driveway. “That’s excellent news.” With Ghostbridge in my possession, access to Daniel’s fortress becomes only a matter of hours—maybe a day, depending on how strong his current security system is. But I will have access.

And once I’m in, everything he’s been so carefully hiding becomes visible. Every conversation, every thread connecting him to the warehouse, to our kidnapped men, to Grace…

My thoughts slip to her. Would I find proof she’s working with him, or proof she’s exactly what I think she is—a victim?

“Did you find Millicent Wilson?” I ask, turning to Noah.

His expression tightens. “No, I couldn’t find her anywhere. And from a few inquiries, it looks like she’s been missing for about three weeks now.”

“No missing-person report was filed?” I already know the answer as I ask. Noah shakes his head, and I frown. Grace obviously cares about the woman, so why the hell didn’t she report her missing? “Do we have the exact date of her disappearance?”

Noah nods solemnly and gives me the date—a few days before the expo I organized on Volya. Silently, the puzzle pieces click into place. Someone kidnapped Millicent Wilson and held her over Grace’s head to make her kill me?

The theory answers one question, only to raise a dozen more. Why? Why Millicent? Why Grace? Why?

My hand slips back into my pocket, fingers closing around the remote. After a brief pause, I press the button.

34

GRACE

I’m losing my fucking mind.

The vibrator inside me buzzes on and off all day, hitting me whenever I’m trying to act normal around Anya and the guards. It ramps up while I’m in the kitchen, making my knees buckle as my pussy clenches helplessly around the thick shaft.

I grip the counter, biting my lip to keep quiet, but my clit throbs with every pulse. All I can think about is coming—hard, right now, no matter what. I’ll spill everything to Dimitri if he lets me. Consequences? Fuck them. My mind is mush, my body overheating from the inside out. At this point, I’m convinced I’ll die if he doesn’t let me come tonight.

I’m so pissed at him for this, for turning my body against me.

And God, I want him so bad.

So. Damn. Bad.

The vibrator cuts off just as I hear his car pull up outside. Without thinking, I dash to the bathroom, slam the door shut, and brace myself over the sink, my hands white-knuckled on the porcelain. My reflection stares back at me—eyes wild, cheeks flushed, lips parted around ragged breaths.

I can’t let him see me like this, falling apart from the relentless assault in my cunt. I might be seconds away from giving him what he wants, but I still have some pride.

Drawing in a steadying breath, I smooth down my dress and leave the bathroom. He’s already halfway up the stairs when I spot him. “Dimitri!” I call, hurrying after him, muttering curses the whole way. “You didn’t tell me what this tweak to the belt would do to me, you motherfucker!”

He glances over his shoulder, a smirk tugging at his lips, but he doesn’t slow down. I keep right on his heels until we’re in his room. The door clicks shut behind me, and before I catch my breath, he crowds me against it, his body pinning mine.