Chapter 4 - Through the Looking GlassThe firefight was short, brutal, and entirely controlled. Alexi’s security team, tipped off by the very signals I had pretended to ignore, overwhelmed my father’s operatives within seconds.
As the smoke cleared, I stood in the center of the office, my hands trembling. Alexi hadn't killed them. He had them restrained, stripped of their weapons and their dignity.
"Why?" I asked, staring at the defeated men.
"Because I don't need their blood on my hands to prove I won," Alexi said, holstering his own weapon. He walked over to the lead agent, a man I had known since childhood. "Tell Giovanni that his daughter isn't coming home. Tell him that if he ever sends his dogs into my house again, I won't be so merciful."
He dismissed the men, and then we were alone, surrounded by the wreckage of my past.
"You're free," he said, walking to the window. "You can go, Esme. No one will stop you."
"And what about you?" I asked, moving to stand behind him.
"I have a war to win," he replied, his voice distant. "The Russians, the Italians, the internal dissent... it’s going to be a long, cold winter in Moscow."
"Then I’m staying," I said.
Alexi turned, his brow furrowed. "You don't understand the sacrifice. You’ll be an outcast, a traitor to your own blood."
"I was never one of them," I said, stepping into his arms. "I was just a tool they used to build their power. But with you... with you, I’m finally awake."
He searched my eyes for a long moment, looking for the lie he was so used to finding. When he found none, he pulled me close, his embrace stronger than ever.
But our peace was short-lived. A low, rhythmic thud echoed from outside—the sound of heavy machinery.
Alexi moved to the window. "They're not waiting for a clean exit."
Outside, a line of black armored SUVs was circling the perimeter, their headlights cutting through the darkness like the eyes of a wolf pack. Akatarina was leading the charge, standing on the roof of the lead vehicle with a megaphone.
"Alexi!" she screamed. "Give her up! Give her up, and we'll let you have a quick death!"
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"She’s persistent," Alexi muttered, checking his ammo.
"She has nothing to lose," I said, picking up the Glock from the desk. "Neither do I."
