I finally turn to her.
“You’ll never be vulnerable again.”
Raelyn grips the railing, knuckles white—not with fear, but with something hotter, sharper.
“I don’t feel vulnerable,” she says. Her voice is steady. Dangerous. “I feel angry. I feel like burning something down.”She looks at him, eyes bright with fury. “I want them to pay for killing my father.”
For a beat, I just watch her.
Then—I smile.
Not soft. Not gentle.
Predatory.
“You’ve never been more beautiful than you are right now,” I say. “Rage suits you.”
She exhales sharply and rolls her eyes. “You are unbelievable.”
My smile only deepens. “I have a meeting,” I say, already pulling myself back into command. “My brother’s waiting downstairs.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Stay in the room.”
She nods. I leave before I give myself a reason to stay.
The hallway closes around me. Nik is already there, waiting.
“Mike’s in the surveillance room.”
I nod once. “Get Ellie here. Raelyn shouldn’t be alone today.”
Nik doesn’t question it. He turns and moves fast.
I head straight for the surveillance room.
The door seals behind me with a muted hiss. The air hums—screens lining the walls, live feeds rolling, the entire property laid bare in angles and data. Mike stands at the center console, sleeves pushed up, tattoos crawling over his forearms, eyes locked on the displays like the world is a puzzle he already half-solved.
“Show me everything,” I say.
He doesn’t look up. “Already doing it.”
The screens shift. Timelines slide into place. Heat signatures. Movement patterns. Faces caught mid-step.
“Reed isn’t operating alone,” Mike says. “Too clean. Too insulated. Someone’s burning his tracks behind him.”
My jaw tightens. “Government.”
“Or something pretending to be.”
One screen freezes—Reed exiting the warehouse. Markov’s men part for him like he belongs there.
I lean forward, palms flat on the console. “He came into my house. Looked at her. Lied.”
Mike finally turns to me. “Unforgivable.”
“Yes.”