Page 66 of Cruel Love

“It’s not my secret to tell.”

She sighs, looking even more relieved, as boots echo down the hall toward us.

“I say we go in,” Yuri says, his voice loud and defiant. “Tonight. Bring every gun we have.”

He enters the kitchen with Luka close behind him.

Luka shakes his head. “If we do that, then he’ll see us coming.” He looks over, twisting his serious frown into a quick smile just for me and another one for Lucian as he bends over to kiss his head.

I smile back at him over my mug, looking inconspicuous.

Nina shifts easily from her stiff posture and relaxes against the counter. “See us coming where?” she asks.

“The Chernyy Obuvi,” Yuri answers as he plops into a chair across the table.

Nina raises a brow in confusion and Yuri quickly realizes that she has no idea that the man who killed her husband is in her city.

He slides down in his chair but Luka steps forward, tall and brave as always.

“Ma,” he says, “we found Gio.”

Nina doesn’t blink but a little of that happy rouge fades from her cheeks.

Luka lays a hand on her shoulder. “He’s in Moscow,” he says slowly. “And I’ll make sure he doesn’t leave again.”

She nods. “How?”

“Guns!” Yuri shouts. “Lots of guns.”

Luka turns to sit down at the table next to Lucian’s highchair. “A bullet is too good for Gio. I want him alive.”

“Well, I want him dead.”

“Yuri…” Nina says. “Luka is right. The Obuvi is dead center in the city. He’ll see you coming and make an escape. It has to be quiet.”

Yuri sinks back in his chair again, officially outnumbered. “Well, whatever you decide, then,” he murmurs.

“Sofia,” Luka says, drawing my eyes. “What’s on your mind?”

I bite my inner cheek. “We’ll only get one shot at this,” I say. “If he slips free now, he may never come back.”

Luka nods.

Nina’s brow furrows. “Why did he come back?” she asks.

Markov appears again in the kitchen doorway. “Luka,” he says.

Luka reads his face. It’s a moment I’ve seen plenty of times before. Markov gives him that look. Luka stops whatever he’s doing, kisses my cheek, and leaves.

A snake has been spotted.

This time, Luka doesn’t move. Instead, he looks at me. Catching and killing Snake Eyes agents has been his priority for so long, but now… with Gio in the city?

He pauses, his eyes locking on his son’s face.

“How many?” he asks Markov.

“Two, maybe three. Nikita is there now, waiting for your call.”

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