Page 26 of Captured By the Russian Wolf

I looked up from the paperwork on my desk, already feeling irritation prick at my skin. "What about her?"

Mikhail didn't waver. "She's been acting different. Withdrawn. And I've been looking into her background."

I felt a flicker of annoyance, mixed with something darker. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

Mikhail exhaled slowly, stepping forward as if weighing his words carefully. "I'm saying she could be hiding something. She's been pulling away from you lately, hasn't she?"

I didn't want to admit that he was right. Lily had been distant. The fire I'd come to expect from her had faded, replaced by a coolness that I couldn't ignore. I hated how much it bothered me, hated that it mattered at all. But I wasn't about to show Mikhail that.

"She's adjusting," I said flatly. "This life isn't easy for someone like her."

Mikhail's eyes narrowed, the sharp edge in his gaze impossible to ignore. "Nikita, you're not usually this blind. She was asking questions, getting too curious about your business. And when I looked into her past… something doesn't add up. It's too clean."

I stood abruptly, pushing the papers on my desk aside. "I don't need you digging into my wife's past. I have it handled."

But even as I said it, the seed of doubt took root, spreading through me like a slow, creeping poison. Mikhail wasn't wrong. Lily had been asking questions—subtle ones—but enough to catch my attention. After confronting her, I'd brushed them off as harmless curiosity. But with Mikhail's words ringing in my ears, they felt like something more.

"She's been pulling away for a reason," Mikhail continued, stepping closer. "You need to be careful."

I clenched my fists, the tension coiling tighter in my chest. "And what are you suggesting? That she's a threat?"

Mikhail's face was grim. "I'm suggesting you look deeper. She's too clean, Nikita. It doesn't sit right."

His words hung in the air, heavy and suffocating. I hated that he was forcing me to confront what I'd been avoiding. Hated thathe was right. There had been moments—little things that hadn't made sense. Her questions, her sudden withdrawal. The way she looked at me sometimes, like she was searching for something. And now I couldn't ignore the gnawing feeling in my gut.

"Fine," I bit out, my voice hard. "Look into it. But keep it quiet. I don't want her knowing."

Mikhail nodded, his expression tight. "I'll handle it."

After he left, I sat there for a long time, staring at the door. The seed of doubt that Mikhail had planted was already growing, and I couldn't stop it. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. That Lily was hiding something from me. But I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to think that the woman I'd let into my life, the woman I'd come to trust, could be lying to me.

But I couldn't ignore it anymore.

The next few days were unbearable. Every time I looked at her, every time she smiled at me, I found myself questioning everything. Was it real? Or had she been playing me this whole time? I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched. Manipulated.

And then Mikhail came back with what he had found.

I was in the study when he entered, his face grim, his steps slow and deliberate. He didn't need to say a word for me to know that whatever he'd uncovered wasn't good. I felt the tension coil tighter in my chest as he handed me a folder, his eyes clouded with something that looked almost like pity.

"What is it?" I asked, my voice tight, my fingers gripping the edge of the folder.

Mikhail didn't answer immediately, just nodded toward the papers. "It's all in there."

I opened the folder, my eyes scanning the contents, the words blurring together for a moment before they came into sharp, horrifying focus. Alexei Morozov. The name hit me like a punch to the gut, the air rushing out of my lungs.

Alexei. The man who had betrayed my family. The man I had ordered to be executed.

And Lily had been married to him.

I stared at the name, my mind reeling. My blood ran cold, my pulse hammering in my ears as the truth settled over me like a dark cloud. She had known. She had known who I was, what I had done, and she had still come into my life. Still stood by my side, still smiled at me, touched me, acted like she cared.

"Nikita…" Mikhail's voice was low, cautious, but I barely heard him.

She'd known all along.

The rage inside me erupted, white-hot and blinding. I slammed the folder shut, my hands stinging with the force. "She was married to Alexei?" I growled, my voice barely controlled.

Mikhail nodded, his face grim. "She never told you."

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