Please. Let me come. I need it.
 
 My grip tightens around my phone.
 
 Who the hell is she?
 
 And why the fuck do I want to find out?
 
 A knock sounds at the door.
 
 I don’t react right away, taking my time adjusting myself, before setting the phone on the desk face down.
 
 “Enter.”
 
 Oleg steps inside, his presence imposing as always, his expression grim.
 
 I know that look.
 
 Business.
 
 The kind that stains your hands. The kind that keeps you out of places where normal men sleep peacefully.
 
 “Bad news?” I ask, voice even.
 
 His shoulders shift slightly, the only sign of his discomfort. “They found Dmitry.”
 
 I inhale slowly, tapping two fingers against the polished wood of my desk.
 
 Dmitry Morozov.
 
 A rat.
 
 One who thought he could play both sides.
 
 One who thought I wouldn’t find out.
 
 I glance at the gold watch on my wrist, then back at Oleg. “Alive?”
 
 Oleg’s expression doesn’t change. “For now.”
 
 I nod. “Take me to him.”
 
 He doesn’t ask if I need a moment to compose myself. He knows better.
 
 There’s no need for composure.
 
 There is only what must be done.
 
 As I stand, my phone buzzes again.
 
 I glance at it, lips pressing together as curiosity coils deep in my stomach.
 
 Unknown Number: Still awake?
 
 I resist the urge to smirk.
 
 Instead, I slide the phone into my pocket, adjust the cuffs of my shirt, and walk past Oleg without another word.
 
 I have other things to handle tonight. But when this is over?—