Page 42 of Inheritance
He didn’t notice; he was staring in my direction. I stayed perfectly still, watching his face for the slightest flicker of realization that I was staring back. He looked worried, but it was the unreliable, paranoid kind of worry that eats at a man who knows he wronged someone more capable.
Then he turned fully to Isabelle and sat beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll figure it out,” he said.
Then he froze, finally seeing the rage in her eyes.
His eyes dropped to the pistol aimed at his chest. Isabelle’s hand was steady. Her face was blank. The tears were gone.
He recoiled, jerking back slightly. “What—what are you doing?”
Nikolai’s back was to me as I stepped from the shadows. I couldn’t make out his words—only their shape. Soft. Desperate. Meant for Isabelle. A shiver slid through me, tingling across my skin.No. Meant for me.
I slid an arm around his neck from behind, easing him off the bench in one smooth, practiced motion. I flexed my bicep and felt his pulse pause. His spine arched against me with instinctive panic.
The night air was soft on my skin. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and the world breathed with me, blowing through my hair, making the autumn leaves rustle. I flexed harder, and Nikolai kicked his feet wildly, buzzing with life. His hands tightened around my forearm.
I chuckled warmly in his ear, squeezing harder in response. I opened my eyes and smiled at the stars twinkling their approval.
Then—Sophia’s face tore through the haze of my mind, sudden and merciless.
She was there in my head, watching me with a look of horror.
I let him drop.
The stars returned to their dull, pointless twinkle, and the cold night air bit at my skin.
Nikolai crashed to the ground, heaving for breath. Damien stepped in and drove a kick into his ribs.
I collected myself and noticed Isabelle watching me with a sideways glance, her eyes narrowing like she’d just recognizedsomething familiar. There was no shock in her expression, no hesitation—only quiet curiosity, relaxed clarity.
With a faint smile, she turned her attention to Nikolai, then stepped forward slowly, deliberately. Each step was measured. The final one landed sharp—her heel driving into his groin.
He cried out, sharp and ugly, then wheezed in a breath. “You don’t understand.”
“We understand just fine,” Damien growled through clenched teeth. “You’re a fucking traitor.”
His lips trembled, eyes darting between the three of us. Then he broke. “Sophia, Caroline, they’re at Ivan’s estate. It’s the truth, please?—”
“I know,” I said. “The only reason we ever doubted that was because we trusted your information, we trusted you. You deceived us, but now you’re going to make it right.”
I let silence weigh heavy between us, then pulled a folded sheet of paper from my jacket and held it before his face. “Read.”
His eyes flicked across the page.
I dangled his phone in front of him. “Talk to Ivan,” I said. “And you’ll stick to this script. Any deviation, and you die.”
I dialed Ivan’s number and put it on speaker.
The phone rang. He answered, but didn’t speak.
“I—Ivan, can you hear me?”
“Yeah,” Ivan said.
Nikolai’s throat worked. He glanced at the page, then read. “We need to meet… somewhere discreet. I have something sensitive for you.”
Ivan exhaled, unimpressed. “Just drop it off.”
“I can’t,” Nikolai pushed, glancing up at me before continuing. “I think Gabriel’s onto me. If I come to you then?—”
