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“I love you too, Hu-”

My phone rings, then the speaker echoes around us. “You have an emergency appointment with a new client. You’re the only one free. Can I send him in?”

Hunter moves under my desk without question. I hear something click and roll my eyes. He hid the gun in his boot. Of course. I press a button on the intercom. “Yes, send him in.”

I make myself presentable, adjust my hair, then open the door. The ice cold blue eyes staring down at me, the no-nonsense look on his face doesn’t spell out ‘emotional crisis’.

“Hello?” I ask.

“Ah, the Volkov to be,” he says before shutting the door hard.

Fuck.

NINETEEN

Hunter

Fuck.

Fuck times ten. This isn’t what we planned for. We should have still had time. Why didn’t any of us think of an ‘emergency’ appointment? Valerie knows they happen, but maybe she’d never been assigned one before she got her doctorate?

I pull out my phone as quietly as possible and text Lief what’s going on. He’ll take care of telling Chase. I put my phone on silent, then airplane mode when I consider the possibility of an alert or something coming through and bypassing that.

I take a few breaths as I hold my gun in my hand.

“Hello. I’m Valerie,” Valerie replies, cool and calm as ever. “I believe you’re my emergency client. Let’s sit down and talk.”

“Oh, you’re too smart for that, aren’t you?” the man snorts. “You know why I’m here. You and I are going to leave together and then I’m going to get what I want from the Volkov men. I’ll have what they’ve owed me multiple times over.”

“I’m not familiar. I also don’t think going to another location is very safe. If I leave, I’m sure my staff will tell Chase. He’s been devoted to visiting me at lunch,” Valerie says, not missing a beat, doesn’t sound alarmed, isn’t panicking at all.

If she wasn’t in immediate danger, I’d be falling in love with her all over again.

“Then let’s get introduced and we can leave together, as friends. Perhaps once you know what you’re marrying into, you’ll see why it’s smart to walk away with me,” the man barters.

“Talking is in the job description. Please, sit.”

I hear them both sit and a rustle of clothing. The man keeps his voice low. “This is just to make sure we understand each other. I don’t want you running out of the office screaming and making a lot more work for me.”

“I’d never jeopardize other patients or my colleagues,” Valerie says.

He’s got a gun on her. Shit.

I turn off airplane mode, read the text from Lief saying he’s on his way, and tell him there’s a gun on Valerie. Back to airplane mode. It’s not the first time she’s been face to face with death. Hell, she’s had worse odds in the past and lived.

“Can we start with a name?” Valerie asks.

“You don’t need to take notes.”

“I do if this is to be considered a real appointment, sir,” she counters. I click the recording device on her desk as well. It’ll be good evidence for later. “You know my name, and what is a first name going to do to change this dynamic in the room?”

“Yuri,” he answers.

I cover my mouth to hide the sound. Sven had ensured that Yuri was dead. He’d mourned, we’d all mourned someone so young dying. How is he alive? How is he sitting right there?

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“You’ve heard of me?” He asks.

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