She’s warm and solid in my arms, exactly as I remember, and the scent of her shampoo mingles with the cleaning supplies to create something that makes my chest tighten with recognition. Four years collapse into nothing and suddenly, we’re back in that hotel room where she fit against me like she was made for it.
Then she turns in my arms, and I’m looking into those hazel eyes that haunted my dreams for months after I walked away. For a split second, I see recognition, shock, and something that might be longing before she carefully blanks her expression.
“Mikhail?” The name falls from her lips like an accusation, and I know in that moment that she remembers everything. Every kiss, every touch, and every promise I made in the dark before disappearing from her life without explanation.
I should acknowledge it and tell her the truth about who I am and why I lied. Instead, I steady her on her feet and step back, forcing my expression into the mask of polite indifference I’ve perfected over years of dangerous negotiations.
“Careful.” The word comes out rougher than I intended, betraying more than I want to reveal. Then I walk away, leaving her standing there with questions I’m not ready to answer.
I make it halfway down the hall before I have to stop, pressing my palm against the wall and fighting the urge to go back to her to explain everything, apologize for the lies and the years of silence, and ask what happened to her after I left, and whether she ever thought about that night the way I did.
She remembers. She knows exactly who I am, just as I know who she is, but I hope she’ll forget that or go along with my cue of pretending we’re strangers, maintaining the fiction that keeps us both employed and unentangled.
I should be relieved that she didn’t get insistent or push me past saying the name of the identity I used at that time. Instead, I’m disappointed in a way that has nothing to do with business and everything to do with the part of me that hoped she might call me on the deception. Did I want her to force my hand and make me acknowledge what happened between us? I shouldn’t, but part of me does.
She won’t. She can’t. I tell myself she’s too smart for that. She surely needs this job more than she needs closure, and I hope that means she’s willing to pretend I’m nobody to keep it.
My computer chimes with an encrypted message from Andrei, and I force myself to focus on the screen instead of the woman working outside my door. Business first. Always business first.
The message is brief:Need to debrief. One hour.
I respond with a single word:Confirmed.
I settle back in my chair and close my eyes, trying to push away the memory of the way she said my alias like it was something precious. Like it belonged to her.
Mikhail Petrov.
The name I gave her because the truth was too dangerous, too complicated, and too likely to get us both killed if the wrong people found out. Four years later, I can admit it was also cowardice. I could have found a way to see her again and arranged things so that what happened between us didn’t have to end with sunrise and carefully neutral goodbyes.
I chose not to. I opted for the safer path that protected my empire and my sanity but left her with nothing but lies and a fake identity to remember me by.
Now she’s here, moving through my house like a ghost I conjured through sheer force of will, and I don’t know what that means for either of us.
Andrei arrives exactlyone hour later, as punctual as ever. He’s been my second for eight years and worked with me for fifteen, so he’s been around long enough to read my moods and know when to push and when to let things lie. Today, he takes one look at my face and pours himself coffee from the carafe on my side table before settling into the chair across from my desk.
“How was Zurich?”
“Productive. The shipping contracts are finalized, and the new routes through Hamburg will be operational by next month.”I slide a folder across the desk to him. “The details are there. What’s the situation here?”
Andrei’s expression grows serious. “We have a problem. Luca Sokolov is back in La Jolla.”
The name hits me like cold water, washing away any lingering thoughts of the woman outside my door. Luca is my former partner, former friend, and the man who would have been my brother if blood and betrayal hadn’t made us enemies instead. “You’re certain?”
He nods. “I have three separate confirmations. He was spotted at the harbor last Tuesday, and one of his men was seen near the Clearwater property on Thursday. We also intercepted communications suggesting he’s been recruiting locally.”
I absorb this information while staring out the window at the ocean. It’s been two years since Luca made any kind of move against my operations. That’s two years of careful peace I knew deep down wouldn’t last. He’s patient, I’ll give him that. Patient enough to let me think the war between us was over. “What’s his play?”
“Unknown, but he’s being careful about it. He’s issued no direct threats or made any obvious provocations. Whatever he’s planning, he doesn’t want us to see it coming.”
The smart move would be to strike first to eliminate the threat before it can fully materialize, but Luca isn’t just any enemy. He knows my methods, my weaknesses, and my blind spots. He helped create half of them back when we were partners building this empire together.
“Increase security at all properties. Rotate the guard schedules and bring in the team from Ensenada. I want eyes on everyapproach to the estate, and I want to know if Luca so much as breathes in our direction.”
Andrei nods, making notes on his phone. “What about the family businesses? Do we pull back from any of the more exposed operations?”
I consider this. The legitimate ventures that fund my public persona are carefully insulated from the criminal enterprise, but Luca knows where the lines blur. He could cause significant damage if he chose to target the right pressure points. “Not yet but prepare contingencies. If this escalates, I want to be able to shut down anything that could compromise the legitimate side.”
“Understood.” Andrei finishes his notes and closes his phone. “Anything else I should know about the situation here?”
