36
Dmitri
Dmitri
My brother looks like hell. I can’t decide if that makes me feel guilty or satisfied.
Alexei sits across from me at the metal table, his arm in a sling, and his face pale from blood loss. Sasha’s at the head like she’s chairing a board meeting instead of mediating a family crisis that could end in gunfire.
Katya stands behind me, close enough I can feel her, but far enough to stay out of the line of fire.
Smart.
Alexei’s less likely to explode if she’s not right at my side.
“Start talking,” Sasha commands, folding her hands on the table. “And I mean everything. No edits or omissions.”
I look at my wounded brother and wonder where the hell to begin. How do you boil down a year of lies into something he’ll believe?
“Viktor’s been running his own operations,” I say flatly. “Off the books. Using FSB resources to build his network while selling intel on the side.”
Alexei leans back. “That’s impossible. He’s been feeding us information for years.”
I slam my palm against the table. “Feeding you exactly what he wanted you to hear.”
Alexei flinches. I don’t stop.
“When Katya refused to sleep with me, he turned her into a scapegoat.”
“Sleep with you?” Alexei snaps.
“Operation Nightfall wasn’t about bringing down this organization,” I growl. “It was about Viktor taking it once I was gone.”
He glances past me toward her. “And she refused?”
“She told him she doesn’t fuck targets. Period. That’s when he started planning her elimination.”
Sasha nods approvingly. “Continue.”
I spend the next twenty minutes laying out everything. Viktor’s corruption, Pavel’s real identity as Agent Romanov, the gallery bombing as an assassination attempt, how Katya came to and realized the fake marriage I created during her amnesia. Every manipulation, every lie, and every psychological game I played to keep her confused and dependent.
My brother’s face cycles through disbelief, then anger, then something approaching comprehension as I explain how Pavel tried to execute Katya and how Viktor’s network has been systematically eliminating anyone who could expose their corruption.
“The safe houses we hit contained enough evidence to prove Viktor’s been selling state secrets to foreign intelligence services,” I continue. “Financial records, communication logs, operational plans. Everything we need to demonstrate that Katya was refusing to participate in treason, not committing it.”
Alexei rubs his temple with his good hand. “So, when I showed up here this morning with a tactical team to eliminate what I thought was an enemy agent, I was actually trying to kill the woman who refused to betray you.”
“Pretty much.”
“And you shot me to protect someone who was protecting you all along.”
“The irony wasn’t lost on me.”
Alexei looks up at Katya, who’s been silent through the explanation. “You refused Viktor’s orders?”
“I gather intelligence, not sexual favors,” she replies.
“Even though sleeping with my brother would have made your mission easier?”
