e only luxury hotel for miles seemed to sh

te darkness, but inside the suite, designer lamps cast an artificial glow on a face sculpted from stone and fury. He had discarded his suit

re had fled down that dark hallway with her daughter in her

personal shadow, entered the room. The former Russian military man, built li

m. He walked to the glass table in the center and dropped the folder with a solid thud. It

ice, locked onto the document. He approached slowly,

ore. Photographs of the girl-his little girl-playing in a public park with rusty swings. Bank records. O

s, his mind processing the numbers. Sienna

live like this? If her goal was my money, if she was the classic gold digger my sec

bout human psychology; it was to deliver facts. An

te birth certificate. His eyes scanned the lines with l

name: Mi

May 14. Mother:

. An insultin

ber liquid splashing onto the expensive carpet made Yuri step forward, but Nikolai raised a bloodied hand to st

ased from the life of h

I thought. She knew that if she brought me a newborn, I would have doubts. I would demand proof. I would insist on full control. But to wait four years... To wait until the girl grew up, unt

wrapped his bleeding hand, and looked at Y

ady." "We're pay

silence of a modest neighborhood on the outskirts of Oak Creek. The contrast between the multimi

. Nikolai climbed out before the driver could open the door for him. The freezing dawn air hit his face but did nothing to cool the r

t yard. The mere sight of the toy sent a sharp, physical pain through his chest. Four years o

t and brought three sharp, commanding knocks against the t

Then came the clumsy sound o

as a ghost, with dark circles under her brown eyes, her hair pulled into a messy bun. She wore a worn cotton robe. A

ter. His Italian leather boot wedged into the t

n octave, soft but lethally dangerous. Or I'll have my me

she fumbled with the chain. Nikolai pushed the door open and strode

to the peeling walls, and folded blankets sat on a secondhand sofa. Nikolai scruti

ound herself. Her eyes darted frantically between him and

oat with his left hand and pulled out the crumpled birth certificate, throwing it at

idn't pick it up. She lifted her chin, trying

ila's father doesn't

een them. He didn't touch her, but he loomed over her, his massive fr

ou took four years of her life from me!" "What was your master plan, damn it?" "Hide until you were desperate?" "Wait unt

sically. Her eyes flew wide, confusion a

ning with a white-hot maternal fury. "What the hell are y

her. "You disappeared the same day you emptied your bank account!" "You took

r cheeks. The pain from five years ago exploded in her chest. "I tried to tell you!" "When I foun

her with disgust a

call meant for me if it's important." "I

cretary made it very clear!" "Elena called me." "She told me you were aware of my 'pathetic attempt at pregnancy' and that if I came near you, your lawyer

-hung in the air between them like a toxin. For a fraction of a second, doubt clouded his calculating mind. The

ting a woman's tears. He trusted facts. And the

es out my orders; she doesn't invent them." "I never received a single message from you, and I certainly never ordered anyone to

ice tearing. "You're a ruthless monst

a glacial whisper that froze the blood in her veins. "Cry all you want, Sienna.

coat with methodical precision. His gaze swept pa

take what be

. She stumbled into his pa

ake her!" "Over

t her, his blue eyes

ou have one hour before my legal team and I sho