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Kaz hated me. Leon wanted power.

Finding the mole and the Ghost—and neutralizing both—had become crucial.

But perhaps in different ways. I wasn’t sure how to deal with the Ghost yet, since she was clearly a victim with a vendetta.

And I wasn’t even sure you could kill a ghost.

In the distance, I spotted Maks, my head of security, marching toward me. Keira noticed him too, stepping back when he reached us to give him room to brief me.

In a low voice, he said, “Sir, we’ve received a gift meant for your eyes only.”

I groaned. “It’s not another head, is it?”

“Do you have a problem with heads showing up at your doorstep?” Keira joked.

Unfortunately… these days?

Yes.

Body parts more than heads.

“No, it’s not a head…” Maks glanced at Keira. “Perhaps we should take this somewhere more private.”

I gave Keira an apologetic look.

“By all means.” She waved us off.

Maks and I walked deeper into the gardens, away from the guests.

“It’s a DVD,” he said.

“A DVD?” My eyebrows drew together. “Do we even have a player for that?”

“Nika is hunting one down now, sir.” Maks rolled his shoulders back. “She seems to think she can find one.”

“Are we worried it’s a bomb or some other kind of device?”

“Dimitri is looking into that now.”

I nodded. “All right, take me to them. If it was delivered during this awful party, it’s either important or an excuse to get away from everyone.”

Maks and I headed back through the flower maze when a high-pitched squeal reached us, followed by a woman’s voice. “Oh, there you are. I have been looking all over for you.”

“What an honor.” Keira’s low voice drifted toward us, utterly unamused.

As we cleared the hedge, we found Keira surrounded by a flock of women, two of them immediately recognizable: Polina Belova and Alina Orlova.

Why Polina was with Alina was anyone’s guess. She didn’t usually associate with that type of woman.

Polina was married to Nikolai Volkov of the Chicago branch of the Russian mafia, and theirs had been a beautiful, dramatic love story.

And overall, I liked both Niko and Polina.

After Xeniya threatened to cut off Polina’s hands and feed me her fingers, the two women had actually become friends. Apparently, Polina had only flirted with me to make Niko jealous.

Something I deeply understood.

And Xeniya, reasonable at her core—except when it came to me—had easily forgiven Polina.