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“See? Nothing to worry about,” Zakhar continues. His grin is smug and wide. “But we do need to talk about this woman. How was it? Worth what’s had your cock in a knot for so long?”

The rage at his question is swift, and I’m moving before I understand what I’m doing. The gun is under his chin, my finger on the trigger. Zakhar stills, eyes widening. The silence and tension in the car are thick, loud.

“Do not test me, brother,” I hiss, uncaring what I’m revealing. “And do not speak of her that way to me again.”

He holds my stare, but there is no fear, only surprise before realization and calculation. “She’s gotten under your skin, Ilya,” he cautions, all humor gone. “Do not allow this.”

He’s right, but I can’t seem to push her out. I lower the gun, sitting back and putting it away.

I won’t apologize, and he doesn’t expect me to, but I see him and Oleg share a knowing look out of the corner of my eye.

Fuck, now they’re going to question every fucking move I make.

If I didn’t want to kill this woman before, I do now. She’s making me react. Making me reckless.

“I want her fucking found, Zakhar. No more excuses. We throw everything we have. She got past every security measure we have, and not one of our fucking men caught it. And I want to know the drugs she used on me and the escort. That’s not something I’ve heard of before.”

“I’ve already had the woman’s body taken to our doctor, and they’ll do the tests,” Zakhar assures me. “Whatever it is, we’ll find out.”

“And I’ve already put out feelers to see if anyone knows what it might be or has heard about it,” Oleg added. He turns his head to look at me, the green of his eyes glittering in the passing lights of the city. “There can’t be that many people out there that use drugs to subdue their victims but keep them fully conscious and aware.”

“The doctor will meet us at the house to take blood samples from you too,” Zakhar mutters, looking at his phone. “He said we don’t have a lot of time before it leaves your system, so he wants it ASAP.”

I nod. Finally, something is going to go right. I’m going to find this woman.

“What do you want us to do when we find her?”

I glance at my brother. “Bring her to me. She’s not to be harmed in any way.” That pleasure is going to be saved for me.

My blood thrums at the thought of having her at my mercy. She’s had the upper hand too many times.

A Pakhan taken down by a nameless woman? A ghost that can’t be found even with some of the best hackers and connections in the world? Unthinkable.

Yet here I am. It will be the last time; I’ll see to it.

“I had the men search for her on the security feed, and we found her, but she was keeping to the shadows. We only get a small glimpse of her when she goes behind the curtain to the door, then the feed jams. She knew where the cameras were.” Oleg’s implication is clear.

“You think she went there to see him? What? She was so horny she wanted him to fuck her before she left?” Zakhar scoffs.

Oleg shrugs then looks at me. “She’s made it no secret that she finds you attractive? Maybe she heard you were going to be there and saw her opportunity.”

Something tells me there’s some truth to that, but not fully. Her words echo in my head.

“Let me be clear with you, Romanov. You’re going to try and find me, we both know that, but you won’t. Just know that I’ll be thinking of you.”

It’s what she said to Tiffany that really makes me edgy.

“He wants me, not you, so I suggest when you’re able to move, you move the hell along. Touch him again, and next time, I’ll kill you. I don’t allow anyone to touch what’s mine, and that man, he’s mine.”

Hers? She considers me hers after only three interactions?

And why the fuck does that excite me? My cock hardens, and it takes all my self-control not to allow that desire to set in fully.

Whatever this woman is doing to my head, I need it to fucking stop. I’m not hers, and the only thing she’s going to be to me is a conquest. She started this game, but I’ll be the one to finish it.

“Whoever she is, she’s good, and she’s gotten past us a few times now, and I don’t fucking like it,” Oleg warns. “We’re fucking meticulous about making sure blueprints and shit about our businesses aren’t in public record, only the doctored ones. So how did she know where the hidden cameras would be to avoid?”

“You think she’s a professional?” Zakhar asks, voice tight.