Chapter 2 — The Woman Who Sent the Warning
At 3:17 a.m., Ava’s encrypted inbox received a second message.
Roman was standing behind her when it arrived.
She felt him before she saw him.
The air always changed around him.
The message contained only one sentence.
Ask him what happened to Elena.
Ava read it twice.
Roman’s expression did not move, but something in his eyes went cold enough to frighten her.
“Who is Elena?” she asked.
“No one.”
“That means someone.”
He reached for the laptop.
Ava snapped it shut.
His gaze dropped to her hand.
“You are very brave for a woman surrounded by armed men.”
“No,” she said. “I’m very angry.”
For a long moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Roman said, “Elena was my sister.”
Ava stopped breathing.
“She died eight years ago,” he continued. “Car bomb.”
The words landed between them like another explosion.
Ava slowly opened the laptop again.
“The same method.”
Roman nodded once.
“Who killed her?”
“My father’s enemies. That was the official answer.”
“And the unofficial answer?”
His jaw tightened.
“I never believed it.”
Before Ava could respond, the suite door opened.
An older woman entered, escorted by two guards.
She wore a black coat, pearl earrings, and the expression of someone who had survived too many funerals.
Roman’s voice dropped.
“Mother.”
The woman looked at Ava first.
Then at Roman.
“She saved your life?”
Roman said nothing.
His mother smiled sadly.
“Then she has already done more for you than most of the men in this room.”
Ava rose slowly.
“You sent me the warning.”
The woman did not deny it.
Roman turned toward her.
“Why?”
His mother’s face trembled for half a second before hardening again.
“Because the man who killed Elena tried to kill you tonight.”
Roman’s hands curled at his sides.
“Who?”
His mother looked toward the closed door.
Then she whispered a name Ava had heard in Roman’s calls.
“Mallory.”
Roman’s closest adviser.
May you like
His right hand.
His brother in everything but blood.
