Chapter Seventy-Seven

Chapter Seventy-Seven
One of the armed guards immediately locked onto Anika.

His right forearm was wrapped in fresh bandages, blood already bleeding through the white gauze.
Recognition flashed across his face.

"You're the bitch who killed Viktor." he growled.
Anika never looked away from him.
"He made his choice."
The guard surged forward.
"You—"

"Enough."
Dmitri's voice was quiet.

The guard stopped as if he'd hit a wall.
"But—"

"I said enough."
The room fell still.

Dmitri stepped further inside, closing the distance with measured strides before stopping several feet from Anika. His expression never changed.
Without taking his eyes off her, he spoke to the guards.

"Wait outside."
The bandaged man hesitated.
"Sir—"
"If I require your assistance..."
Dmitri's gaze shifted toward him.
"...you'll know."
The guard swallowed whatever argument he'd intended to make.
"Yes, sir."

The men filed out one by one.
The heavy door closed.
Locks slid into place.
Silence.
Dmitri clasped his hands behind his back.
Neither he nor Anika spoke.
Lizzy leaned against the wall, watching the exchange unfold.

Finally, Dmitri's eyes drifted toward the ventilation grate.
The camera.
The drain.
The blind spot.
Finally, back to Anika.

"You've been busy."
"We don't enjoy being idle."
"No."
His eyes lingered on the floor.
"You've already started planning your escape."
"We started before we walked through the door."
A flicker.
Approval?
Perhaps.

"You counted."
Anika tilted her head.
"So did you."
Another silence.
"You knew we'd count."
"I assumed."
"You knew we'd test the room."
"I hoped."
"You wanted us thinking."
"I wanted to see if you would."
Anika folded her arms.
"And?"
"You didn't disappoint me."
She gave a humorless smile.
"Congratulations."

Another long silence stretched between them.
Then Anika asked the question that had been sitting in the center of the room since he'd entered.

"Why are we still alive?"
Dmitri answered immediately.
"Because killing you would accomplish nothing."
"Kidnapping us accomplished something?"
"We'll see."
"You've already decided."
"No."
"You don't strike me as someone who improvises."
"I don't."
"So this was planned."
"Yes."
She nodded once.
"I thought so."

Lizzy remained perfectly still.
Neither of them interrupted.
Anika studied Dmitri carefully.

"You know more about me than most strangers should."
"I do."
"Background investigation?"
"Among other things."
"Security reports."
"Yes."
"Financials."
"Yes."
She watched for the smallest reaction.

"Or were you simply standing behind Nikolai every time he made a decision?"
For the first time...
Dmitri smiled.
It was faint.
Gone almost before it appeared.
"It was my responsibility."
"To babysit him?"
"To understand him."

Anika remained silent.
Dmitri continued.
"I knew where he traveled. I knew who he trusted. I knew which meetings he canceled. I knew when his priorities changed. And eventually..."
His eyes met hers.
"...I knew why."

The room grew quiet again.
Anika took one slow step forward.
"So tell me."
"What?"
"What changed."

Dmitri looked at her for several seconds.
"You ignored him."
She blinked.
"The phone calls."
He watched her carefully.
"Most people answer."
"I don't answer blocked numbers."
"I know."
"You kept calling."
"Nikolai kept calling."
"Ten missed calls."
She raised an eyebrow.
"You remember."
"I read the report."

She nodded slowly. "And then?"
"The motorcycle. The SUVs. Our men followed you home…"
"They weren't subtle."
"They weren't trying to be. They wanted your attention."
"They had it. They also had Nyx and Ares staring holes through them."
Despite herself...
Anika smiled.
"They were more concerned about the glock."
"They should have been."

Another pause.
"Elias."
She said the name quietly.
Dmitri's expression didn't change.
"He was one of our best."
"No."
The word came immediately.
"He was one of yours."
Dmitri waited.
"My best would've found the second camera."
A ghost of amusement crossed his face.

"I told Nikolai the same thing."
"You did?"
"He didn't appreciate the criticism."
"I imagine he doesn't."
"He rarely enjoys being told he's wrong."
"But he listens."
"When the person saying it has earned the right."

Anika looked at him thoughtfully.
"So you watched all of it… You watched every move."
"I watched Nikolai."
Not you.
The distinction hung between them.
"The woman living alone in the mountains wasn't important." He spoke almost absently. "Until she became important to him."

Anika looked away for the first time.
"He became..." Dmitri searched briefly for the right word. "...curious."
She laughed softly.
"Curious."
"Then determined."

She remembered the gas station.
The diner.
The countless drives north.
"He could've sent anyone."
"He did."
"And they all failed."
"Yes."
"So eventually..."
"He stopped sending messengers."

Their eyes met again.
Dmitri nodded once.
"He decided to make the drive himself."
Silence.

Then quietly...
"You changed his schedule before you changed his heart."

The words settled over the room.
Neither woman spoke.
Neither needed to.
Dmitri had just confirmed something Anika had never truly considered.
Long before she'd realized Nikolai was falling for her...
Someone else already had.
Not emotionally.
Professionally.
He'd watched it happen one canceled meeting...
One unnecessary trip...
One excuse at a time.

Anika studied him.
"And what changed for you?"
"I became interested."
"In me?"
"In why."
He answered without hesitation.
"No one had ever forced Nikolai to adapt… You did."

Another silence.
Then Anika asked the question she'd been circling since he'd walked into the room.
"This isn't about me."
"No."
"It isn't even about Nikolai."
His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly.
"No."
"So what is it about?"

Dmitri looked past her for a long moment.
When he finally spoke...
His voice had changed.
Quieter.
Older.
"My birthright."
The word echoed inside the concrete room.
Lizzy frowned.
Anika didn't move.
"Birthright…?"

Dmitri nodded once.
"A great many things were decided before either of us were born."
"And you've spent your life correcting them?"
"I've spent my life surviving them."

She watched him carefully.
"You believe Nikolai took something from you."
"I believe..."
He stopped.
For the first time since entering the room...
He hesitated.
His gaze drifted toward the floor.
"History remembers the wrong..."
Silence.
His jaw flexed.
"...son."

The word barely rose above a whisper.
He knew it the instant he'd said it.
So did Anika.
Neither acknowledged it.

Dmitri straightened his suit jacket.
"I've said enough."
He turned toward the door.
His hand settled on the handle.

Without looking back, he said quietly,
"For what it's worth..."
"I never wanted this war to involve you."

The locks disengaged.
The door opened.
Closed.
Silence reclaimed the room.

Lizzy waited until the footsteps faded.
Then she looked at Anika.
"...Wrong son?"

Anika stared at the steel door.
Her mind replayed every word.
Every hesitation.
Every expression.
"No."
Lizzy frowned.
"No?"
"I don't think that's the right question."
"What is?"
Anika looked toward the camera.
"I think the question is..."

She listened.
One pair of footsteps.
Another.
A pause.
Shift change.
Exactly as before.

"...what happened before Nikolai ever became Pakhan?"
A slow smile touched her lips.
"They're creatures of habit."
Lizzy blinked.
"You were listening to the guards?"
"I was listening to everything."

She looked toward the door one last time.
"Whatever Dmitri thinks was stolen from him..."
Her eyes hardened.
"...it started long before either of us."