Snow fell like ash over Moscow's night skyline. Natalia Ivan stood at the window of her office on the thirty-second floor, the lights of her security agency flickering behind her. A month had passed since Helsinki tragic incident, since fire and loss, and she had built walls around her heart as thick as the glass before her.
Her reflection stared back, dark hair tied in a severe knot, eyes rimmed with exhaustion. The world believed she was dead. That's how she wanted it to be. The fewer people who knew "Natalia Ivan" still existed, the longer she could hunt in peace and fulfill her plan .
Her phone vibrated once.
Unknown number: The Bratva are moving tonight. Dock 73. Bring the flash drive.
Her pulse quickened. No one was supposed to know about the flash drive. The tiny flash of metal she had risked everything for sat hidden in the lining of her coat, a weapon powerful enough to destroy empires and make them tremble and surrender.
She turned to the only other person in the room, Alexei, her head of intelligence and the closest thing she had to family for as long as she can remember.His sharp blue eyes studied her from behind his desk.
"Get the car," she ordered. "We're going for a drive ."
The docks reeked of diesel, stagnant water and frozen seaweed. Under the pale glow of sodium lamps, men loaded crates into different trucks marked with false company logos. Natalia crouched behind a stack of shipping containers, her camera lens trained on the convoy. Every instinct told her this wasn't a simple smuggling run, the Bratva were shifting assets.
"Do you see it?" Alexei whispered through the earpiece.
"Yes. They're transporting weapons, and they are military-grade weapons."
"Then we need backup."
"No," she said sharply. "We need proof, as much proof as we can get."
She adjusted the focus of her camera lens and froze. A tall figure stepped from the shadows, issuing orders with quiet authority. His coat collar hid most of his face, but the gait, the tilt of his head….. Everything about him seemed so familiar.
Her heart stopped.
Dimitri.
He was alive.
For a second, everything blurred, the hiss of the harbor, the sting of wind on her cheeks, as the memory of his voice whispering "run" as they were both fighting for their lives made everything around feel stiff . She had buried him deep in her mind to survive. Now he stood thirty meters away, commanding the same men she swore to destroy, the same men who ruined everything and turned her world upside down.
Alexei voice crackled. "Natalia, what's happening?"
She didn't answer. She was already moving.
She followed Dimitri through a maze of containers until the noise of the docks faded behind them. He stopped near a small warehouse, speaking into his phone. She heard fragments: "…shipment… father's allies… burn and destroy everything if necessary."
When he ended the call, she stepped out from the shadows, gun raised, pointing directly at him .
"Turn around."
He did exactly as she ordered, slowly. His expression flickered between disbelief and relief. "Natalia."
"Don't." Her voice trembled. "I saw you die."
He took a step closer. "I had to disappear."
"Whose orders?" she demanded. "Yours or your father's?"
The corner of his mouth lifted. "I don't take orders from dead people ."
She wanted to shoot him just to silence that voice, but her finger wouldn't move. The sight of him alive, scarred, and impossibly real ripped open every wound she'd sealed shut.
"You lied to me," she said.
"I saved you."
"You destroyed everything."
He reached for her wrist. "And yet, here you are ."
For a heartbeat, the world narrowed to his touch. Then headlights swept across the pier, two cars screeching toward them. Dimitri cursed and pulled her behind a crate.
"Who are they?" she hissed.
"Not mine," he said. "They're looking for you."
Bullets shattered the air. They ducked, sprinted toward the warehouse door. Inside, the space was a cathedral of rusted steel and shadows. Natalia reloaded, pulse racing.
"Why are they after me?" she demanded.
"Because of what's on that drive," he said. "And because whoever truly killed your father just declared war on both of us."
The attackers burst through the doorway. Dimitri shoved her behind a stack of barrels, returning fire with precise bursts. She covered his flank, each shot echoing through the cavernous hall. Shell casings clinked against the concrete like coins in a cathedral.
When the gunfire ceased, smoke and silence filled the air. Three men lay dead; one crawled toward the exit. Dmitri kicked the gun away and grabbed him by the collar.
"Who sent you?" he growled.
The man spat blood. "Volkov senior is gone. There's a new council now. They want the girl."
"Why?"
"She has the codes that they need."
Before Dimitri could press further, the man's chest exploded, sniper shot. Natalia ducked instinctively as glass shattered from above.
"Sniper!" she shouted.
Dimitri yanked her down behind the barrels. "They tracked the signal. We have to leave here right now."
"How?"
"Follow me."
They raced through the rear exit, sliding over ice and snow toward the docks. The air reeked of gunpowder and salt. Dimitri grabbed her hand as another bullet whined past. Their hands fit as if fate mocked them both.
A boat waited, a sleek, unmarked vessel moored in the shadows. He pushed her aboard, started the engine, and sped into the black water. Behind them, the warehouse erupted in flame.
For several minutes, neither of them spoke. The only sound was the roar of the motor and the crash of waves against the hull. Finally, Natalia said, "You should have told me you were alive."
"I couldn't. Anyone close to me becomes a target."
"I was already a target."
He looked at her then, really looked and she saw exhaustion, guilt, and something deeper beneath his hard exterior. "I never stopped looking for you."
"Liar."
He gave a faint smile. "You're right. I tried to forget you first."
Her chest tightened. "You think saying things like that makes this better?"
"No. But it makes it honest."
The words hung between them like frost in the air. The city lights glimmered faintly in the distance, reflected in the ice-choked water. She looked away, but she could still feel his eyes on her,steady, unyielding.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"To the one place they won't expect," he said. "Home."
She frowned. "Moscow?"
He nodded. "If we want answers, we start where it all began."
The skyline of Moscow appeared at dawn, spires and smoke rising through the frost. As the boat cut through the river ice, Natalia felt the weight of the city pressing against her chest. Every street here carried a memory both good and bad, the laughter, betrayal, blood.
They docked near an abandoned textile mill. Dimitri led her inside, through corridors lined with forgotten machinery.
"This was my mother's factory," he said quietly. "Before my father took it from her ."
Natalia traced a hand along the rusted wall. "Why bring me here?"
"Because the people who murdered your father used this place once. It's more than just a history, it's a message."
A faint click echoed behind them. She turned sharply, but it was too late. A red laser dot is pointing on Dimitri's chest.
"Don't move," came a woman's voice from the shadows.
Natalia's stomach dropped. She knew that voice.
"Yelena?" she whispered.
A tall woman stepped forward, gun steady. "Hello, dear sister?