The club was loud, dark, and full of men who thought they ran the world. Anya knew better. She'd been cleaning up their messes since she was sixteen.
She sat in a VIP booth, legs crossed, a glass of champagne dangling from her fingers, watching her brother's empire from the outside. Viktor thought he was untouchable. Alexei thought he'd escaped. They were both wrong.
Her phone buzzed. A text from her assistant
Kozlov is asking about the shipment. He's getting impatient.
Anya typed back with one thumb, barely looking at the screen.
Tell Kozlov patience is a virtue. Or he can find a new buyer.
She set the phone down and took a sip of champagne. Across the club, a man was staring at her. Tall, dark, dangerous-looking. One of Viktor's lieutenants, if she remembered correctly. He thought she didn't notice him watching.
She smiled at him over the rim of her glass. He looked away first.
Amateur.
The Volkov Mansion - Two Hours Later
Anya walked into her brother's study without knocking. Viktor looked up from his papers, his pale eyes narrowing.
"You could knock."
"I could." She dropped into the chair across from his desk, crossing her legs. "But then I might miss the look on your face when I interrupt."
Viktor set down his pen. "What do you want, Anya?"
"To talk about Alexei."
Something flickered in Viktor's eyes pain, maybe, or guilt. He masked it quickly. "Alexei made his choice."
"He made a choice you forced him into." Anya leaned forward. "You threatened him. You told him he was dead to you. What did you expect him to do? Stay and beg?"
Viktor's jaw tightened. "This doesn't concern you."
"Everything in this family concerns me." Her voice was sharp, cutting. "I've been running your finances for five years. I've cleaned up after your messes, smoothed over your feuds, kept the women you've wronged from going to the press. I know more about your empire than you do."
Viktor stared at her. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying it's time you started treating me like a partner! Not a secretary, not a sister. A partner!!!" She sat back, her eyes cold. "I know about Damian. I know about the boy you captured along with him, I know you've been playing games that are going to get us all killed."
Viktor was silent for a long moment. Then, slowly, he laughed.
"You've been holding out on me, little sister."
"I've been waiting," she said "For the right moment to stop holding out."
She stood, walking around his desk to stand beside him. She placed a hand on his shoulder almost gentle, almost sisterly.
"I'm not asking, Viktor. I'm telling. You let me in, or I walk. And if I walk, I take half your contacts with me."
Viktor's eyes blazed. "You wouldn't."
"Try me."
They stared at each other, two predators locked in a standoff. Then Viktor's shoulders sagged just slightly
"Fine," he said. "You're in. But you follow my orders."
Anya smiled. It was not a nice smile.
"We'll see about that."
The Warehouse - The Next Day
Anya stood in the shadows, watching Jace Carter through the two-way glass. The boy was chained to a chair, hollow-eyed, barely moving. He looked half-dead.
Beside her, Viktor's head of security a brute named Kozlov shifted uncomfortably.
"The boss said not to let anyone near him," Kozlov muttered.
"I'm not anyone." Anya didn't look at him. "I'm his sister. And I'm re-evaluating this operation."
She turned to face Kozlov, her eyes cold. "Tell me about the boy. Everything. From the beginning."
Kozlov hesitated, then began to talk.
Anya listened. She learned about the debt, the contract, the gala. She learned about Luca's betrayal and Damian's surrender. She learned about the white room where her brother was keeping Damian, and the recordings playing on a loop.
When Kozlov finished, Anya was silent for a long moment.
"Your boss is an idiot," she said finally.
Kozlov blinked. "Ma'am?"
"He's obsessed with Damian. He's been obsessed for years. And now he's throwing away everything resources, alliances, his own brother for revenge that won't satisfy him." She shook her head. "Someone needs to clean up this mess."
She walked toward the door, then paused.
"Tell Viktor I'm taking over the boy's care. Food, water, medical attention. I want him alive when this is over."
Kozlov hesitated. "The boss said....."
"The boss is making a mistake." Anya's voice was steel. "I'm here to make sure it doesn't cost us everything. Now get out of my way."
She walked out, leaving Kozlov staring after her.
That Night - Anya's Apartment
Anya sat alone on her balcony, looking out at the Moscow skyline. A glass of wine in her hand, her phone on the table beside her.
She should call Alexei. Warn him. Tell him Viktor was still watching.
But Alexei had chosen to leave. He'd chosen Misha over family. And some part of Anya the part that had been passed over, overlooked, dismissed couldn't forgive him for it.
She picked up her phone. Scrolled to Alexei's number. Stared at it.
Then she set the phone down and took a long sip of wine.
Not tonight and maybe not ever.
She had her own plans now. Plans that didn't involve saving brothers who didn't want to be saved.