The hallway outside the meeting room was quieter than it should have been.
Too quiet.
Natalia caught it first, the kind of stillness that was not emptiness, but anticipation. The walls felt like they were listening, watching.
Dimitri noticed a beat later.
"Someone is near," he murmured, his arm brushing hers as they walked. "Don't react."
They moved in sync without speaking, her steps soft and controlled, his presence calm on the surface but coiled underneath like a predator scenting danger.
The Volkov building's top floor was usually bustling with trusted enforcers, lieutenants, runners. But now… silence. Even the air felt different.
Natalia's heart beat once, hard.
Dimitri's fingers brushed the back of her hand, a small, grounding gesture.
Then a voice drifted down the hall.
"Well, well."
Smooth, deep, almost amused.
"Look who Moscow dragged back."
Dimitri stopped, Natalia did too.
From the shadows stepped a man who shared Dimitri's eyes but none of his restraint.
