Page 74 of His Contract Queen

The boy nods quickly, relief washing across his face so openly, he looks close to passing out because of it. Without another word, he darts away from us. His shoes squeak faintly against thepolished floor as he rushes toward the front doors, still clutching his jacket tight around himself. For a moment he fumbles with the heavy iron handles, struggling to pull them open with his shaking hands.

When the doors finally give, cold night air spills into the entryway. He slips outside and disappears into the darkness, pulling them shut behind him.

I stand there listening as a few seconds pass. The muted slam of a car door carries faintly through the walls, following the engine humming as the sound fades slowly when the vehicle pulls away and down the drive.

Only when the hum of it disappears entirely do I look back at Sasha. “What did he say when he showed up at your gates?”

He shrugs slightly, folding his arms across his chest.

“That he had a letter to deliver to you. I don’t know how he got my address, but the moment I read the contents of it…” His gaze flicks briefly to the paper still clutched in my hand. “I knew who it was from.”

The paper is slightly creased from where my grip is holding onto it so tightly. My thumb moves slowly across the paper, tracing the familiar loops of Katerina’s handwriting. It feels strange how something so simple can steady the storm that’s been raging inside my head for days now.

After a moment of silence, Sasha speaks again.

“An underground tunnel shouldn’t be difficult to navigate.” His tone is calm, analytical the way it always is when he’s mapping out battle strategies. “Acquiring blueprints of the property fromthe BTI won’t be difficult, either. I have a contact who used to work at the agency and still has their credentials.”

My eyes lift from the letter.

For a moment, we simply stare at each other.

Bringing me Katerina’s letter is one thing. That could easily be explained away as courtesy. A practical gesture between members of the Pact who may not like each other but still recognize when information must reach the correct hands. Passing along a message meant for me would not be stepping out of line.

But this is… something else entirely.

Volunteering his time, offering his contacts,helping me?Sasha Sokolov does notdofavors for anyone. There is always an expectation, a debt waiting quietly in the background until the moment he decides it is time to come collect it.

He doesn’t give without taking.

I slowly roll my shoulders back, forcing some of the tension out of my posture as I meet his gaze head on.

“What do you want?” I ask.

His brow creases slightly. “What?”

“Your fee,” I clarify evenly. “For helping me. What do you want?”

Sasha exhales slowly through his nose. “Not everything has to be a transaction, Volkov.”

A bitter laugh escapes my throat before I can stop it. “That’s ironic coming from you.”

His expression tightens slightly, but he doesn’t snap back the way he usually would. Instead, he studies me. For a long moment he says nothing, his gaze moving across my face like he’s studying something beneath the surface, trying to confirm whatever it is he’s looking for.

“I almost lost Alina the same way,” he says after a moment.

My eyes widen slightly.

The admission hangs between us, unexpected with its heavy weight. Sasha is not a man who speaks freely about his personal life. None of us are. We function better because we maintain a level of distance from the things that will make us vulnerable. Weakness, real or perceived, is something we’ve all taken painstaking measures to hide.

Yet here he is, offering up a piece of his.

His jaw tightens, the muscles shifting beneath skin as he looks at me. “Locked away. Waiting for someone else to decide whether she lived or died… I know what it feels like being in your position.”

I don’t respond immediately.

I don’t know the full story of what happened the night Sasha and Nikolai went to the Morozov estate to retrieve Alina from her father. The details were never openly discussed. All I know is that it ended in blood and one less Morozov in this world.

It has never been a secret among the four of us that Nikolai favors her in a way that has been… peculiar. Alina had been at the Malyshko estate for less than a week before everything unfolded, and in that short amount of time, she had somehow managed to charm him.