Page 163 of The Enforcer’s Pawn

Maksim speaks to me. “You have your answer.”

I look at Morozov and feel the old need for blood rise again. Cara’s scarf flashes in my mind. Mikhail’s serious face follows it.

“I have enough,” I say, stepping back from the table.

Dima’s mouth moves almost into a smile.

Maksim nods toward the stairs. “Then go marry her.”

Morozov lifts his head.

Maksim turns back to him. “I’ll deal with you myself. By morning, you’ll wish you had died at Vostok Meridian.”

40

EPILOGUE

CARA

The next night arrives carrying candlelight, flowers, and a kind of hope I almost don’t trust.

The estate chapel is old, warm, and small enough to feel private.

Candles burn before the icons, and gold leaf reflects the light above painted saints. The narrow windows hold back the snow outside.

Lidiya has placed white flowers along the front rail to soften the stone. Mrs. Wentworth stands near the back with the household staff arranged behind her in a neat, silent line, each of them dressed in black and gray, ready for the ceremony to begin.

Kathryn stands beside me. She has Mikhail’s hand in hers, and Mikhail wears a dark little suit with one button crooked. He keeps looking at Dmitri, then at me, then at the small table Leonid has set near the chapel doors.

“What is that?” Mikhail whispers, pointing.

Leonid looks up from the documents and adjusts his glasses. “That is paperwork.”

Mikhail frowns. “For kissing?”

Kathryn coughs into her hand.

Yuri grins from the second row. Kirill, beside him, keeps a straight face and fails around the eyes. Sergei stands near the chapel entrance with his hands folded in front of him, watching every door and window.

A priest waits beside Leonid, black cassock visible beneath his coat. A state representative stands on the other side with the seal case open and a pen placed across the registration book. Church first, then paper. Both real.

Elena stands near the front, pale green dress under a cream shawl, her baby asleep against Lidiya’s shoulder behind her. She reaches for my hand when I pass.

“You look beautiful,” Elena says softly, squeezing my fingers.

I look down at the simple dress Mrs. Wentworth found for me, ivory wool, long sleeves, fitted waist, nothing grand enough for a fairy tale and everything I can survive wearing. “I look like I slept for three hours.”

Elena’s mouth curves. “That too.”

Dmitri waits at the front of the chapel.

Black suit. White shirt. No tie. One bruise near his jaw, one cut across his knuckles, and eyes that hold mine once I start walking toward him. He doesn't smile. That would almost feel wrong tonight in this place.

Mikhail tugs free from Kathryn halfway down the aisle and runs to him.

Dmitri crouches at once. “Problem?”

Mikhail pulls the red car from his pocket and presses it into Dmitri’s hand. “For luck.”