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Dima supervises the work, connects an encrypted line to the security annex, and tests the live feed on a secure laptop.

I watch from the doorway. “Is this for Alexei?”

“For him and you.”

“A medical room.”

“And a workstation.”

Cara and Elena arrive after lunch. We sit in the courtyard. Stone walls rise on all four sides, and cameras sit beneath the upper ledges. Potted evergreens, rosemary, winter pansies, and small citrus trees soften the corners.

Lidiya brings tea in a glass carafe, coffee for Cara, honey cakes, cheese pastries, thin cucumber sandwiches, and small almond cookies dusted with sugar.

Misha steps into the courtyard with his yellow car in one hand. Oksana follows him outside and closes the glass door behind them.

“You were playing,” I say.

Misha looks at the food. “I smelled jam.”

Cara laughs. “He may have a better security system than this house.”

Elena moves the cookie dish closer. “One.”

“Two,” Misha says.

“One now,” I tell him.

He comes to my side and takes a cookie. Before he can bite it, a flock of pigeons bursts from the chapel eaves. Misha looks up, his yellow car pressed against his chest while his other hand holds the cookie. We follow his gaze.

“Bird,” he says.

“Pigeons,” Cara says.

Oksana takes Misha inside.

Cara takes one cookie. “Rudenko told three captains that Misha makes Alexei look weak.”

My hand stops on the knife halfway through cutting the honey cake. I put it down and straighten.

“One of them disagrees,” Cara says. “He thinks having a son makes Alexei stronger because Misha is his heir.”

I grab my teacup and lift it toward the empty doorway like a weapon, as if Rudenko is standing there.

Cara catches my wrist. “I’m on your side, Doctor.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you holding tea like a weapon?”

“Your delivery needs work.” Elena hides a smile behind her tea.

Cara releases my wrist. “Next time, aim for Rudenko. He wears pale suits and stands too close to windows.”

I set the cup down. “They’re assigning value to my son.”

“They did the same to me,” Cara says, losing the smile. “The language changes. The appetite doesn’t.”

Elena rests her cup in its saucer. “Belov wants the captains to believe the Blacklist still gives them power. If he can turn you into a claim, kill Marina, breach the estate, and prepare papers for Misha, he makes Maksim look unable to protect his own house.”