Page 49

Cara hangs her coat over a chair. “Try introducing yourself before demolition.”

Mikhail points one truck at Misha. “I’m Mikhail.”

“Misha,” my son says, keeping his body between the truck and the tower.

Elena passes Lev to Lidiya and removes her gloves. “They’ll negotiate.”

“Or establish borders,” Cara says, sitting beside me on the rug.

“Good morning,” I say.

Elena smiles warmly, and Cara looks up at me. “Good morning to you, too.”

“Are you visiting, or did someone send you to talk to me?” It’s easier than asking why they came.

“Maksim thought you might want to speak to women who have already been where you are,” Elena says.

“No one has been where I am.”

Her gaze stays steady. “That’s what I said.”

Mrs. Wentworth brings coffee, tea, and a plate of pastries nobody requested. Sergei places the diaper bag and jackets on a chair, then waits near the corridor. Elena sits in a chair across from us, while Cara stays beside me on the floor.

“I know your father’s debt is forged,” Elena says, wrapping both hands around her cup. “The problem is that it was built around real filings.”

“Elena’s a lawyer,” Cara says, looking up from the boys. “Her father used real family papers to build a false claim against her.” She taps on Mikhail’s hand when he tries to remove a red block from a city tower.

I look at Elena again, this time with considerably more respect.

“I’ve heard the story.”

“You heard it from men who use words like leverage and exposure.” She sets the cup down. “My father used family papers, nominee companies, and old debts to put my name on the Blacklist. On paper, I became something another man could claim.”

I fold my arms. “And you married the man who claimed you.”

Elena’s eyes sharpen, though her voice stays even. “I married the man who learned the paper didn’t give him the right to decide for me.”

Across the rug, Mikhail adds two blocks to the tower Misha rebuilt. Misha moves one because it blocks the doorway.

Cara watches them. “My brother put me on the list. Once I was brought here, I tried to escape because I had a son to protect and didn’t trust Dmitri with the truth.”

My attention shifts to Mikhail.

Mikhail moves with the confidence of a child who expects the world to make space for him. When the tower leans, he studies it for a moment, gives it one thoughtful push, and sends the whole thing across the rug.

Misha stares at the wreckage.

Mikhail grins. “Now we make it bigger.”

Cara closes her eyes briefly. “Dmitri considers that problem-solving.”

Elena looks toward Cara. “She’s a cybersecurity specialist. Her brother stole Volkov money, sold our routes to Morozov, then put Cara on the Blacklist to keep himself safe.”

Cara’s mouth twists, and I catch the wound beneath the expression.

“Cara fought beside Dmitri to destroy the claim,” Elena continues. “She stayed at the front of the fight and made every choice for herself.”

I pick up a block near my knee. “You still gave up control.”