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Anika seized the wheelchair handles and spun her sister away from the doors. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“He has Maksim because of me.” Alina gripped the arms when the chair struck the wall. “Trading myself stops him from cutting pieces off your Pakhan.”

I leaned close enough to force her attention onto me. “If Sokolov removes a fingernail, I’ll keep him alive until Maksim grows a new one. I’m tempted enough already, I don’t need your help.”

“He’ll kill you and keep Maksim.” Roman removed the elevator key and slipped it into his pocket. “Your plan hands him everything.”

Alina sagged, but her fingers still tried to tear through the vinyl arms. “Then give me a better one.”

Anika pulled off her silver ring and pressed it into my palm. “He wants Alina. We give him Alina.” Her smile was full of teeth. “I haven’t pretended to be my sister in years, but I’m sure I can pull it off.

I didn’t care for the look in her eyes, or the assured way she said it, like it was already a done deal. “No.” I stepped between her and the wheelchair. “I’m already retrieving one person. I’m not sending my darling inside as a matching gift.”

Her chin came up, taking any hope that she might listen to reason with it. “He won’t see me. He’ll see the woman he expects.”

Alina’s fingers clamped around the chair arms. “Absolutely fucking not.”

Anika ignored us. “He won’t see the difference. He’s too arrogant to even think of this as a possibility”

Roman looked between the twins and down at his tablet, already rearranging the operation. That left me as the only reasonable man in the hallway. A terrible development on any day, but especially now.

“I’ve spent this entire nightmare being pushed into whatever role someone else needed.” Anika’s anger finally showed up in full glory, from her fisted hands to the color in her cheeks, she told us all with a look where we could put our opinions on the subject. “You made me wear your face at the masquerade, and it’s been downhill since. I choose this for myself. To end this.”

Several objections, most of them littered with profanity, pressed against my throat. I swallowed the lot of them. “Tell us the plan so I can decide how much I hate it.” I held up a hand. “To be clear, I won’t stop you, but I will hate letting it happen with every cell in my body.”

Anika nodded, seemingly satisfied. “I walk in with the account access and demand Maksim.” She took Roman’s tablet. “Sokolov wastes time proving he’s in control while you enter the building.”

“He’ll search you.” Roman had already begun working through the practical problems, which I appreciated. “You can’t carry a weapon, and a transmitter will need to make it through so we don’t lose you.”

“You’re creative men. Figure it out.” She said it with such determination I fell even more in love with her.

This woman was incredible, and she didn’t even seem to know it.

Alina shook her head. “He’ll test you, Anika. He’ll ask questions to confirm it’s me. One wrong answer and he’ll know.”

“Then teach me.” Anika knelt in front of the wheelchair. “You’ve used me for years without my permission. This time, I’m going in with my eyes wide open. The least you can do is help make sure I get back out.”

We moved Alina into the medical suite so she didn’t bleed out and ruin everyone’s evening. The medic replaced her IV while Roman took over the counter with his tablet. I dragged a chair into the middle of the room. If Anika planned to walk into Sokolov’s hands, she needed to know what he noticed. “Show us how you enter a room.”

Anika stepped into the hall and returned, finding Roman, me, and the empty space where Maksim belonged. I tapped my knife against my thigh. “You just told Sokolov who you really are.”

Alina wiped her forehead. “I look for exits, cameras, and weapons. People come last.” Her attention dropped to Anika’s folded arms. “Good clothes are armor. If you hide inside them, everyone knows you don’t belong.”

“Anything else from the sisterly handbook of deceit?” Anika let her arms fall and rolled her shoulders back.

“You apologize with your eyes before you disagree. I would never do that.” Alina lifted her chin in a defiant angle. “I smile when I’m afraid because men mistake confidence for control. Make your fear look like their mistake.”

Anika wore every feeling on her face and dared the world to complain. Teaching one sister to move like the other felt too much like sanding away everything I loved.

I slammed my knife into the table beside Anika’s hand. She jumped and found Roman near the window. “Again.” I wrenched the blade free. “He won’t care that you flinch, darling. He’ll care where you look afterward.”

Anika returned with one hip forward, checked the room, then dismissed us. She wore Alina’s smile, and I wanted to put my fist through something. “Much better.” I caught her wrist and hauled her close, her pulse kicking against my fingers. “Where is the boy?”

Her pulse raced faster, but boredom flattened her mouth. “Release me before I decide Maksim isn’t worth the inconvenience.”

Maksim was hurt and alone, but she made losing him sound like a scheduling problem. Sokolov would watch her face and miss the truth pounding beneath my hand.

Alina straightened Anika’s jacket. “He may make you prove you’re me by hurting someone else. If he brings Maksim out, check the restraints and exits before his injuries. Need is blood in the water to Sokolov.”