LOGINCamila's POVPeace I've discovered that things are never as easy as they seem.Daniil was standing next to me on the balcony, with Moscow enveloped in a silent, icy authority as the city stretched endlessly beneath us. An order that could only be commanded by one name had taken the place of chaos. Varkanin"The city is stable," he stated in a cool, collected tone. "No resistance, no movements. Everything is in its proper place.With my fingers resting on the chilly railing, I exhaled slowly. "Or precisely where they want us to think it is."He turned and looked at me sharply. "You don't think this peace is genuine?"“I believe it’s temporary,” I said, meeting his eyes. “Peace like this never comes without a cost. And in our world… it never lasts”For a moment, silence hung between us, heavy, suffocating. We had lived too long to trust something so easilyLaughter drifted faintly from the halls by our childrenI turned instinctively, heart softening. They were untouched by the darkness
Camila’s POV“The children are safe,” Daniil said, his voice soft, almost tender. “The estate secured. All alliances confirmed. Our enemies… either neutralized or aware that crossing us is a death sentence.”I nodded, my fingers brushing his. “And we’ve done it together,” I whispered. “Everything… because we stayed as a family.”His grey-blue eyes softened, the commanding intensity giving way to something warmer, almost fragile. “Exactly. That’s the lesson, Camila. Nothin, no plot, no betrayal, no fire from the past can break what we hold here. Not when we hold it together.”I let the words sink in, heart swelling. For so long, I had felt like a pawn, a bride trapped in schemes I couldn’t escape. Now, standing beside the man who had once been my enemy, I realized that the word family carried a weight far greater than fear or power.We spent the morning walking through the estate together, visiting the children in the nursery, checking on every detail of the household and our security
Camila’s POVThe device beeped one last time before falling silent. Daniil’s hand stayed steady on the trigger as Ivan scooped our children into his arms. Maximo’s men had been neutralized, his plot unraveled, and the storm of the night behind us, we finally breathed.“With the device defused, the children safe, and Maximo’s plot finally unraveled, the storm of the night behind them, Daniil and Camila stood together with victory and weary, and they are ready to rebuild the Varkanin legacy.”“Every alliance has been confirmed,” Daniil said, his voice steady, commanding. “Every family, every connection, every hidden resource, we now control them. The Varkanin legacy will be unshakable.”I swallowed hard, the weight of the words settling into my chest. For so long, I had lived in fear of enemies, fear of betrayal, fear for our children. But today, there was none of that. Today, there was power. Security. Possibility.“I still can’t believe it’s over,” I admitted, moving closer to him. “A
Camila’s POVDaniil’s hand was tight around mine. His eyes scanned every shadow, every corner of the courtyard, but there was a flicker of something I had never seen before, fear. Not for himself, but for us and for our children.Ivan moved beside him. Every instinct screamed at us that tonight was not over, the victory we’d fought so hard for was fragile, almost meaningless if the true threat was still unseen.And then it came.A sound from the east wing, soft, deliberate click, almost like a key turning. My stomach dropped. Daniil’s body tensed, every muscle coiled. “The children,” he whispered, and that one word carried the weight of a thousand fears.I ran, my heart hammering, feet barely touching the slick stone floors. The hallway to the children’s wing was empty, the guards we’d trusted gone—or worse, neutralized. The cribs stood silent, but I knew instinctively that silence this absolute was never natural.“They’re gone,” Ivan said, his voice low, cutting through my panic like
Camila’s POVThe realization struck me harder than the thunder cracking above the estate. Daniil Varkanin did not fear anyone. I had seen him stand in the middle of gunfire without blinking. I had watched powerful men tremble when he merely walked into a room. Fear had never belonged to him.Yet now the color had drained from his face.The gun in his hand trembled slightly.Three quiet words had done that. She's still alive.My throat tightened painfully. "Who?"Daniil didn't answer.Rain began to fall harder across the courtyard. Water streaked down the iron gate between us and the man standing on the other side. Maximo's slow smile widened as if he were savoring the moment."You didn't tell her," he said softly.Daniil's jaw clenched. "Say her name and I will bury you tonight.”Maximo chuckled quietly. "Still protecting your secrets after all these years."My heart pounded violently in my chest."Who is alive?" | demanded.Silence followed.A suffocating silence that pressed down on
Camila’s POVNo one moved. The guards held their rifles steady, fingers tense on the triggers as floodlights washed the estate in harsh white light, turning every shadow into something dangerous.But Daniil didn’t look at the men behind the stranger. He looked only at him.A silence passed between them that felt older than the war we were standing in.“Maximo,” Daniil said quietly.The name rolled through the courtyard like distant thunder.The man outside the gate dipped his head slightly in mock respect. “Still alive.”My stomach tightened. So this was him. The ghost Daniil had hunted for seventeen years. The man who had almost killed him. The leader of the Black Wolves.Maximo Varkanin.He looked nothing like I expected. No madness. No rage. Only calm. The kind of calm that belonged to men who had already decided how a war would end.“You’re trespassing,” Daniil said coldly.Maximo chuckled softly. “On my son’s property?”My breath caught.Son?Daniil didn’t react, but the tension
Camila’s POVSomething else lingered, a gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach, but the anger was still there, simmering beneath the surface, waiting for the right opportunity to explode. It was something like dread.Something I didn't see or expect.I didn't recognize it until I heard the sound
Camila's POVNeomi hasn't said anything since I told her about the stranger. Her gaze feels like a weight on my chest, and every second pulls me deeper into the murky water of this nightmare I'm stuck in.I can tell she's thinking because her eyes haven't left mine. I don't know if I can handle the
Camila’s POVNeomi’s words echo in my mind, a constant hum I can’t escape. We’ll figure this out together.” But deep down, I know there are things she doesn’t understand. Things I can’t explain, there is a darkness inside me now, one that Daniil has planted in every inch of my being, and I can’t s
Camila’s POVI couldn’t stop replaying the moment when the car door slammed shut, when I saw Neomi’s limp body being dragged away, her eyes glazed with fear. The image haunted me, clawing at my chest, filling my lungs with a suffocating terror. She was gone. Taken.I couldn’t protect her and I coul







