جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 50

ANASTASIA'S POV I step out of the room, letting the door click shut behind me, and immediately take a deep breath. The meeting is over. And yet… it doesn’t feel over.He’s still there. His presence is everywhere in my mind, like a shadow I can’t shake. I don’t know why. I don’t even know his name, or his face in the context of memory, but there’s something familiar about him. Something in the way he carries himself, the way he leans back, the way his eyes bore into mine—it feels like… recognition. But recognition of what?I shake my head, trying to dispel the thoughts. I’m the boss here. I run the Korovin Gang. I survive. I plan. I don’t get distracted by men. Not by anyone. Not by… him.And yet, my fingers curl slightly as if I can still feel the heat of his presence. That pull, that magnetic tug, I’ve never felt anything like it. It’s frustrating. Dangerous. And yet intoxicating.I pace a few steps, forcing my mind to focus. The right hand. My right hand, my closest ally, someone

LARISA'S POV I don’t call for Mikhail.That’s the difference.He comes on his own.The door opens without ceremony, and I don’t turn from the window. I know his footsteps. I raised half this family; I don’t need to look to know who’s entered my space.“You shouldn’t do this,” Mikhail says quietly.I smile.“You don’t even know what I’m doing yet.”“I know you,” he replies. “And I know that look.”I finally turn. “Careful, brother. You’re speaking to the matriarch of this family.”“And I’m speaking as the one person here who remembers what happens when Korovin blood gets touched,” he says evenly.I pour myself a drink. “Then you should understand why this needs to happen.”Mikhail doesn’t sit. He never does when he’s trying to stop me.“She is not a target,” he says. “Not yet.”“She put herself in my son’s path,” I counter. “That makes her a problem.”“She is the boss of Korovin,” he snaps. “You don’t poke that nest unless you’re ready for the fallout.”I take a slow sip. “I’m not pok

NIKOLAI'S POV The office door swings open before I can sit properly.“Nikolai,” Sergei says, stepping in fast, eyes sharp. “You need to know, Korovin’s shipment, the one scheduled for this morning, it’s gone.”I straighten immediately. “Gone? Explain.”“No alarms. No casualties. No trace of anyone tampering directly. Whoever did it left a message, not blood. Precise. Professional.”I pace. “Precise is deliberate. Who benefits?”Sergei shakes his head. “Not her side. Not internal. No insiders moved. It wasn’t an accident or sloppy work. Someone external. Someone confident enough to touch her operations.”I stop, gripping the edge of the desk. “Then we find out who. Whoever thought they could interfere in her business needs to know there are consequences.”Sergei hesitates. “She canceled the next meeting.”I raise an eyebrow. “Canceled it?”“Yes,” he says. “Polite. Official. Convenient, she calls it. But the timing is… suspicious.”I take a step toward the window, fists clenching. “C

NIKOLAI'S POV The docks stretched endlessly, a jagged line of steel and water cutting into the night. Cargo containers towered like silent witnesses, their colors dulled by grime and salt. Floodlights hummed overhead, casting a harsh white glow that left no room for hiding, only shadows sharp enough to bleed into.I arrived alone.Natalia’s information had been precise down to the minute. A single container. A single man. That level of accuracy never came without strings, but I followed it anyway. Whatever game was being played, it had already crossed into my territory.The man stood near the edge of the dock, coat unbuttoned despite the cold, cigarette burning between his fingers. He didn’t turn when I approached. He knew I was there.“You’re late,” he said calmly.I stopped a few feet away. “You’re confident for someone who just interfered with my routes.”He finally looked at me, eyes sharp, assessing. “You Sokolovs always think everything belongs to you.”“Everything you touch

NATALIA’S POV Sergei is already in the room when they call me back.That alone tells me Nikolai didn’t summon me out of curiosity.Sergei stands to the left of the desk, arms crossed, posture straight, eyes sharp. He looks like a man prepared to de-escalate, or restrain. Nikolai stands near the window, jacket on, sleeves buttoned, city lights bleeding through the glass behind him. He hasn’t turned yet.The door closes.“Speak,” Nikolai says.No greeting. No invitation to sit.I walk forward calmly, heels clicking once before I stop. “You wanted clarification.”“I wanted answers,” he corrects. “You gave me a suggestion and called it insight.”Sergei watches me carefully. “You implied more than you said.”“I implied exactly enough,” I reply. “Anything more would have been reckless.”Nikolai turns slowly. His expression is controlled, but his eyes are alert in a way that makes the room feel smaller.“You knew the man wouldn’t talk,” he says.“Yes.”“You knew he was a proxy.”“Yes.”“An