《Kisses of a HitWoman》全部章節：第 11 章 - 第 20 章

Sable's phone was already in his hand before Dominic finished speaking. Not because he was reaching for a weapon, but because he needed to move, needed to act, needed to process what had just happened. His dark eyes went distant for a second, the way someone's eyes go when they're calculating odds they weren't prepared to calculate."That's not how this works," Sable said, but there was no anger in his voice. Just observation. Disbelief. "The Founder doesn't negotiate terms. She makes offers. You accept or you don't.""Then tell her I'm negotiating," Dominic said. He was still looking at Lena, like she was the only thing in the room that mattered. Like the organization, the Founder, the entire world could wait. "Tell her those are my conditions."Sable looked between them, and Lena could see something shift in his face. Recognition, maybe. Understanding. He'd come here expecting to deliver a message and collect a response. He hadn't expected to deliver a counteroffer. He hadn't expect

The warehouse smelled like rust and old concrete. The kind of space that had been abandoned so long it forgot it was supposed to be used for anything. Dominic's hand found Lena's as they walked deeper into the darkness, their footsteps echoing off metal walls.The Founder stood in the center of the space, backlit by a single overhead light. She looked different here, outside the boardrooms and business meetings. She looked like what she actually was. Dangerous. Ancient. A woman who'd been winning wars before Dominic was born."Dominic Moretti," she said, her voice steady and sure. "Lena Vasquez. Thank you for coming."Up close, Lena could see the resemblance now that she was looking for it. Not in the face. In the way she held herself. In the particular stillness of someone who'd learned to control every muscle, every breath."My name is Victoria Volkov," the Founder said. "Though I've used many names. Your mother called me Tori. I called her the most brilliant woman I'd ever met." Sh

The car ride home was suffocating.Lena sat in the passenger seat with the photograph of Alexei Vitelli in her lap. She couldn't stop looking at it. His face had been her introduction to the syndicate. His voice had taught her how to kill. His hands had guided hers the first time she'd pulled a trigger. And now Victoria was asking Dominic to murder him.Dominic gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles had gone white. He hadn't spoken since they left the warehouse. The city lights passed in streaks of gold and shadow, and the silence between them felt like something solid. Something that might shatter if either of them moved wrong."Stop the car," Lena said finally.Dominic pulled over without questioning. He just pulled into an empty parking garage and killed the engine. The silence that followed was somehow worse than the city noise had been."Do you want to do this?" Lena asked, and her voice came out raw. "Do you actually want to kill him?"Dominic's hands were still on the

The safe house was the kind of place that ghosts lived in. Sparse. Anonymous. Beige walls that had forgotten what color meant. A single window overlooking a street that no one important ever used. Alexei pulled the car into an underground garage and killed the engine."This way," he said.Lena felt Dominic's hand find hers as they climbed the stairs. His palm was warm. Real. The only thing in this moment that felt like it existed outside of the nightmare.The apartment was exactly what she'd expected. A bed. A table. Books. The life of someone already dead but too stubborn to stop breathing.Alexei poured water. He didn't offer them anything. He just poured and drank like he was trying to wash something out of his throat that wouldn't come clean."I'm not just your mother's handler," he said without preamble. "I haven't been for fifteen years. I'm the person she loves. The person she trusted. The only person in the entire organization who knew her completely."Lena felt something shif

The space between Anastasia and Katerina was charged with something that had nothing to do with weapons. Lena watched them face each other, and she realized something that shifted everything she understood about her mother.Katerina wasn't just her trainer. Katerina was someone her mother had loved."You were supposed to disappear," Anastasia said softly. Her weapon was steady, but her voice held something fragile. "I gave you the money. I gave you the resources. Why did you stay?"Katerina's jaw clenched. "Because you needed me. Because the organization needed me. Because I couldn't abandon you the way you abandoned everyone else."There it was. The real injury. The wound that had been bleeding for fifteen years."I never could kill you, Katerina," Anastasia said. "Not when you were young. Not when you were becoming what I made you. Not now.""Then I'll kill you," Katerina said. But her hands were shaking. "Victoria ordered it. I have to comply.""No," Anastasia said. Her voice was s