Chapter 7 - THE UNRAVELING
The morning came not with sunshine, but with a pale, grey light filtering through the dust-covered blinds of the Queens apartment.
At 9:00 AM, Roman’s encrypted phone rang. He answered it on the first ring, standing by the small window, his face illuminated by the morning glare.
"Speak," he said.
I sat up on the sofa, watching him closely. Luna woke up too, her ears pricking forward as she sat beside my knees, leaning her heavy head against my thigh.
Roman listened in silence for two full minutes. The muscle near his jaw twitched once, but his expression remained entirely unreadable.
"Understood," Roman said finally. "Execute the asset transfers and clear the secondary accounts. I’ll meet you at the federal courthouse at two."
He ended the call and turned back to us.
"Volkov survived the river," Roman said flatly.
My blood ran cold. "What?"
"A tugboat pulled him out near Hell Gate an hour after he fell in," Roman said, walking over to the table and picking up his holster. "He’s wounded, but he’s desperate. He knows the grand jury convenes at two o'clock. He’s pulled every remaining enforcer he has left into Manhattan. He’s going to strike at the courthouse steps."
"He’s insane," I breathed, standing up. "He can't attack a federal courthouse!"
"He has nothing left to lose," Roman said, strapping the SIG Sauer across his chest with practiced efficiency. "If those files are entered into evidence, he spends the rest of his life in a supermax prison. He will throw everything he has at me before I reach those double doors."
"Then don't go yourself," I urged, stepping toward him and laying my hand on his forearm. His skin was warm, his muscles tight as iron. "Send your attorneys! Send Viktor! You don't have to walk into an ambush!"
Roman looked down at my hand on his arm, then raised his eyes to meet mine.
"The federal prosecutor requires the physical hard drive and my sworn testimony to authenticate the chain of custody," Roman said quietly. "If I am not there to sign the affidavit in person, the evidence is inadmissible, and Volkov walks free by midnight."
He reached out and gently touched my cheek with the back of his fingers—a gesture so tender, so unexpected, that my breath hitched in my chest.
"You brought Luna back to life, Odessa," he murmured. "You gave her a future. Now I have to go finish mine so I can make sure you both stay safe."
"I'm coming with you," I said instantly.
"No."
"Roman, look at her!" I said, pointing down at Luna, who was standing at attention, her eyes fixed on Roman’s face, her tail giving a sharp, steady thud against the floorboards. "She knows what’s happening! If you leave us here in this room, we will follow you. I know how to manage her under fire now. You need an extra set of eyes on those steps!"
Roman looked at me for a long, agonizing moment. He saw the fire in my eyes, the absolute lack of hesitation, and the quiet truth that I wasn't going to let him face his ghosts alone.
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"You stay in the rear of the vehicle until the perimeter is secure," Roman commanded, his voice shaking slightly with an emotion he could no longer hide. "If anything goes wrong... you take Luna and run."
"Nothing is going to go wrong," I said, grabbing my canvas jacket. "We finish this today."
