~ Nicholas's POV ~
I had spent almost the entire week in Russia dealing with ash, blood, and betrayal.
The call had come in while I was still in Brooklyn—one of my captains frantically explaining that a suspected arson attack had ripped through one of our primary warehouses. Multiple men of mine were severely burned, some fighting for their lives. I had flown back to Moscow immediately with Jude and Thalia at my flanks to hunt down the rat.
The investigation didn't take long. Every trail of gasoline and melted steel pointed directly to Malachi. The bastard was playing games with me again, trying to test my reach from across the Atlantic.
I spent four agonizing days dragging his foot soldiers out of their holes, painting the Russian snow red to get answers. But his men were stubbornly
