SHADOW GAME
475 Words
POV: Marco
---
Morning came too fast.
I'd slept in fits, waking at every sound – a car passing, a neighbor's door, the creak of the building settling. Sasha slept beside me, her breathing slow and even, her hand resting on my chest.
She looked peaceful. That was new.
I didn't wake her.
---
Antonio called at dawn.
"Ivan's gone underground. Dmitri's operation is moving – consolidating, shifting locations. They know we're coming."
"Then we hit them before they finish moving."
"Easy to say. Harder to do." A pause. "Sasha's intel is good. We've already rolled up three safe houses. But Ivan keeps slipping through."
"He's not slipping. He's baiting us."
"You think?"
"I know. He wants us to chase him. Wants us distracted while Dmitri does something else."
Antonio was quiet. "What's the something else?"
I looked at Sasha, still asleep.
"Me," I said. "He wants me."
---
I told Sasha at breakfast.
She didn't react – just set down her coffee and stared at the wall.
"You're sure?" she asked.
"Ivan's obsessed with you. Dmitri wants revenge. Hurting me hurts Antonio. Hurting Antonio ends the war."
"That's a lot of assumptions."
"It's a lot of intel."
She stood, walked to the window. "Then we use it."
"How?"
"We let him take you."
I stared at her. "Come again?"
"We let Ivan take you. I track him. Find Dmitri's main operation. And then Antonio's men move in."
"You want to use me as bait."
"I want to end this."
"Sasha—"
"If Ivan has you, he'll contact me. He won't be able to resist. And when he does, I'll have him."
I stood, crossed to her. "And if he kills me before you get there?"
"Then I kill him. And then I kill myself."
"Sasha."
"I mean it." She turned to face me. "I didn't survive my father, escape Dmitri, and betray my family just to watch you die. If you go, I go. One way or another."
I took her face in my hands.
"No one's dying. We're going to plan this carefully. We're going to use Antonio's resources. And when it's over, we're going to walk away."
"Together?"
"Together."
She nodded.
We spent the rest of the day planning.
---
The trap was simple.
Marco would make himself visible – a known location, a predictable route. Ivan's men would take him. Sasha would track them. Antonio's team would follow.
Risky. Stupid. The only option we had.
"You don't have to do this," I told her.
"Yes, I do."
"You could walk away. Disappear. Start over somewhere new."
She looked at me like I'd lost my mind.
"Without you?"
"I'm not exactly easy to be around."
"No. You're not." She kissed me. "But I'm not easy either. We're a matched set."
I pulled her close, held her tight.
"Tomorrow," I said.
"Tomorrow."
- Writer
