The opportunity came unexpectedly on a late-spring afternoon when the air was warm enough for open windows and the compound felt almost peaceful.
Nikolai had been called away again—urgent business in the city, a lead on the rivals who’d orchestrated the attacks.
He’d hesitated at the door, hand cupping her cheek, eyes searching hers.
“Stay inside. Guards are doubled.”
She’d nodded, leaned up to kiss him softly, and watched him leave in the black SUV.
Then waited.
An hour passed.
The younger guard—Alexei, barely twenty, with a boyish face and a crush he thought he hid—took his scheduled break.
She’d been cultivating him for weeks… small smiles when he brought her coffee, questions about his little sister back in Moscow, quiet gratitude for the extra blanket he’d slipped her one cold
