Page 123 of Hunt Me, Daddy

I looked away first, not because I wanted to miss anything, but because the sudden pressure in my chest was not useful.

Ivan kept speaking.

“She is under my protection. Currently in my apartment. Orlov has her name and address. I redirected them to Chicago temporarily.”

A pause.

“Yes.”

Another pause.

“No. Do not send men here unless I ask.”

His jaw tightened.

“I understand what I said.”

The voice on the other end changed enough that even I could feel it through the room.

Ivan’s answer came quietly.

“Because if your men appear she will not respond well to that.”

I almost laughed because it was painfully, inconveniently accurate. He knew me too well. That was the problem and maybe not the problem.

“We have built a timed release,” Ivan said. “If Mikhail moves on her, the release will be very expensive for him.”

A long pause.

“No,” Ivan said. “I did not ask permission.”

The silence after that sentence was sharp enough to cut the room in half, but Ivan did not apologize.

“I am informing you now because this is no longer mine to contain alone,” he said. “And because if Mikhail chooses escalation, the Morozovs will be touched whether we like it or not.”

Maxim spoke again and Ivan listened for nearly a full minute.

Then he said, “Yes.”

Another pause.

“Yes.”

Then, lower, “I understand.”

He ended the call and for several seconds, neither of us moved. The apartment felt too quiet after Maxim’s voice disappeared. My computers hummed. The city shifted in pale daylight beyond the windows. My coffee had cooled in my hand.

“Is Maxim angry?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“At me or at you?”

Ivan set the phone down. “Me.”

“Because you hid me.”

“Yes.”