The Dragunov estate no longer felt like home.
It felt like a fortress waiting for war.
—-
Guards lined the marble corridors now.
Twice as many as before.
Weapons hidden beneath tailored suits.
Eyes sharp.
Movements cautious.
Locked doors echoed throughout the estate like prison gates.
Even the servants had changed.
Silent.
Nervous.
Watching the floors instead of the people they served.
Paranoia had settled into the palace like smoke beneath gold chandeliers.
And Maria felt it everywhere.
Especially him.
Mikhail had not left her alone once since returning from the hidden estate.
Not once.
A guard followed her every movement. Her phone had disappeared for six hours before mysteriously returning. Every corridor she entered, he somehow already knew. It should have infuriated her.
Instead—
It unsettled her far more deeply than she wanted to admit.
Because obsession looked terrifyingly similar to protection.
And Mikhail Dragunov excelled at both.
— THE OBSERVER —
From the surveillance room above the estate, Nikolai watched security feeds quietly.
Maria is walking through the east wing.
Mikhail appeared moments later.
Again.
And again.
Nikolai smirked faintly.
"You're becoming reckless."
Mikhail stood near the screens in silence, slowly adjusting the cuff of his black shirt.
"No."
A pause.
Cold eyes never leave the monitor.
"I'm becoming honest."
Nikolai's grin widened slightly.
Dark amusement flickering there.
"Very well."
He leaned back casually.
"You are quite right."
But beneath the amusement—
Nikolai saw something dangerous forming.
Mikhail was no longer merely protecting Maria.
He was becoming emotionally attached to the threat itself.
And men like Mikhail never survived love cleanly.
— AURÉLIE —
Rain painted silver across the windows of Aurélie's penthouse.
Old newspaper archives covered the floor around her.
Photographs.
Political gala records.
Corporate event footage.
Then suddenly—
Her breathing stopped.
There.
Near Aleksandr Dragunov.
Standing beside him at a charity gala fifteen years ago.
A woman with Maria's mother's face.
But under a different name.
Different identity.
Different life.
Aurélie's fingers tightened around the photograph slowly.
"No..."
The realization slithered through her beautifully constructed world like poison.
The affairs.
The lies.
The disappearances.
The false identities.
Nothing inside the Dragunov empire had ever been clean.
And suddenly—
She wondered if even her relationship with Mikhail had once been manipulated by forces older than both of them.
For the first time—
Aurélie felt small inside the conspiracy.
And she hated it.
— MARIA —
Maria moved carefully through the secured west wing that night.
The estate slept uneasily around her.
Dim lighting.
Silent corridors.
Snow drifting endlessly beyond towering windows.
But her thoughts refused to quiet.
Mikhail visited Poland secretly years ago.
The information had surfaced accidentally earlier that evening through fragmented documents one of the staff forgot to remove from his office.
He had gone there long before marrying her.
Long before any of this.
Searching for what?
Or who?
Maria reached the private library corridor quietly.
Then froze.
Two guards stood outside Mikhail's study.
New guards.
Armed.
Watching the doors carefully.
Which meant something important was inside.
Maria waited patiently until the shift rotation changed.
Then slipped inside unnoticed.
The study smelled like him.
Dark wood.
Leather.
Cold expensive cologne.
Danger hidden beneath elegance.
Maria moved toward the desk slowly.
Opening files carefully.
And then—
her blood turned cold.
Photographs.
Her mother.
Romania.
The Poland estate.
Surveillance reports.
Her family's movements dating back years.
Years.
Maria's breathing tightened.
Mikhail had been watching long before she ever entered his world.
Then she found the black folder beneath the desk drawer.
SUBJECT TWO.
Her fingers trembled slightly as she opened it.
Inside were:
burned records,
medical reports,
hidden photographs,
and one partially destroyed image of two children beside a woman whose face had been scratched out violently.
Maria stared at the image in horror.
The study door closed behind her softly.
"You were never supposed to see that."
Mikhail's voice wrapped around the room like ice.
Maria turned instantly.
Anger exploded through her chest.
"You investigated my family for years."
Mikhail remained near the doorway.
Black shirt partially unbuttoned.
Expression unreadable.
Dangerously calm.
"I investigated every threat connected to the empire."
Maria laughed bitterly.
"Do not reduce my family to one of your operations."
Mikhail crossed the room slowly.
Predatory patience in every step.
"You think this is about business?"
Maria lifted the file sharply.
"Then explain this."
Silence stretched between them heavily.
Mikhail's gaze lowered briefly toward the folder.
Something dark flickered behind his eyes.
Regret.
Or memory.
Perhaps both.
Then Maria stepped closer.
Furious now.
"You lied to me from the beginning."
"And yet," Mikhail said quietly, "you still came back to me."
The words struck harder than they should have.
Maria hated that he was right.
Hated the heat rushing through her despite everything she had discovered.
Mikhail stopped directly in front of her now.
Too close.
The tension became suffocating instantly.
"Stop treating me like a prisoner."
"Prisoners are expendable."
Silence.
Maria's heartbeat stumbled.
"Then what am I?"
That question nearly destroyed the room.
For one second—
Mikhail's composure cracked.
Only slightly.
But enough.
His hand rose slowly.
Gloved fingers brushing against her throat gently.
Possessively.
Dangerously careful.
Maria inhaled sharply.
His face lowered closer.
Breath mixing with hers.
The space between them disappeared entirely.
"My greatest weakness."
The confession sounded like violence.
And somehow—
that made it worse.
Maria should have stepped away.
Instead—
her fingers tightened unconsciously against his shirt.
Mikhail noticed instantly.
His eyes darkened.
The air between them became catastrophic.
One more second—
and neither of them would stop.
Then suddenly—
the entire estate flooded red.
RED WARNING LIGHTS exploded across the walls.
Emergency alarms shattered the silence violently.
Security breach detected.
Security breach detected.
Mikhail turned instantly.
Predator instinct returning in full force.
Nikolai's voice erupted through the intercom sharply:
"We have another breach."
A pause.
Something dangerous beneath his tone now.
"And this time..."
Static crackled violently.
"...they're already inside the estate."
—-
What exactly is "SUBJECT TWO"… and why did Mikhail hide it from Maria ? ❄️