The safehouse felt different in the morning light.
When I had first entered this place last night, I was terrified. Every shadow looked like a threat. Every corner hid a secret. But now, standing in the middle of the small living room with the folder still clutched in my hands, I felt something else.
Curiosity.
And something I didn't want to name.
"Sit down," Alexei said, pointing to the couch.
I sat. He pulled a chair from the kitchen and placed it directly across from me. Close. Too close. Our knees almost touched.
"You want the truth," he said. "I'll give you the truth."
I nodded.
He leaned back, but his grey eyes never left mine. "Fifteen years ago, my mother was killed in a police raid. I was in the car. I watched her die."
"I know that part."
"No. You know what I told you last night. You don't know what actually happened." He paused. "My mother wasn't supposed to be at that warehouse. She was picking up my father. He had promised her it would be safe. It wasn't."
I stayed quiet. Let him talk.
"The raid was led by your father. He was a captain back then. Young. Ambitious. He followed orders from a corrupt superior named Chief Inspector Raymond Cross." Alexei's jaw tightened. "Cross wanted to make a name for himself. He wanted to take down the Volkov syndicate. He didn't care who got hurt in the process."
"Cross," I repeated. "I know that name. He retired five years ago. Moved to Florida."
"He's still alive. And he's still dirty." Alexei reached into his jacket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He handed it to me. "Cross has been taking money from the Bratva for twenty years. He sold out your father. He told Dimitri's people exactly when and where the raid would happen."
I unfolded the paper. It was a bank statement. Deposits. Large ones. Regular ones. All from an offshore account.
"This is real?"
"Every penny."
I looked up at him. "Why are you showing me this?"
"Because I want you to understand. Your father didn't murder my mother. He was a pawn. Just like me. Just like everyone else in this city."
I set the paper on the table. "Then why have you spent fifteen years wanting to kill him?"
"Because I didn't know the truth." His voice was flat. Emotionless. "My father lied to me. He told me your father pulled the trigger. He told me your father laughed while my mother bled out. I believed him because he was my father."
"But now you know the truth."
"Now I know that the man I hated was innocent. And the man I trusted was a liar." He looked away. "My father wasn't a good man, Kira. He was a monster. He used my mother's death to control me. To turn me into a weapon."
I wanted to reach out to him. Touch his hand. Tell him I understood.
But I didn't. Because I wasn't sure I did understand.
"So what changed?" I asked. "Why are you helping me now?"
"Because my father is dead. And I don't have to be what he wanted me to be anymore." He looked back at me. "I can choose. For the first time in my life, I can choose."
His words echoed what I had said to him in the alley.
You choose. Every day. Every moment. You choose who you want to be.
Maybe he had been listening after all.
"Tell me about Dimitri's plan," I said. "Everything."
Alexei stood up and walked to the wall of monitors. He tapped a few keys, and a photograph appeared on the largest screen.
A man. Mid forties. Cropped hair. Military bearing.
"This is Viktor Sokolov. Former Spetsnaz. Sniper. He's been working for Dimitri for two years." Alexei tapped the screen again. "Tomorrow night, Viktor will position himself on the rooftop of the building across from the Grand Ballroom. Your father's speech is scheduled for eight fifteen. Viktor will take the shot at eight seventeen."
My stomach turned. "Can't we just warn security?"
"Security is the problem." Alexei pulled up another photograph. "Detective Marcus Webb. Works in your father's precinct. He's been on Dimitri's payroll for three years."
I stared at the face on the screen. I knew Detective Webb. Quiet. Professional. Never caused any trouble.
"He's the inside man," Alexei continued. "He'll disable the security cameras on the night of the gala. He'll make sure the rooftop is unguarded. And if anyone gets too close to the truth, he'll silence them."
I felt sick. "My father trusts him."
"Your father trusts everyone. That's his weakness."
"No." I shook my head. "That's his strength. He believes in people. That's why he's a good cop."
Alexei studied my face. "You really love him, don't you?"
"He's my father. Of course I love him."
"Even after everything I've told you? Even knowing that he was part of the raid that killed my mother?"
"Especially because of that." I met his gaze. "My father made a mistake. He followed bad orders. But he tried to save your mother. He held her while she died. That's not a murderer. That's a man who lives with guilt every single day."
Alexei looked away. His jaw tightened.
"Your father doesn't deserve to die," I said softly. "And you know it."
He didn't answer.
"Alexei."
He looked back at me.
"Help me save him," I said. "Not because of your blood oath. Not because of the Bratva. But because it's the right thing to do."
The silence stretched between us. Long. Heavy. I could hear the hum of the monitors. The distant sound of traffic.
Then he said, "I'll help you stop Dimitri. But I can't promise that your father will forgive me. Or that he won't try to arrest me when this is over."
"I'll deal with my father."
"And what about you?" He tilted his head. "Will you try to arrest me, Kira?"
I thought about it. Really thought about it.
He was a criminal. He had admitted to killing people. Ordering deaths. Doing things I couldn't imagine.
But he had also saved my life. Protected me. Shown me parts of himself he had never shown anyone else.
"I don't know," I admitted. "But I know that right now, you're the only chance my father has to survive. So I'll worry about the rest later."
Alexei nodded slowly. Then he pulled his chair closer to the couch. Close enough that our knees touched.
"Then let's make a plan," he said.
For the next two hours, we worked.
Alexei showed me everything. Maps of the gala venue. Security protocols. Escape routes. The names of every corrupt cop on Dimitri's payroll.
I took notes. Asked questions. Memorized details.
By the time we finished, the sun was high in the sky. I hadn't slept in almost thirty hours. But I wasn't tired.
I was focused.
"We need to get you out of here," Alexei said, standing up. "If Dimitri finds out you've been with me, you're dead."
"Where should I go?"
"Home. Rest. Pretend everything is normal." He walked to the door and held it open. "Tomorrow night, be at the gala. Stay close to your father. Don't let him out of your sight."
"What about you?"
"I'll be there. Watching. Waiting." His grey eyes met mine. "If Viktor takes the shot, I'll stop him. Even if it costs me my life."
My heart clenched. "Don't say that."
"It's the truth."
"I don't want your life, Alexei. I want you to live."
He stared at me for a long moment. Something flickered in his eyes. Something soft. Something scared.
"You barely know me," he said quietly.
"I know enough."
His words. From last night. I was throwing them back at him.
He almost smiled. Almost.
"Go home, Kira. Get some sleep."
I walked past him, through the door, into the hallway.
"Alexei."
"Yes?"
I turned back to look at him. "Thank you. For choosing to do the right thing."
He didn't answer. He just closed the door.
And I walked away, wondering if I had just made the biggest mistake of my life.
Or the only decision that would save us both.