With Knives and Carbon listening, Raelynn called Viktor.

"Are you in the air?"

"I am. I need you to do a few things while I fly."

"What?" Viktor asked. "No, Demyan. She does not want to talk to you right now."

Viktor was right. Raelynn wasn't ready to talk to another Kuznetsov. She still hurt from Demyan's lie, and would only amend their friendship once this nightmare blew over.

"Viktor," she called out.

"One second." A door closed, and then Viktor sighed. "I have not been able to get in touch with Maksim. Have you?"

"No. Listen, I need you to do a few things."

"Raelynn, I think you need to wait for Maksim to get here. You are distraught, and–"

"I'm not weak. Not anymore. If you want to treat me like I am, then go ahead, but I will move on with or without you."

"Maksim will hate me more if you get hurt."

"The only thing that matters right now is getting our sons back."

"I'm not sure there is anyone to get back. We lost those babies. All of us."

"Don't say that!" she rasped.

"I need to be realistic."

"Just tell me if you will help or not."

"What do you need?"

"That French woman, Cadence. I need her kidnapped."

"Do you have any idea how bloody of a war this will cause? The French will not like this."

"The war has already been started. Get her. She is lure for Dante."

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes. She isn't innocent, and neither am I. No adult who has stepped into this business is. We all signed up for what horrors it entails."

Viktor cursed in Russian. "We should wait for Maksim to make the last call."

"I'm not waiting hours for Maksim to land. This needs to be done now. You want authority to make this call? Then use mine."

"You have no authority."

"I have the heart of your boss. I'm using that power now."

"If you want to step up, then you will have to accept the consequences. I will have my men track Cadence down and pull her in. What do you want me to do with her?"

"Keep her warm for me."

The call ended soon later, and Knives jumped in. He didn't understand what he was needed for.

"If things get bad and the babies are around, take them and go. If not, watch Maksim's back. You two are the only ones I can trust to do this."

"Are you kidding?" Carbon scoffed. "You are more vulnerable than him, girl. Maksim does not need our protection. You do."

She was more vulnerable, but she had already died a little when she lost her bump. She would go all the way if it meant keeping her family safe.

With a firm stare, she pressed, "get it done. No matter what. You will get paid–"

"This is not about money," Knives interjected. "I'm not letting you bleed out to protect your Russian bastard."

"Knives, please."

He took in her expression and practically growled. He crossed his arms over his chest, and she took that as acceptance.

Needing a moment for herself, she went to the bathroom. Her hair was shoved into a short ponytail, and some strands stuck to her face when she rinsed it.

With deep breaths, she gripped the sink and stared at her expression. There was anger and fear in the glistering mess.

She was unhinged. Dressed in a graphic shirt and a sweater, jeans and flip-flops. She didn't look like the woman of a mafia boss. Even in the end, she didn't fit in.

After rolling her sleeves up her arms, she stepped out of the bathroom and strapped into her seat.

– • –

They landed in New York five hours later. There was still no word from Maksim. Unable to find their designated driver, they hopped in a taxi and floored it to Maksim's place, where Viktor waited for her. The enormous, empty building was perfect for what would go down.

Men stood to attention when she, Knives, and Carbon approached the entrance.

"Stand aside," she said, raising her head so they recognized her.

Realization had them parting and communicating her arrival.

She stepped inside, and a man appeared to take her downstairs. Eyes followed her. Maksim's men were probably expecting to never see her again. In a way, they were correct. The old her was gone.

"Do you have her?"

Viktor pushed away from the wall he was laying beside.

"Yes, and she is not happy."

Raelynn pushed past the door. This was a large storage closet, and on the floor was a tied, squirming, glaring, Cadence.

She stopped and stared with disbelief when she recognized Raelynn.

Raelynn fell to a knee. "Hi."

Cadence's glare intensified.

"Last time you saw me, I was pregnant. I lost my twins, and I think Dante has something to do with it. I know you don't want to be here, but I'll let you go unharmed if you help me."

Cadence's glare didn't falter. There was no sympathy, no interest. She was taking this personally.

Raelynn didn't blame her, but she wasn't going to please her and let her go about her way. She still had work to do.

"Take a picture of her and send it to Dante."

Viktor nodded to one of Maksim's men, who unbuttoned his suit and go to work. It only took ten minutes to get Dante on a secure line.

She was right. Cadence was the key.

"Are you watching?" Raelynn asked. Her voice was distorted by a software, and the camera was focused from her neck down. Her identity was secure, but Dante knew who she was.

Cadence was tied to a chair. Her mouth was taped shut and body bound, but that didn't stop her from squirming.

"You won't do it," Dante snarled. "You don't have it in you. Let her go and stop wasting my time. I had nothing to do with your children."

"Just tell me. Tell me and Candece goes home."

"There is nothing to tell!"

She couldn't see his face, but she could practically feel his anger.

Cadence stilled when Raelynn gripped her ponytail and brought a knife down to it. She sawed through the locks, feeling the room drop a few degrees as she gave a little into insanity.

She didn't want to hurt Cadence. She didn't want to reach that step, but she would.

"Try again," she tossed back at Dante right as she tossed down Cadence's hair.

"You Russian whore!"

She wasn't Russian. Sure, she belonged to one, but her identity was still very much American. She was a pissed off, desperate, young, American mother.

She placed her forearm downwards on Cadence's shoulder to show her bare skin to the camera. Then, a gulp of discomfort came from one of Maksim's men when she brough the tip of the butcher knife to her own arm, and cut deep. The blood seeped out of her arm and trickled onto Candece.

Raelynn felt pure fire as the deep wound bled, but didn't stop until she had a line from elbow to wrist.

The pain was nothing compared to the loss of a child.

"Last chance," she warned. "Speak, or I'll make Cadence sing."

"There were just rumors," Dante blurted. "I didn't speak up, because I knew Maksim would react violently. I had no time or interest in that. My grandmother overheard me talking with my men. She's not right in the head and unknowingly dragged me into this."

"What rumors?" Raelynn asked. Her heart was pumping so fast that she was sure her arm was bleeding faster.

"Rumors about the Kuznetsov's mother. About how she has been lying low. About how she's a kid-fucker."

The knife clattered to the ground, and she practically snapped her neck as she spun to meet Viktor's wide eyes.

"Your mother. Your mother has them."