"I’m not finished, Nikolai," Nathan whispered to the empty room. "This isn’t the end."

He picked up his phone and dialed a number. It wasn’t a number for the police or for his legal team. It was a number for the men who stayed in the shadows, the ones who didn’t ask questions as long as the pay was right.

"Sir," a rough voice answered on the first ring.

"I’m heading to the warehouse on 5th Street," Nathan said, his voice cold and steady. "Before I get to the warehouse, I want Natasha to be there. I don’t care how you do it. Drag her out of her house, pick her up from the street. Use force. Kidnap her. I want her tied to a chair when I walk in. And don’t touch her till I get there."

"Understood, Mr. Keith. We’ll have her waiting."

Nathan hung up and grabbed his car keys. He drove through the city like a man possessed. His mind was a storm of images: Fiona laughing, Fiona crying, and then Viktoria—the woman who looked like her but didn’t know him—being led away by Nikolai. The pain was so sharp it felt like a physical weight in his chest. He needed to hurt someone. He needed the truth.

By the time he reached the old, rusted warehouse near the docks, the moon was high. He pushed open the heavy metal door. The hinges screamed. Inside, the air was cold and smelled like salt and oil. In the center of the room, under a single, flickering lightbulb, sat Natasha.

She was tied to a wooden chair. Her hair was a mess, and her expensive dress was torn at the shoulder, but she didn’t look scared. When she saw Nathan, she actually laughed. It was a high, mocking sound that echoed off the high ceiling.

"Nathan! My hero!" she shouted, her voice full of sarcasm. "Is this how we play now? Kidnapping? I didn’t know you had it in you. It’s almost... sexy."

Nathan didn’t say a word. He dragged a metal chair across the concrete floor, the sound like a knife on bone. He sat down right in front of her. He leaned back and watched her. He looked at her like she was a bug he was about to squash.

"Who are you working with, Natasha?" Nathan asked. His voice was low. "You aren’t smart enough for this. You didn’t hack Viktoria’s computer. You didn’t send those threats or know about her personal files on your own. You’re a socialite, not a hacker. Who helped you? Which doctor did you pay to fake the records three years ago? I want every name."

Natasha laughed again, shaking her head. "You think you’re so tough. You’re just a sad little boy who lost his toy. I’m not telling you anything, Nathan. Not a single word."

Nathan stared at her for a long minute. He felt the last bit of his patience snap. He stood up and walked to the corner of the room, sitting down on a crate in the shadows. He signaled to his men.

"Start," Nathan said.

He sat there, perfectly still, watching. He watched as his men stepped forward. He watched the first blow land. Natasha’s head snapped back. He watched as they hit her again and again. He didn’t blink. He didn’t feel a single spark of pity. He wanted her to see that he could be just as cruel as she was. Worse, even. He was proving to her that he had no soul left to appeal to.

Blood started to drip from her lip. It stained her white dress, blooming like a dark flower. Her face began to swell, but every time they paused, she just looked at Nathan and grinned through the red.

"Is that all?" she mocked, her voice thick. "You’re still a coward, Nathan. You won’t even do it yourself."

Nathan didn’t move. "Names, Natasha. The doctor. The men. The hacker. Give them to me."

Natasha hacked up a mouthful of blood and spat it right toward his feet. "Suck my pussy," she hissed, her eyes wild and full of hate. She wasn’t going to talk. She was going to go down fighting.

Nathan’s eyes narrowed. He looked at his men. "Continue. Don’t stop until she can’t breathe."

The warehouse filled with the sounds of the beating. It was brutal and loud. Nathan watched every second of it. He watched until her head slumped forward and her body went limp against the ropes. She had fainted.

"Stop," Nathan said.

He walked over to a utility sink in the corner and filled a bucket with ice-cold water. He walked back to her and threw it right in her face.

Natasha gasped, her whole body jerking as the freezing water hit her skin. She coughed, shaking violently, her eyes slowly opening. She looked like a ghost, covered in blood and water, shivering in the cold light.

Nathan knelt down so he was eye-level with her. He reached out and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him. His hand was steady. He didn’t feel the least bit of pity for her.

"Are you ready to talk now?" Nathan asked.

Suddenly, the defiance broke. The laughter was gone. Natasha started to cry. It was a loud, ugly sob that shook her entire frame. The tears mixed with the blood and water on her face.

"All I’ve ever done is love you, Nathan!" she screamed, her voice breaking. "Everything! Everything I did was for us! We could have been happy together! We could have had kids, a home, the perfect family! I would have been the perfect wife!"

She looked at him with desperate, bloodshot eyes. "But you chose that witch! You chose her over me every single time! I’m better than her! I’m smarter than her! I’ve stayed by your side for years while she was gone, and you still look at me like I’m nothing!"

"You are nothing," Nathan replied, his voice flat. "You’re a murderer who failed. Now, give me the names before I let them start again."

Natasha sobbed harder, her head hanging low. "The doctor... it was Dr. Gabe. At the private clinic in the suburbs. He took the money to say the body was hers. The hacker... his name is Marcus. He’s the one who got into the hotel wifi. I paid them... I paid them all."

She went on, listing names and dates, her voice small and broken. Nathan listened, recording every word in his mind. He had what he needed.

He stood up and wiped his hands on a cloth. He didn’t look at her again. He walked toward the door, leaving her tied to the chair, shivering and bleeding in the dark.

"What are you going to do with me?" she wailed as he reached the exit.

Nathan paused at the door, the moonlight hitting his back. "I’m leaving you here. By the time I’m done with the people on your list, maybe I’ll come back and decide if you’re worth the air you’re breathing. Or maybe I’ll just tell Nikolai it was you who tried to kill his ’Viktoria.’ I wonder who will get to you first."

He stepped out and closed the door, the sound of her screaming his name echoing behind him. He got into his car and took a deep breath of the night air. The names were a start. He had the doctor, he had the hacker, and he had the proof.

Nathan started the engine. He wasn’t going to sleep. He was going to find every person on that list and destroy them.