"Вы думали, что я никогда не вспомню," (You thought I would never remember,) Fiona said, her voice coming out steady and cold in Russian.

Nikolai’s lawyer stopped talking. Nikolai’s eyes went wide, and his face turned a weird, grey color. He hadn’t expected her to speak Russian, and he definitely hadn’t expected her to look at him with so much hate.

"Fiona, honey, you shouldn’t be here," Nikolai said, trying to use that soft, fake voice he used when he was drugging her. "You’re confused. Nathan Keith kidnapped you. My lawyers are going to take us home to Mateo."

"Don’t you dare say his name," Fiona hissed, leaning close to him. Her breath fogged up the window. "I know everything, Nikolai. I know about the boosters. I know about the ’vitamins’ that were actually sedatives. And I know about the man you hired to bash into me on that road years ago."

The lawyer cleared his throat, looking nervous now. "Miss, my client is a respected businessman. You are under the influence of Mr. Keith’s lies—"

Nikolai’s calm mask finally broke. He jumped up from his chair, his face twisting into that monster Fiona remembered from her nightmares. "You are my wife! I made you! Without me, you are nothing but a ghost in a grave!"

"I’m the woman who is going to watch you rot in a cage," Fiona said. She turned to the lead detective who was standing by the door. "He has a tracking device on Catherine Brown. Check her phone records. She’s the one who helped him. If you want the truth, talk to her. She’ll flip on him to save her own skin."

The detective nodded, looking impressed. "We’re already pulling the records, Miss Brown. With your testimony, he isn’t going anywhere. The judge just denied the bail."

Fiona felt a tiny spark of victory, but it didn’t last long, she remembered Nathan was still fighting for his life, she didn’t even look back at Nikolai as she ran out of the police station. She ignored the reporters and the flashing lights. She scrambled into the back of a taxi, screaming at the driver to go as fast as he could.

"Please, Nathan," she whispered, clutching the seat. "Don’t go. Not now when we just got him."

######

Back at the hospital, the hallway was a mess of noise. Fiona ran toward the surgery doors, but a nurse caught her and held her back.

"You can’t go in there!" the nurse yelled.

Through the small window in the door, Fiona saw the doctors. They were standing around Nathan’s body. One of them was holding the paddles to his chest.

"Clear!" the doctor shouted.

Nathan’s body jerked on the table, but the monitor kept making that long, flat beeeeeeeeeep sound that meant he was gone.

"Again! Clear!"

Fiona fell to her knees in the hallway, her forehead pressed against the cold floor. "Nathan, please. Come back to me. Come back to Cupcake. I need you."

Duncan ran over and sat on the floor with her, holding her as she sobbed. They sat there for what felt like hours, listening to the machines and the doctors shouting.

Finally, the long beep stopped. It was replaced by a slow, very weak thump... thump... thump.

The door opened, and the doctor walked out. He was covered in blood and sweat, and he looked like he was about to fall over. He looked at Fiona and gave a very small, tired nod.

"He’s back," he whispered. "We almost lost him twice, but he’s back. He’s in a coma. We don’t know when he’ll wake up, or if he’ll remember everything when he does. But he’s alive."

"Please call his family as soon as possible."

Fiona let out a breath she felt like she’d been holding for years. She looked at her father, then at the doctor.

"He’ll wake up," Fiona said, her voice sounding older and tougher. "He has to. Because we still have to go get our son."

####

A soft knock came at the door. It was one of the maids from the villa, a kind woman named Maria who Nathan had hired because she was quiet and loyal. She looked at Fiona with sad eyes and held out a sleek black smartphone.

"I found this in the foyer, Miss," Maria whispered. "It fell out of Mr. Keith’s pocket when... when the shooting happened. I thought you might need it."

Fiona took the phone. Her fingers trembled as she touched the cold glass. She stared at the lock screen, which was just a simple photo of the ocean. She knew Nathan’s family would be frantic. He hadn’t called them, and news of the shooting at the villa was starting to hit the local California stations.

She swiped the screen, and the keypad popped up, asking for a four-digit password. Fiona paused.

(Flashback)

"Can I borrow your phone?"

He handed it back without question.

"I need to call Caleb."

"Password?" I asked.

He smirked. "Cupcake."

I froze for half a second, then turned toward the window so he wouldn’t see my face as I typed it in.

The phone unlocked immediately. I glanced back at him, heat rising in my cheeks. He caught my look and smiled to himself before facing the road again.

(End of flashback)

The phone made a little click and the home screen opened immediately. Fiona let out a shaky breath, a tear landing on the screen. It had been close to three years—three years of her being "dead" and him being a cold, hard hunter—and he had never changed his password. He had been waiting for his "cupcake" to come home the whole time.

She went to his contacts and found the one labeled "Mom." She hit the call button and put the phone to her ear.

It rang three times before a woman’s voice answered. She sounded tired and worried. "Nathan? Finally! I’ve been calling you for hours. The news says there was a police raid at a house in the hills. Are you okay? Is everyone safe?"

Fiona tried to speak, but her throat felt like it was full of sand. "Mrs. Keith?" she managed to whisper.

There was a dead silence on the other end of the line. Fiona could hear the sound of a television in the background and someone—maybe Hannah—laughing in another room.

"Who is this?" Mrs. Keith asked, her voice turning sharp and fearful. "How do you have my son’s phone?"

"It’s... it’s me," Fiona said, her voice breaking. "It’s Fiona."

She heard a loud clatter on the other end, like a glass had been dropped. "Fiona? No. That’s not funny. Who is this? My son has been grieving that girl for three years. Aren’t you dead? We went to the funeral! We buried you!"

"I know," Fiona sobbed, clutching the phone tight. "I know how it looks. But it wasn’t me in that grave. Nikolai... he took me. Nathan found me. He brought me back, but he’s hurt, Mrs. Keith. He’s hurt really bad."

"Oh my God," Mrs. Keith gasped. Fiona could hear her shouting for Caleb and Hannah in the background. "Where are you? Tell me exactly where you are!"

Fiona gave her the address of the hospital in California and the room number. "Please hurry. He’s in a coma. The doctors say it’s bad, but I think... I think if he hears your voices, he might come back."

"We’re coming. We’re getting the private jet right now," Mrs. Keith said, her voice sounding strong even though she was crying. "Fiona... if this is really you, don’t you leave his side. Do you hear me? Don’t you dare leave him."

"I’m not going anywhere," Fiona promised.

She hung up the phone and looked at Nathan. She took his limp hand and pressed it to her cheek. "Your mom is coming, Nathan. Hannah and Caleb too. You have to wake up. You can’t make them see you like this and then leave."

Fiona saw Silas, one of Nathan’s guards standing by the door, looking urgent. She stepped out into the hall to talk to him.

"What is it?" she asked.

"It’s about the boy, Mateo," Silas said, looking over his shoulder. "Nikolai’s mother has moved him. They’re planning to take him to a remote estate in Siberia where we’ll never find him. If we don’t move in the next forty-eight hours, we lose the kid forever."

Fiona looked through the glass at Nathan, she knew what Nathan would do. He would go.

"Get your team ready," Fiona said, her voice turning into cold steel. "And get my father. If Nathan can’t go to Russia to get my son, then I’m going myself."