I knew that I had to tell Papa that I was pregnant. There was no way that I could put off the conversation any longer: I was already experiencing some of the symptoms of pregnancy, and it was only a matter of time before he put two and two together.

I had imagined all the different ways that this conversation could go, but I knew that there was no way he’d be happy to hear the news. Which was what I wanted, when I really thought about it. I wanted to tell him that I was pregnant, that it was Damien’s. That I was starting a family and that he was going to be a grandfather. I wanted him to be proud of me.

But I knew that wasn’t going to happen. There was the whole thing with Franco, and the fact that the baby was Damien’s. He wasn’t going to be happy for me, and I couldn’t expect him to be.

I walked briskly down the hallways of the Audaz headquarters building, my footsteps echoing on the tiled floors. The place was busy that day: we had two major arms deals that we were about to close, and their were plenty of people there to get their final assignments and confirm their positions. But I didn’t stop to talk to anyone, and no one gave me a second glance; they saw me there often enough that they didn’t suspect anything was out of the ordinary about this visit.

I knocked on Papa’s door and waited for him to call out for me to enter. It was a formality that I didn’t usually bother with, and I could see the way the man’s eyebrows knit together for a moment in perplexity when I entered. “Ah, my beautiful daughter,” he said, smiling at me and beckoning me towards a seat. “I didn’t realize you’d be coming in today. Did your old father forget about a lunch date?”

“No, we didn’t have anything scheduled,” I said, trying my best not to fidget. “I just wanted to talk.”

Papa raised an eyebrow. “About…?”

I stared down at my hands. “I wanted to let you know that I’m pregnant.”

There was a long silence. When I peeked up at Papa, his face was contorted in confusion. It finally cleared, and he smiled—much to my surprise. “You and Franco couldn’t wait, could you?” he said, his eyes twinkling. “You stopped by to see him when you were in Madrid last?”

I stared blankly at him for a moment trying to think of how to respond. It would have been so much easier if that were the case. Repulsive, maybe; I had no desire to sleep with Franco. But then again, my desires didn’t matter.

I chewed on my lower lip, half tempted to lie and agree that yes, it was Franco’s baby. Only I knew that if I did that, Papa would waste no time in inviting Franco to Barcelona, in congratulating the man on his impending fatherhood and the strength of his seed or whatever.

Trouble was, Franco and I had never slept together, and I doubted the other man would cover for me. No, they were all going to be livid when they found out the truth. Better to get it over with sooner, rather than later.

I took a deep breath. “Papa, it isn’t Franco’s child.”

Again, Papa’s face contorted—this time with anger.

“You foolish child!” he said. “You know that you’re promised to Franco. That we need that alliance. Things have been-”

“I know,” I interrupted. “I didn’t plan for this to happen.”

“Who is he? Who is the father?” Papa demanded, his face purpling. “I’ll wring his neck, I swear.”

“It’s no one,” I said hurriedly.

Papa slammed his fist down on the desk. “Damn it, Alejandra, tell me!” he ordered.

“It doesn’t matter,” I insisted. “It doesn’t change the situation. I’m not going to see the guy again.”

“It’s Damien’s, isn’t it?” my father said, surprising me.

I gaped at him. “Damien’s?” I repeated, trying desperately to think of some way to cover for the Russian. “Why would you think that? He was an asshole to me when he was here. I didn’t want anything to do with the guy ever again.” That was technically the truth, at least sort of.

Papa’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t lie to me,” he said. “I know the two of you have…liaised. There are eyes and ears all around this city, Alejandra, especially on behalf of Audaz.”

I swore under my breath. Of course he knew that I had seen Damien since our first meeting there at Audaz headquarters. I should never have thought that I could hide this.

But I didn’t want him to go after Damien. Of course, it was the Russian’s fault as much as mine that I was pregnant, but I couldn’t blame him for this whole mess. I didn’t want to see him hurt. Especially not since… Again, unbidden, my hand fell down on my flat stomach.

“Look, leave Damien alone. He didn’t know about Franco. And the baby’s my own fault.”

“You’ll have to get rid of it, of course,” Papa said matter-of-factly, as though there weren’t a question about it, as though I didn’t have any sort of say in things.

And even though I had already been thinking that I should probably get rid of the child, personal beliefs aside, I was enraged that he might not even give me a choice about it. Of course, I hadn’t expected him to be thrilled about this, but I guess I had expected…

Well, I had expected him to treat me like an adult.

I stood up, glaring at him. “Papa, I’ve done so much for Audaz over the years, and I’m not even a full-fledged member of this gang,” I told him. “I didn’t choose to be involved, you did. But this is my life. And I’m going to decide what I want to do. What’s best for me.”

“What’s best for you is to keep Franco happy,” Papa growled. “Unless you think that slighting Franco’s gang, Dinamo, is a smart decision!”

“Of course I don’t think that’s a smart decision,” I snapped. “But I wasn’t the one who arranged the marriage. You should have known better than to try to marry me off like that, in this day and age. I love you, Papa, and I understand that I have certain responsibilities. I understand that you just want what’s best for our family, that you always have. But I can’t go through with this marriage, and you should have known better than to try to force me to do so.”

“You sound like a spoiled child,” Papa said derisively. “You want everything in the world, I guess, but you want everything on your terms, without giving anything back.” He shook his head. “If you have that child, if you continue this foolishness, I’ll have no choice but to cut you out of the family. I don’t need Dinamo coming after me because of your impetuousness.”

“Fine, maybe that’s for the best!” I shot back, hardly believing that he might say that. Of course, we hadn’t been close, he and I, for a long time now. Not since Mama left our lives. But was he really talking about severing all ties with me? I couldn’t even imagine him doing that.

“You won’t be able to take care of the child without my help,” Papa said. “What will you do for work? You’ll have no money, nowhere to live, nothing to provide for that child. You might as well get rid of it.”

“It’s not your decision,” I said, shrugging in a display of bravado that I didn’t quite feel. We might not always see eye to eye, but I had been raised to respect my father. And again, I knew he only wanted what was best for me.

But I wasn’t going to let him make this choice for me. Before he could say anything else, I stalked out into the hallway, slamming the door behind me.

I wanted to pause outside, to catch my breath, but I expected he would come out after me and I really didn’t want to continue this conversation there in the middle of the hall. So I strode purposefully away, my heels tapping a staccatic rhythm on the floor.

I was so pissed at the way the conversation had gone that at first, I didn’t notice anything strange about the faint popping sound that I could hear from somewhere deeper in the building. But suddenly, my brain caught up—I recognized that kind of popping sound. Papa had made sure I knew how to handle guns, just in case, and I was pretty sure…

But surely there couldn’t be someone there in the Audaz headquarters building firing off gunshots through a silencer, could there be?

I could feel the blood drain from my face. For all the things that I had done for Audaz before, all the danger that I’d been in, I had never been this close to gunshots outside the shooting range—and something told me that these shots weren’t just people firing at inanimate objects. Papa had kept me away from the more dangerous missions for all these years.

I stumbled towards the exit, moving more cautiously now, trying to think of what the best route would be. Of course, there was more than one exit from the building, but I didn’t know who was doing the shooting—if it was members of Audaz, I couldn’t be sure which exit they might have used. If it was an outsider, though, I had to wonder how they could even have gained access to the building…

I froze again, my mind jumping around chaotically as I tried to think of how to handle this situation. With everything that I had ever done for Audaz, Papa had been the one to plan everything, and suddenly I missed that direction and focus. Despite the argument that he and I had just had, I found myself creeping back towards his office.

But I never made it there.

The man jumped out from a hallway to my left, immediately wrapping his arms around me and pressing a gun to the side of my head. The metal was cold against my temple, and I stared blindly ahead. I had taken self-defense courses in the past, and I knew how to incapacitate a guy. But things were different when you actually had a weapon pressed against your skull.

“Please,” I whispered. “I’m not…” I trailed off. What was I going to say, that I wasn’t a member of Audaz? This guy probably didn’t care. And it wasn’t exactly true, either. I’d been on missions, and I was there in the headquarters building.

“Relax,” the man muttered, dragging me down the hallway.

I stumbled along with him, blinking in shock. Relax? Why would he want me to relax? And why was his voice so naggingly familiar? I craned my neck, but I couldn’t tell anything about the man with the mask that he wore.

He certainly seemed to know the place, though, and that gave me a bad feeling. Someone from Audaz, then. I couldn’t think what his motive might be, and I cast around for who might have some sort of grudge against Papa—it was the only thing that made sense. Otherwise, wouldn’t this guy have shot me?

He dragged me into an empty office and turned towards me, his piercing blue eyes creasing with something almost like worry. For a moment, he didn’t move, and I didn’t either. Then, he tore off his mask. I stared in shock. “Damien?” I asked.

Could it really be him, the one orchestrating this attack? Of course, the rest of the Volkov family was no doubt involved; he hadn’t been the only man to storm the building. And he would know the building just as well as anyone in Audaz: he’d been there to see Papa enough times that no one would have noticed him poking around. They would have thought he had a reason to be there.

Suddenly, with a sinking heart, I realized that he had probably never intended any sort of deal with Papa. No, he had only been gathering information, playing his cards right.

“You traitor,” I whispered, tears glistening in my eyes. I couldn’t believe that this monster was the father of my baby—a baby that I had actually thought that I might want to keep.