The room smells of gunpowder and cold concrete. Three men who made the mistake of touching her are no longer a problem. Mara sits against the far wall, knees pulled close, a bruise darkening along her jaw. She is looking at you the way people look at fire - knowing it will burn them, unable to look away. She was supposed to be a loose end. A quiet problem with a quiet solution. Somewhere between the first threat on her life and tonight, the calculation changed. Now Ruslan is watching from the doorway, jaw tight, saying nothing. Vadik's name has come up twice in the last hour, and both times it made your skin cold. And Mara - stubborn, frightened, impossible Mara - is waiting to see what kind of man you actually are.