Julian didn't sleep that night.
Ava could feel it in the way his body tensed beside her in bed, in the rhythm of his breathing—controlled, but never quite resting. She lay awake with him, listening to the wind through the trees outside, her fingers curled lightly against his chest.
At 4:17 a.m., he got up.
She didn't ask questions. She just followed.
They stepped into the living room, the air cold and still. He moved to a loose floorboard near the edge of the fireplace and pried it open. Inside, tucked beneath a folded cloth, was a small, nondescript USB drive.
He held it up.
"This is it," he said. "The one thing that connects Noura to everything."
Ava stepped closer. "And if you give it to someone…"
"They'll kill to get it first."
He sat down at the table, placing the drive carefully in front of him like it was an explosive. "But if I *don't* use it… she wins. Again."
Ava pulled a chair beside him. "Then we find someone we *can* trust."
Julian's jaw clenched. "Everyone I knew in Istanbul turned. Even the ones I thought were clean. The drive names them. Blackmail, theft, fraud, worse. You'd be shocked how many well-known people are on this list."
"What about someone outside the circle?" Ava asked. "A reporter. A whistleblower. Someone with reach and nothing to lose."
Julian was quiet.
Then said, "There is one name."
***
By 10 a.m., Ava was in the passenger seat again as Julian drove into a nearby town. Small, quiet, and nestled into hills that made surveillance difficult. He parked the car behind an abandoned service station and grabbed a burner phone from the glove compartment.
He dialed.
Three rings.
Then a voice: "I told you never to call this number."
Julian's response was calm. "Then you should've destroyed it like I said. Is the offer still good?"
Silence. Then: "Where are you?"
Julian glanced at Ava. "Neutral ground. A library. One hour."
***
The man they met was older—late fifties, with a professor's beard and a hacker's paranoia. He wore gloves despite the heat and never stopped scanning the parking lot behind the small-town library.
"Julian," he said with a clipped nod. "Still alive. Shocking."
"This is Ava."
The man nodded. "You trust her?"
"With my life."
"Then let's talk fast."
Inside, tucked between dusty rows of political history books, they sat at a back table. Julian slid the drive across.
The man—Reed—studied it but didn't touch it.
"If this is the real thing," Reed said, "it'll burn half the art world to the ground."
"It is," Julian replied.
"And you're just giving it to me?"
"No. I want something in return."
Reed raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"
"Make it public. All of it. I want Noura's network exposed. But scrub my name. And hers. Just the deals. The money. The manipulation."
"You think exposing her without naming her will stop her?"
Julian's expression hardened. "I'm not trying to stop her. I'm drawing her out."
Ava looked at him, stunned. "Julian…"
"I'm tired of running," he said. "This time, *she* runs."
Reed stared at him for a long moment. Then picked up the drive.
"You know she'll come for you when this hits."
"I'm counting on it."
Reed stood, pocketed the drive, and nodded once at Ava. "You're in deep now, you know."
"I figured that out around the second kiss," she said coolly.
The man cracked a grin. "Good luck."
He vanished out the library's back door.
***
That night, back at the safehouse, the silence was heavier than before.
Ava curled against Julian, her voice barely above a whisper.
"You want her to come after you?"
"I want her to face me," he said. "This time on *my* terms."
Ava stared into the dark. "And when she does?"
Julian turned to her, eyes sharp with fire. "Then we end it. Together."
She turned to him, eyes steady. "Would we ever sleep without looking over our shoulders?"
Julian didn't answer.
And that was her answer.
Just then, a light snapped on inside the cabin.
They turned. Both froze.
The front door was open.
And a woman stood inside.
***
She was taller than Ava expected. Striking. Effortless. Dressed in a fitted coat the color of blood, hair pulled into a sleek knot. Her heels clicked softly on the wood floor as she walked in like she *owned* the place.
And maybe, in a way, she did.
"Hello, Julian," she said, voice velvet-smooth. "You've been busy."
Julian stepped in front of Ava instinctively. "Noura."
Noura smiled. "Still protecting things that don't belong to you."
Ava's heart raced, but she stood her ground. "He's not a thing."
Noura's eyes slid to her. "You must be Ava." A pause. "Cute. You look… temporary."
Julian's voice was low and lethal. "Why are you here?"
"Why else?" she said. "You poked the hive. Now the bees are coming. I'm offering you a way out."
"By doing what?"
"Give me the original backups. Not just what you leaked. *All* of it. The version that names me."
Julian's expression didn't move. "I destroyed it."
"You're lying."
Julian held her gaze. "Am I?"
Noura's smile faltered—for just a heartbeat.