Nathan POV
Nathan's phone rang while he was still watching Elena process the truth about her mother.
He recognized the number. Dimitri.
Nathan let it ring three times before answering. He needed Elena to leave the office first. He needed to take this call alone.
"Elena, I need you to go to the conference room," Nathan said quietly. "Wait for me there. Don't call anyone. Don't tell anyone what you just saw."
Elena nodded. She was still in shock, still processing everything. She grabbed her bag and left without asking questions.
Nathan waited until she was gone before picking up the phone.
"Hello, Dimitri," Nathan said.
"You hired her," Dimitri said. His voice was calm but there was something underneath it. Something dangerous.
"Yes."
"You hired the journalist who's been investigating you," Dimitri continued. "The one I told you about three months ago. The one I told you to eliminate."
"I know who she is," Nathan said.
"Then you also know she's a problem," Dimitri said. "She's a problem that needs to be handled. She's a problem that you need to solve right now or you're going to lose everything."
Nathan stood and walked to his window. The city sprawled beneath him. Millions of people living their lives without understanding that men like Dimitri existed. Without understanding that the world was controlled by people willing to do anything to maintain their power.
"I'm not eliminating her," Nathan said.
Dimitri was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke again, his voice was different. Colder. Softer. The kind of voice that had ordered murders. The kind of voice that had ordered Nathan's family killed.
"You know, Nathan, I've been thinking about your investigative journalist," Dimitri said conversationally. "Elena Park. Interesting woman. Very dedicated to justice. Very dedicated to her mother."
Nathan's jaw tightened.
"Her mother is in the hospital," Dimitri continued. "Such a fragile woman. All those health problems. Heart condition. Anxiety. She's so vulnerable right now. It would be terrible if something happened to her. An infection. A medication error. A fall. These things happen in hospitals all the time."
"Don't touch her," Nathan said quietly.
"You're not in a position to make demands," Dimitri said. "You're in a position to do what I tell you. Fire the girl. Make her disappear. Or watch everyone you care about disappear instead."
Dimitri hung up.
Nathan stood in the silence of his office and felt something shift inside him. For three years he'd been living under Dimitri's thumb. For three years he'd been gathering evidence while staying submissive. While staying controlled. While pretending that he was too scared to do anything.
But that was before Elena.
That was before he'd looked into her eyes and recognized something in her that reminded him he was still alive. That was before he'd realized that some things mattered more than survival. Some things mattered more than staying safe.
Nathan picked up his phone and called his personal assistant.
"Find the top cardiac specialists in the country," Nathan said. "I need them available within the next two hours. Cost is not a consideration. I also need a medical director who can handle private patient transfers. Hospital administration can't know about this. It has to be done quietly."
"Yes, sir. Where do you want the specialists?" his assistant asked.
"Mercy General Hospital," Nathan said. "Elena Park's mother is a patient there. Room 412. Her name is Park Soon-Jin. I need her transferred to a private facility with the best specialists money can buy. I'm paying for everything. Use my private account. Do not charge this to company expenses."
"This is highly irregular, sir," his assistant said.
"I don't care," Nathan said. "Make it happen."
Nathan hung up and called Marcus, his head of security.
"I need you to increase protection around Elena Park's mother," Nathan said. "Quietly. I don't want Elena to know. I want someone at the hospital at all times. I want surveillance on her mother's room. I want immediate notification if anything unusual happens. Dimitri Volkov has just made a threat against her."
"Understood," Marcus said. "We'll get security in place within the hour."
"Also," Nathan added, "I need you to prepare a secure location. Somewhere Dimitri can't touch. Somewhere Elena and her mother can go if things escalate."
Nathan hung up and sat at his desk. His hands were steady but his mind was moving in a hundred directions at once.
Dimitri had just made a mistake. Dimitri had just shown Nathan exactly how much Elena mattered. Dimitri had just given Nathan the push he needed to stop being careful and start being dangerous.
Nathan opened his secure files and pulled up the evidence he'd been gathering for three years. Everything. Every document. Every recording. Every witness statement. Everything he needed to destroy Dimitri completely.
Then he called his lawyer.
"I'm going to contact federal agents," Nathan said. "I'm going to give them evidence of organized crime, money laundering, murder, bribery, and racketeering. I'm going to cooperate fully in exchange for a reduced sentence. I need you to handle the negotiations."
"Mr. Cross, that's—" his lawyer started.
"It's happening," Nathan said. "Prepare for it."
Nathan waited two hours. Two hours for his assistant to confirm that Elena's mother had been transferred to the best private hospital in the country. Two hours for Marcus to confirm that security was in place. Two hours to prepare himself for what came next.
Then he called Dimitri back.
Dimitri answered on the first ring like he was expecting the call.
"I'm not firing Elena Park," Nathan said quietly. "And if you touch her mother, I'm releasing everything I have against you to federal agents. I'm talking about documents. Bank records. Wire transfers. Recordings of you ordering murders. Recordings of you admitting to killing my family. Everything."
"You wouldn't dare," Dimitri said. But there was uncertainty in his voice.
"I trained under the best," Nathan said. "You taught me how to play this game, Dimitri. You taught me how to gather information. You taught me how to build cases. You taught me how to survive. The only thing you didn't teach me is how to stop."
Nathan's voice was ice.
"I've been preparing to destroy you for three years," Nathan continued. "I have enough evidence to put you in prison for life. I have enough evidence to take down your entire operation. The only reason I haven't released it yet is because I wanted to do this carefully. But you just gave me a reason to stop being careful."
"You're making a mistake," Dimitri said.
"Maybe," Nathan said. "But it's my mistake to make. And you're not going to touch Elena Park. You're not going to touch her mother. You're not going to touch anyone else. Because if you do, federal agents will have everything they need before the sun comes up the next morning."
Nathan hung up before Dimitri could respond.
His hands were shaking but his mind was clear. He'd just declared war. He'd just burned the bridge between himself and the man who'd controlled his life for fifteen years. He'd just made a choice that would cost him everything.
But it was the right choice. Because some things mattered more than safety. Some things mattered more than power.
Elena mattered more.