Chapter 53

Ali's been making moves. Be careful. He's not done with you yet."

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as the weight of the message settled over me. Ali's reach was long, and his desperation would make him dangerous. But I couldn't let him win. Not now. Not after everything I had fought for.

I stared at the screen, my mind working quickly. Dimitri and I had come this far, and we were so close to ending Ali's reign once and for all. But this was the moment of reckoning. Ali wouldn't go down easily.

And neither would I.

The next day, I found myself standing outside the door to Dimitri's office, my heart pounding in my chest. Today was the day everything changed. Today, we would make our move. Ali had underestimated me for the last time.

I took a deep breath and knocked. When Dimitri called out for me to enter, I pushed the door open with a sense of purpose I hadn't felt in a long time.