The letter still sat on the glass desk as if it weighed more than it should. The image of the twins—playing around the pack—burned behind Sabrina's eyes long after she'd turned the photo face down. It wasn't the message alone that unsettled her. It was what lay beneath the ink.
She knew Leo. Too well. I knew how he operated. Nothing Leo Carter did was without ten layers of meaning, a dozen doors half-opened, and at least one exit left deliberately unlocked.
"Come back home. Or at least reach out to me." One month
He fucking had given me one month, and three weeks are now gone.
It read like concern. It's like a plea.
But it wasn't.
It was a test—or worse—leverage.
When Sabrina opened that envelope, she understood the real message: He knows where I am.
She stood, pacing the room slowly. The walls around her weren't closing in, but her thoughts were. The illusion of safety had evaporated. The reality was more apparent than ever: Leo had traced her—not recently, but likely months ago—and he'd sat on it.
She crossed to the reinforced window and stared out into the dark. Drones blinked faintly in the treetops, watching the world. Nia had activated lockdown protocols within seconds of Sabrina's reaction to the letter. No one entered or exited now without layers of clearance.
Sabrina pressed a hand to her chest. Her heart thudded—not from fear, but fury.
Why hadn't he told the others?
They would've signed that letter together if this were truly a call for peace or a reunion. They all would've come together. Leo had always been clever, always one step ahead—but this? This felt different. It wasn't just smart. It was calculated.
"What's his angle?" she muttered aloud.
Behind her, Nia entered, silent as always. She carried a fresh tablet, already loaded with encrypted data. "We did a fresh sweep. Nothing new on comms. But there's a 90% chance Leo's team accessed the outer surveillance perimeter six days ago."
"He's watching."
"Yes." Nia offered the tablet. "Options?"
Sabrina stared at the screen. The files were categorized as Meeting Points, Extraction Protocols, and Communication Traps. All things she'd helped design once. Now, she might have to use them.
"I need to know what he wants," she said finally.
Nia didn't speak, but her eyes were sharp. Concerned. And loyal.
"If he were going to out me, he would've done it already," Sabrina mused. "Which means this isn't about exposing me. This is about control."
"Or guilt," Nia said softly.
Sabrina gave a bitter smile. "Leo doesn't feel guilt. He feels debt. And he likes to settle his debts on his terms."
She sat again, tapping her nails against the desk.
The location would be key. If Leo were serious, he'd want to meet on neutral ground. But there was no such thing between them anymore. Every space was layered with history, layered with danger.
"Where would he expect me to go?" she asked aloud.
"Geneva," Nia said instantly. "It's where he built his network. And where your trail ends."
Sabrina considered it. It is neutral, high-security, and easy for both parties to vanish afterward, but I can't afford international travel now; it's too risky.
"And if I want control?"
Nia's answer came without hesitation. "Milan. You still have the emergency base beneath the safehouse on Via Foscolo. It was never tied to your identity. You could set the terms there."
Silence stretched.
Sabrina stared down at the photo again.
Leo knew. Leo had always known. But something had stopped him from going further from breaking her cover or dragging the others into it.
It meant he wanted something only she could give.
But what?
She stood again and moved to the tactical screen on the far wall. She tapped a few commands and brought up satellite overlays of key cities. She paused at each. The pattern of her movement and her disappearances all led here. He had followed them like breadcrumbs and was leaving his trail for her.
"Nia," she said. "Initiate a shadow trace on Leo's private channels. Passive. If he contacts any of them, I want to know within seconds."
"Understood."
Sabrina finally allowed herself to feel the truth under her fury.
He hadn't told the others.
He hadn't betrayed her. Not yet.
That scared her more than anything.
"What if he wants to trade?" she whispered.
Nia looked up. "What could he possibly want that you haven't already given up?"
Sabrina met her eyes. "Me."
She tapped the screen again, isolating a frequency. "Tell Xader I need the jet prepped for Melbourne. Forty-eight hours. Black manifest. No names."
"You're meeting him?"
Sabrina hesitated. Then nodded. "Yes. But on my terms."
Nia placed a firm hand on her shoulder. "Then we prepare."
And far away, across the quiet hum of a distant server farm, a single message blinked green on a screen only Leo Carter had access to:
"Received. Melbourne. 48 hours. Come alone."