Chapter 9 - The Last SokolovValerio’s smile vanished immediately. He stepped away from the bed, putting the phone to his ear. "What news, Lucian?"
"Nikolai Sokolov... your father-in-law," Lucian said, his voice crackling with static. "He didn't die fifteen years ago."
Valerio’s eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about? His death certificate was verified by Interpol."
"It was faked," Lucian revealed. "He’s been held in a black-site prison in Siberia by the high command of the Russian Bratva for the last decade and a half. They were trying to force him to give up the biological key."
Alessia stood up from her chair—actually stood up, her legs shaking slightly as she leaned against the medical table for support. "Valerio? What is it? What about my father?"
Valerio looked at her, his heart heavy with the weight of the revelation. "Alessia... your father is alive."
The room went dead silent.
Alessia’s breath hitched in her throat. "Alive...? But... I saw his grave. I visited it every year..."
"They kept him alive to extract the formula," Lucian continued over the phone. "And Valerio... they just found out that Eleanor’s raid failed and that Alessia is in Geneva. A Vanguard strike team just boarded a supersonic transport plane out of Moscow. They are coming for her. ETA thirty minutes."
Valerio’s eyes turned to ice. The peaceful, retired life he had promised her just minutes ago dissolved into thin air.
"Dr. Cole," Valerio barked, his voice returning to his authoritative mafia command tone. "Prep the medical transport. We are evacuating now."
"Where can we go?" Dr. Cole asked frantically. "If the Bratva high command is moving, nowhere in Europe is safe!"
Valerio looked at Alessia. She met his gaze, her shaking legs finding stability, her posture straightening with a newfound strength she had inherited from her father.
"We aren't running anymore," Alessia said, her voice surprisingly firm.
Valerio stared at her. "Alessia, they have military-grade hardware—"
"They have my father," she interrupted, stepping toward him without using her brace, taking two solid steps on her own feet. "For fifteen years, I thought I was alone. I thought my family was dead. I'm not going to hide in Switzerland while he suffers in a Siberian prison."
Valerio looked at her, a mixture of shock and intense pride swelling in his chest. He walked over to her, cupping her cheeks with his hands.
"You want to go to Russia?" he asked softly.
"I want to finish this," she declared, her eyes blazing with determination. "Together."
Valerio grinned, a dangerous, wicked smile. "Then we need more guns."
He pulled out his secondary phone and dialed an international number.
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"Who are you calling?" Alessia asked.
"The only people crazy enough to invade a Siberian black-site," Valerio replied as the line picked up. "My old friends from the CIA."
