Suddenly, she hurriedly pulled her left arm out of her jacket and touched the CGM attached to the back of her arm, then lifted her burning gaze to mine.
I was dead.
Chapter 10
Sienna
“I’m sorry, my battery is dead,” I apologized as my sister sighed on the other end of the line. “Honestly, Sienna, you scare me like that. You didn’t even tell me where you were going,” she complained, and I grimaced. She was right, especially given her situation. She shouldn’t have been subjected to that kind of stress. Nikolai must have hated me for it.
“I went to a friend’s wedding. I’m sorry I didn’t warn you,” I apologized again, glancing toward the two men who were talking. My gaze landed once more on the bandage around Sasha’s hand and my lips pressed together.What an idiot. As if punching something would solve his problems.Men, seriously.
“Whatever. At least I knew you were alive thanks to your CGM. Thank God I listened to Sasha,” Selina muttered and I froze, my gaze staring into nothing. “What did you say?” I asked, the world seeming to stop around me, “Sasha saw how worried I was, so he bought a CGM for you to wear, so I could monitor your blood sugar,” my sister explained innocently and my breath cut off.
It was Sasha who had asked my sister to make me wear the CGM? He was the one who had brought it to her? Nausea rose so fast I pressed my hand to my lips and closed my eyes. He hadn’t done that, had he? No one here would ever betray me by telling him where I was. He had found me another way. “I’ll see you when I get back, Selina,” I said before hanging up, then opened the menu on Sasha’s phone, turning slightly away from him and Kenji.
I quickly found the application connected to my CGM and opened it, the first thing that appeared wasn’t my glucose level.It was a map, a map with a blue dot and a red dot. Both dots blinking on top of each other.
I blinked as the information finally reached my brain. I hastily pulled up the sleeve of my jacket and looked at the device attached to my arm, as if seeing it would make the discovery more real. He had dared. He had tagged me like an animal, like… like Antonio had done to my sister. I turned sharply and lifted my gaze to his, meeting his eyes as rage, but above all fear, froze my blood.
What if I hadn’t noticed? What if I had gone to see Vassili? What if he had followed me? What if I had been with a client? He would have discovered everything, he would have known what I was. What I did.
For now, I shoved the fear aside. I focused on my rage otherwise I would break, otherwise I would collapse. I stormed toward him and shoved him with all my strength, but I was nothing compared to him. He only took one step back. “Fucking asshole!” I screamed, pushing him again as he stared at me with a stone-cold face. “A GPS? Seriously, Sasha?!” I yelled as his jaw tighten. He didn’t like being attacked like this and neither did I like being tagged like an animal. My anger flared as I watched him keep that fucking marble mask, and I decided to tear it off once and for all. I screamed, throwing his phone against his chest, then lunged at him, nails out, ready to claw his face but Kenji’s arm wrapped around my waist, lifting me off the ground. “Let me go!” I screamed, thrashing, but he didn’t release me, from the corner of my eye, I saw Ashwin, Kamal, and other men I knew approaching.
“Calm the fuck down, Enna!” Kenji growled, dodging my headbutt. “Calm down?! Calm down?!” I repeated, staring at him over my shoulder in disbelief. “He tagged me like an animal, Kenji!” I screamed, pointing at the idiot in front of me who nevertook his eyes off me. “As if you had never done”. Kenji muttered against my ear and I gave him an angry look.
I tore myself out of my Shadow’s grip but stayed where I was, a good meter away from Sasha because if I got closer, I would attack, and it would end in blood.
“He tagged me like Antonio did to my sister,” I spat through clenched teeth and I saw it. My words hit him. His mask cracked. “Never compare me to that son of a bitch again,” he growled, taking a step toward me but I shook my head, pointing a finger at him.
“You’re the one who acted like him. I’m not making anything up,” I said and I felt them rising. They were there. Those traitors.
Sasha opened his mouth, probably to defend himself in some pathetic way for an attorney of his caliber but it stayed open as his eyes widened when he saw the tears I was barely holding back.
“Thank you, Sasha Ivanov,” I hissed with a bitter smile, and I saw him go pale at my tone. “Thank you for proving you were never worthy of my trust. Thank you for stopping me from making the same mistake a second time”. I ripped the CGM from the back of my arm with a tired gesture and threw it at his feet but his eyes never left my face as he grew more and more lost in front of my gaze. There was nothing left of the Russian mafioso, nothing left of the confident lawyer, “Sienna,” he said, taking another step toward me but a wall rose between us. A wall made of the men who had raised me, educated me, protected me for the past nine years and I thanked them silently once again.
I pulled my jacket sleeve back on and headed for the parking lot, followed by my Shadow, leaving behind the bitter taste of betrayal… but also the blue of peace.
It was an opportunity I had to seize. If my coldness and indifference didn’t drive him away, then maybe my hatredwould. And I read it in Kenji’s eyes as he opened the car door for me.
This time… it might actually work.
—
I adjusted my balaclava over my face and glanced at Kenji, who did the same before giving me a brief nod. I opened the door leading to the basement of the gym where we often trained. It had been three days since the wedding and I hadn't been back to the Ivanovs' house. I didn’t want to see Sasha. I ignored his calls and messages asking where I was, whether I was okay, whether I was coming back soon. I didn’t bother answering, especially since I was speaking regularly with my sister, and he was probably manipulating her to get information, just like he had done with the CGM.
Fucking asshole.
The muffled cries of the man tied to a chair echoed through the nearly empty room while the two other men, two Shadows, dressed in balaclavas too, greeted me with a nod. Kenji dragged a chair across the floor, the sound making the man flinch. My Shadow placed the chair directly in front of him, and I sat down, crossing my legs and zipping my hoodie up to my neck. I didn’t want to risk him recognizing me if we ever crossed paths again. I signaled one of the Shadows, who removed the bag from the man’s head. The man blinked, disoriented, scanning his surroundings as I slowly studied Viktor Yelsky’s face, Pavel Yelsky’s cousin, and immediately noticed the resemblance. They both had the same asshole look on their faces. No psychology degree was needed to understand they were both first-class bastards. “Good evening, Viktor,” I said, folding my arms across my chest, his gaze snapped to me. “Fucking bitch! I’m goingto…” Kenji’s fist smashed into his jaw, tipping the chair over. He groaned as the two Shadows quickly set him upright again. “Let’s try again, shall we, asshole,” I sighed, resting my elbow on my knee and my chin in my palm, “Viktor. Good evening.” This time, he said nothing, at least he learned fast, “I hear you’ve been a very naughty boy these past few days,” I continued. He stared at me with such raw hatred I was almost surprised he didn’t burst into flames on the spot. At that level of fury, I half-expected smoke to come out of his ears. “Who the fuck are you?” he asked through clenched teeth and I shrugged. “A good Samaritan making sure the world keeps running the way it should,” I replied calmly. “And I’ve heard you’ve been throwing a wrench into that machinery” I sighed as I straightened.
“What do you want from me, you crazy bitch?!” he shouted, earning another blow from my Shadow that knocked him back again. This time, the Shadows stepped aside as I approached and knelt in front of him. “You see, Viktor,” I said softly, my voice sweet as honey. “My colleagues are real gentlemen. So mind your fucking language when you speak to a woman.”
I tapped his cheek with my gloved hand and his jaw tightened, which made me smile. Men and their egos, I fucking loved crushing them. The days when they took pleasure in humiliating and degrading us were over. I made sure of it. “Don’t worry, big guy,” I sighed, standing up. “You’re going home tonight, Vik” I returned to my chair and crossed my legs again. He looked at me with a frown, his cheek still pressed against the concrete. “And you’re going to do something for me.”
“What the hell do you want?” he spat. “You’re going to gather those poor men you threatened with all the lovely information you collected,” I explained, brushing imaginary dust off my pants. “And you’re going to take them to William Tremblay and say that you finally accept the merger with the Ivanovs”. He burst out laughing.
“Who the fuck is that? Who, huh?” he yelled, struggling against his restraints. “The Ivanovs? That fucking Tremblay? Who sent you?!” I simply sighed. Honestly, I’d met hundreds of angry men and the ones who screamed were always the weakest. The most dangerous ones were the silent ones
“It doesn’t matter,” I said calmly. “The only thing that matters is that you do what I say ” he laughed again. “You’re even dumber than I thought if you think…” he wheezed as my Shadow’s boot slammed into his stomach. “Language, Vik,” I reminded him, shaking my head gently. “And yes, you’re going to do exactly what I say,” I continued smoothly. “Or your wife is going to learn about the bastard you hid in Carberry” I smiled behind my mask as he froze, his eyes widening.
