I shook my head. “We filed a complaint yesterday. Standard procedure. But we didn’t know about Grey, and we didn’t know they had all this information on him.”
The realization still burned. Years of loyalty and they’d kept me in the dark. Used me as an asset rather than trusted me as an operative.
“So what now?” she asked.
“Now we get you and your family off this island,” I said. “Before Grey returns. Before the containment team arrives. Before this becomes even more of a shit show.”
She studied me, searching for something in my expression. “And after that?”
The question carried weight beyond the immediate crisis. I couldn’t offer promises I wasn’t certain I could keep.
“One problem at a time,” I said.
Her jaw tightened. “That’s what I thought.”
Before I could respond, Anton approached from the end of the corridor. “We’re all clear for now. Vehicles are being prepared.”
I nodded, grateful for the interruption despite the unfinished business between Shorty and me. “Get everyone assembled by the Jeeps. Twenty minutes.”
As Anton left, Isabella moved to follow him. I caught her arm gently. “Whatever you think of me, of the Paraskia, my priority is keeping you safe,” I said, meaning it morethan I should. “Trust that, even if you can’t trust anything else.”
She looked pointedly at my hand on her arm until I released her. “I’ve learned to be careful about what and who I trust, Zotov.”
The formality of her using my last name stung.
Had last night been a mistake that had only complicated an already dangerous situation?
Yet watching her move down the corridor, head high despite everything, I couldn’t bring myself to regret it.
We had what we needed to destroy Grey and shut down his operations. The evidence was secure. Everything was on track.
So why did it feel like I was losing everything?
26
ISABELLA
Istood at the edge of the gathered crowd and watched dark clouds gather on the horizon. The air felt strange, electric, and the wind blew my thin cotton shirt against my skin. A distant rumble of thunder carried across the water, and the smell of approaching rain filled my nostrils.
Shit. Normally, I’d welcome a good storm—there was something cleansing about violent weather—and it somehow reflected the feelings I’d been holding inside ever since I’d seen all this information in the Paraskia’s database.
But not today. Not when we were about to get off this island.
Four Jeeps were lined up in the gravel driveway, engines humming. I gripped the strap of my bag tighter. I didn’t really arrive with anything, so everything inside was things gifted to me…and the encrypted drive containing the evidence we’d extracted from the Paraskia database.
Why hadn’t Ivan demanded it back? Did he really trust me enough to keep it?
I looked over to him. He didn’t look happy. But no one else did either. The tension radiating from everyone present was palpable—Vince’s tight jaw, Fee’s darting eyes, and Anton and Cristo’s watchful stances.
We were so close to leaving. So damn close. Wasn’t this what I wanted, to leave this whole nightmare behind?
I glanced at Ivan again. Well, I didn’t expect to fall for my kidnapper…and especially not for a Russian brute like Ivan Zotov. Maybe that was why his noncommitment was needling me so much.
I looked up when Roman and Mila arrived in one of the Jeeps, their expressions immediately telling me something had gone terribly wrong.
“Bad news,” Mila announced, slightly breathless. “We can’t leave yet.”
Vince stepped forward. “What do you mean, we can’t leave?”
