Ivan smiles at me, then looks back at Misha. “It would seem they have gravely miscalculated whose side I might be on. I would never stand for such...abomination. I hope you know that. If I ever found out something like that happened to my daughter, well…Let’s just say their lack of judgment just gave us a real chance to finally get rid of them and anyone else they are working with.”
All I can do is nod as tears well in my eyes. The kindness Ivan has shown me,is currently showing me, it’s more than even that of my own father. I’ve never talked about what happened in Russia to anyone, and especially not to Igor Taranov. He wasn’t a monster like his father before him, but he would have neverbelieved me. He admired me, and I was always certain of that. But in the back of my mind, I knew not to push my luck. His respect would have gone out the window the second I tried to play the victim of abuse. Misha is the only one who has ever known, and that’s exactly how I would like to keep it.
Ivan’s expression softens as my tears begin to fall. “I don’t need you to tell me everything, dear, just enough so that we can cut out that cancer once and for all.”
He reaches across the desk with a tissue and waits patiently as I pull myself together. A few calming breaths are all it takes in order to think straight again, and I dive into my past. With my mental breakdown out of the way, I’m ready to do anything and everything to finally give those assholes what they deserve. Every name, every face, every action…I remember them all. And anything I leave out, Misha is quick to include. Ivan takes notes as we walk him through everything from the architecture of the building to the soldiers’ strengths and weaknesses.
It doesn’t take long to formulate our plan. Ivan is going to play the role of the misogynistic asshole they assume he is, and as long as I can act like a good submissive bride, it should be foolproof.
I’ll fly out today with Misha and a small group of our men, just enough so that we don’t set off any alarms. Ivan isn’t supposed to be coming for several days, closer to the wedding date, but he’s going to sneak in by using his wife Blanche’s family plane to a nearby country, then cross the border by train.
It’s genius, really. The Bratva boss taking a passenger train into the country. Apparently, he knows a hacking genius who changed all the tickets on that route so that it will be filled with Taranov soldiers. The hacker has also made fake identification for all the men, so that if the train is stopped, there won’t be any legal problems. Hundreds of our men will be able to get into the area without notifying the Zadorovs or their allies.
Teddy will then fly over closer to the wedding with Ivan’s son, Sasha, posing as his father. Blanche is confident that with the proper makeup, the disguise will be foolproof.
Misha and the men who come with us will have five days to prepare the Zadorov fortress for the takeover. We’ll have to gain control of the tech, which Ivan’s guy is supposedly helping with, plant weapons throughout for our men when the time is right, and provide several entry points to sneak said men in…among other smaller tasks.
My only task is to behave.
Parting ways with Ivan, we head for the plane where our small group of men waits with an extra suitcase for both Misha and me.
Everything is ready to go, but there’s one call I’m waiting on before we take off. So all we have to do is sit and do nothing but…stress.
Luckily, Misha knows my tells. “Did you hear something thud under Ivan’s desk when we were making our plans?” he asks in an attempt to distract me, I’m sure.
“Ididhear something. It was when Ivan said he would fly in with the men—”
“Then he corrected himself and said he and his wife would fly…” Misha raises a brow, smirking. “You don’t think…”
“Holy shit! Do you think that was his wife?”
“He doesn’t seem like the kind of man who would mess around.”
“Damn, Blanche is freaky.”
Misha laughs, but before he can respond, my phone lights up with a call from Thatcher.Good, he got the news.I decline the call and silence my phone, then turn my attention to Misha. “Are you ready to go back to Russia?”
He takes my hand in his and kisses my knuckles. “Let’s do this, moya tsaritsa.”
Chapter 36
As nice agesture as it was, a private flight wasn’t what I needed. At least on a commercial flight, I would have a person or two to talk to, keeping my mind occupied. On top of everything, the Wi-Fi was out, so I really had nothing to do but get lost in my head. My anxiety rose higher with each new hypothetical scenario I created, until I was a sweaty mess. The moment we landed, I checked my phone for any reply from Mila, but again, nothing.
I contemplate calling again, but she has my latest text. She’ll call when she can. She’s probably just busy as fuck, the poor woman. This is just what life is going to be like with a Bratva boss. And as much as I miss her, as sad as it makes me when she doesn’t respond, I’ll gladly take this over a life without her completely.
Teddy and the Santori brothers wait for me on the tarmac, and my mood improves immediately. I shake Gabri’s hand and give Nikki a half hug before practically jumping into Teddy’s arms.
“Wow! This is quite the reception. I expected Teddy, but damn. Do the captains come out to welcome all the new transfers like this?”
Gabri lets out a single chuckle, but it’s Nikki who responds. “Only when our brother-in-law practically forces us to—Oww!”
Teddy punches Nickki in the arm, then corrects him. “He means to say, only for the most special transfers.”
“Yeah, what he said,” Nikki grumbles as he soothes his biceps. “Only for fellow captains anyway.”
“Well, thanks, guys. I was rushed down here. Is there some big meeting or practice we need to get to? Or, fuck, I don’t even know the address to the condo they supposedly set up for me. Would you guys happen to know any of that?”
Teddy scratches his neck in the way he always does when he’s hiding something. “Um, actually, we’re going to be practicing in the rink at my estate today. And you’re going to move in with me! When Ivan called this morning to tell me the big news, I immediately offered you a room. The estate is way too big anyway, and I’ve missed the hell out of you. He said he had men packing your stuff to send over, but I went ahead and picked up a few days’ worth of clothes and got all your favorite toiletries. Yay, right? We’re gonna be roomies.”
