Chapter 21 #2
"You are so fucking lucky that you're not feeling well right now," he mutters as he carries me back to bed. "I swear to god, I would redden that pretty ass of yours so damn fast.”
"Is that a promise?" I tease, trying to sound sultry, which only earns me an adorable growl.
He lays me back down, and I’m very reluctant to admit that it actually feels really good. Fresh sheets, clean linens, and a thick duvet still warm from the hot water bottle he tucked inside.
I sigh contentedly.
"See? It's not that bad. And I have a couple of other things to keep you busy too. First, Rafail has a job for you."
He grabs the huge tablet, rifles through a couple of apps, and taps one.
“See this? You can help. Yana is going to walk straight into Interpol and erase every shred of evidence they have on us.”
I blink. “I’m sorry, she’s doing what?”
Matvei doesn’t even look up. “You heard me. They’ve got files—names, locations, transactions. Your picture. It’s bad. Yana is the only one who can get inside without raising alarms, with your help.”
I stare at the screen, the official database pulled up in front of me. “And how does she plan on doing this?”
“That’s where you come in, of course. She needs an airtight cover—new credentials, backstory, access to codes. You’re going to make her disappear into the system.”
I exhale, already calculating the layers of forgery I’ll need to pull this off. “And if she gets caught?”
His expression darkens, and my heart thumps. “She won’t.”
Okay, alright.
I rub my hands together with glee.
I didn’t want to lie in bed all day because all I’d do is think about how uncomfortable I am. But now that I have a job to do? That’s so much better.
"But she doesn’t need that until tonight, so you can take your time. However, after that…" He smirks. "I downloaded a few things."
I flip through, my eyes widening at the details.
Wow, I love this.
"There are three different streaming apps for you. Zoya and Ember did give me a whole list of books for you to read, but I don’t trust them. They read mafia romance. Who the fuck does that?"
"Um, me? Starting today?"
He shakes his head, smirking at me.
"I downloaded a couple of games too. No idea what they are. They were highly rated.”
I narrow my eyes suspiciously. "Why did you do all this?"
"Because I’m trying to make sure that I don’t have to tie you to the bed," he says with practiced patience. Then he lowers his voice, and his eyes darken, half-lidded.
"Believe me, I have every intention of tying you to this bed. But not until you're better."
A shiver runs through me, heat pooling in my stomach.
“Wait. Did you buy me…a teddy bear?”
A caramel brown teddy sits at the foot of the bed.
He shrugs. “So what if I did?”
Then his phone rings.
"Under the covers," he orders. "I have to take this."
I curl up, flipping through the tablet with glee. It’s slick. And I love this next job.
Yana is intelligent and capable. I know precisely what kind of disguise I'm going to put her in.
And she's going to love it.
I’m flipping through my contacts, creating the document she needs, and making really good progress when I hear Matvei on the other line.
"No. Yeah, I know. Not this time."
But when I go to check through the apps here, I see a file folder. I click it out of curiosity and freeze when I see a familiar name on one of them.
Gleb.
My eyes dart to the door.
He's still talking, his voice rising and falling, deep in conversation.
I keep two browsers open, ready to shut one down the second I need to.
But I can't help myself.
My fingers tremble as I click on the file.
I turn the sound lower and stare at the footage in front of me.
My heart is in my throat.
On the screen, a man who looks exactly like Matvei—but younger, angrier—hangs by shackled wrists, his body bloodied and bruised.
Oh my god.
I don’t want to watch… but I can’t look away.
It’s a window into Matvei’s past. A glimpse of who I’m really dealing with.
I need to watch.
I need to see what happens.
I can’t make out who stands in front of him, but the deep voice from beneath a hood sounds like Rafail.
"Confess what you did to all of us. Details."
"I tricked you," the man says, voice shaking, equal parts angry and repentant. "I made you believe you were trapped in this, but the entire time, I knew it was a different woman. I knew they were identical. I knew you’d fall for it, that I could trick you into it."
"You conspired to make us enemies of the Romanovs."
They go on and on, discussing details I don’t fully understand. But every word that comes out of the man’s mouth convicts him further.
I know they’re going to kill him. I’m watching brutal history unfold while keeping an eye on the door because if he sees me watching this…
They fire off question after question, one after the other, until finally, Matvei steps forward.
"Recite the Vorovskoy Mir."
The prisoner’s face crumples.
"Matvei, please. You’re my brother. We grew up together. You can’t do this."
"Recite it."
Matvei doesn’t shout.
He doesn’t have to.
He strikes the man with something I can’t see, and the scream that follows makes me flinch.
Matvei’s voice is merciless. "You know the penalty for betrayal. But I want you to know exactly what you did that brought us here."
The door handle turns.
My breath catches.
I rush to click the X button, my hands shaking, and quickly move to the other browser window.
Matvei steps inside, looking down at his phone as he does.
"Making any progress?"
My heart aches.
He’s a monster.
But he’s my monster.
Maybe this is why he loves Edgar Allan Poe—the macabre, the dance with death, the horrible longing for peace that never comes.
Desperation.
Because sometimes, staring into darkness with your own two eyes makes the one you dwell in that much easier to handle.
I manage to speak. "Yeah, I’m making progress. I’ll have it done by the end of the day."
"All right," he says. "Take a break."
He winks at me, and my heart turns over in my chest.
"I don’t want Rafail to think you’ll do exactly what he says the moment he asks."
A smirk.
"I’m the only one who gets that privilege."
I scoff. "That’s what you think."