Chapter 5 #2
I’d been thinking about it a lot since the whole thing went down.
He could have left those sleeper soldiers in our ranks for years, only telling them to act when he desperately needed them to.
I had a feeling that, in his mind, he had firmly believed his bounty on my father would have been more than enough to entice the best assassins in the world to end his life.
Then, with Father gone and Aleksandr in charge, Grandfather could keep his sleepers in our ranks and have them monitoring our every move and reporting back to him. Like little fucking spies.
Illayana thumped the side of her closed fist down onto the table. “That old fucking bastard,” she growled. “He not only put a hit out on Father, but he ruined your going-away party! I say fuck him. Let him find someone else to marry Anya Tarasova. We shouldn’t lift a goddamn finger to help him.”
Aleksandr, Nikolai, Father, and I all exchanged an awkward look with one another.
Illayana didn’t know the real—well, the only—reason the marriage with Anya was going through. She didn’t know Grandfather had threatened her. Forced us into it. Hadn’t given us any choice in the matter.
Her spine snapped straight. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “What?” she asked, looking between us.
“What, what?” I held up one of my mini burgers, offering it to her in an attempt to distract her. “Have you tried these? They’re orgasmic—”
She slapped it out of my hand.
I gasped. “Illayana!”
“You lot just shared a look. What was it for?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Aleksandr cleared his throat, sitting up a little straighter. “Now, we need to—”
Three.
“—come up with—”
Two.
“—some sort of—”
One.
The sound of a chair scraping across the ground echoed throughout the kitchen, like nails on a chalkboard. Illayana stood, hands placed firmly on the table in front of her, a dark, murderous look in her eyes.
“That’s bullshit,” she hissed. “You guys are hiding something. I know that look. It’s your don’t tell Illayana look.”
“Paranoid much,” I scoffed under my breath, even though she was totally right.
“What was that?” she snapped.
“Nothing. Jeez. Someone’s moody today.” A thought streaked through my head, and I whipped out my phone, checking my calendar. “Oh, no.”
“What? What is it?” Nikolai asked instantly, his face a mask of concern.
I swallowed nervously. “The Red Dragon,” I whispered, my voice trembling with fear.
Autumn’s brows slammed down into a frown. “The Red Dragon? Who’s that? I’ve never heard of that assassin before.”
“It’s not an assassin. It’s what they call me when I’m on my period. And I know what you’re trying to do. It’s not going to work. Unlike you, I’ve matured and can put my anger to the side.” Um, fucking rude. “What aren’t you guys telling me?”
I slumped in my chair. “You’re no fun anymore. What happened to the reckless Illayana? The fun Illayana? The Illayana who would shoot first before calming down?”
“She grew up. Maybe you should try it sometime,” she bit back.
“Ouch. And uncalled for.”
“Enough,” Aleksandr barked. He rubbed his forehead, a slight grimace on his face.
He glanced at Father. Neither of them said anything.
They just stared at each other, but I knew that stare held mountains of words none of us could decipher.
They were having some sort of silent conversation the rest of us were not privy to.
Father nodded ever so slightly—barely a movement of the head—but it was clear he was giving his blessing for something.
Not that Aleksandr needed it. He was Pakhan. He could do whatever he damn well pleased. He could order our father to strip naked and do the Macarena if he wanted. Not that Father would do it, but you get the gist.
Aleksandr sighed. Drea rubbed his back supportively. He locked eyes with Illayana. Tension hung in the air.
Oh, she isn’t going to like this.
“Grandfather made it very clear,” Aleksandr began slowly, picking his words very carefully. “Either one of us marry Anya Tarasova, or something bad will happen to you.”
Up until that point, Arturo had sat calmly at Illayana’s side, not overly engaging in conversation except for a few comments and questions here and there. But at Aleksandr’s words, he snapped right into focus, like a snake coiled to strike.
A myriad of emotions streaked across Illayana’s face, as easy to read as a book. Shock. Confusion. Anger.
Guilt.
The guilt held as her gaze moved to me. “It’s because of me?” she asked softly.
I liked to rouse on her a lot. Pick on her and make fun of her. But it was all in good fun. No big brother really wanted to see their little sister hurt. Or…God forbid…cry.
I eased the situation with a joke that held a smidgen of the truth. “Let’s be realistic here. This is probably the only way I’ll ever get married anyway. I’m pretty sure I was destined to go down the bachelor route otherwise.”
Her face scrunched up. She didn’t like the idea that I was being forced into something I didn’t want to do because of her. I couldn’t really blame Illayana. I’d have felt the same way if our situations were reversed.
That slightly vulnerable look disappeared, replaced with a burning anger that threatened to set the room ablaze. “Fuck. That,” she snarled. “Your someone is out there, Lukyan. You shouldn’t have to give up your life because our bastard of a grandfather said so.”
I was pretty sure I’d already met her.
“What are you doing about this?” Arturo asked Aleksandr roughly. “You just going to sit there and allow that man to threaten your sister? My wife?”
Aleksandr sat up that little bit straighter and stared Arturo down, a heavy cloud of darkness surrounding him. Arturo stared back, unintimidated.
They were like two apex predators, locked in an intense battle where the loser had every chance of catching a bullet to the head.
I leaned toward Nikolai. “Care for a wager? I think Aleksandr will kick his ass,” I whispered, shaking a $100 bill in the air.
“Shut up, Lukyan,” Illayana snapped.
I poked my tongue out at her. “You shut up.”
Drea laid a hand on Aleksandr’s shoulder. Calmness seemed to wash over him right before our eyes. He ran his tongue over his top front teeth. “What I am doing,” he began, calm but cold, “is sending my youngest brother halfway around the world to kill him.”
I clicked my fingers on both hands as I shaped them into guns, pointing them at Arturo while pumping my eyebrows up and down and clicking my tongue. “That’s me.”
He gave me a deadpan look before turning back to Aleksandr. “No offense, but that’s not good enough.”
“Um, offense fucking taken,” I snapped back.
“Lukyan, be quiet,” Aleksandr ordered.
I did as he demanded, but under protest. I gave Arturo a scalding glare so the fucker knew it wasn’t over.
“I want something done now,” Arturo continued. “Nobody threatens the future mother of my children and lives.”
Illayana stared at him, making lovey-dovey eyes. I stuck a finger down my throat and gagged. She scowled at me.
“I have someone,” Arturo said, completely oblivious to Illayana and me. “He’s quick. Efficient. Lethal and discreet—”
“No offense,” I mocked, giddy that I got to throw those words back in his stupid face, “but it doesn’t matter how good your guy is.
Grandfather’s complex is locked up tighter than Area 51.
And don’t give me any bullshit about Area 51 not being real.
It is. Did you see the government just released confirmation they’ve been in contact with extraterrestrial beings—”
“Lukyannnnn,” Father, Aleksandr, and Nikolai dragged out with collective sighs.
“Okay, okay, fine. We’ll circle back to that.
The point is, no one can get close to the man unless he wants you to.
He’s got twelve-foot concrete walls surrounding the entire complex.
Motion detectors. 360-degree cameras. Round-the-clock manned sniper towers.
He travels with a twelve-guard team in a state-of-the-art SUV with tinted, bulletproof windows and bulletproof tires.
The only way to get to him is with a small army.
Or for him to let you right through the front door.
” I leaned back in my chair and spread my arms out wide, giving a dazzling smile. “That would be me.”
“You guys can’t still seriously be considering this,” Illayana interjected, her gaze whipping around the room. “I understand why you initially agreed to it, but we shouldn’t be doing a goddamn thing for that man. Let him try to send someone after me. Let him fucking try.”
Arturo’s jaw clenched. He said nothing, even though it was clear he wanted to. It looked like he’d learned from past mistakes.
“It’s a means to an end,” Drea tried to reason. “By agreeing, it gives Lukyan, your father, and Autumn a way into his complex. It gives them an opportunity they would never be afforded under normal circumstances. An opportunity to get up close and personal with Sergei without arousing suspicion.”
“But he will be suspicious. Am I the only one who can see that? He tried to force Autumn to kill Father. And when she didn’t, Grandfather sent assassins after him instead.
He will have heard from his spies that they’re together.
Any reasonably intelligent person would assume that meant Autumn told Father he was trying to have him killed.
What’s to stop Grandfather from killing them all the minute they step through his gates? ” Illayana argued.
“We’ve been over this a dozen times,” Nikolai stressed, rubbing his temples.
“Well, I want to go over it again.”
“Yes, Princess. Anything you say, Princess,” I droned.