Chapter 33
MILA
The chill in the air isn’t the first thing that reminds me I’m back in Russia.
There’s an emptiness to my bed, and a hollow in my heart that drives needles of loss into me with every breath.
I shouldn’t miss him.
He was just a mark. A target. A tool to be used.
Then why does this hurt so badly?
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Tyler asks me from the rock above me.
I give him a tight-lipped nod. We didn’t drive a hundred kilometers and hike through a mountain to cling to a cliff’s edge if I wasn’t sure.
This is the only way to get eyes on Ivan’s compound without being caught.
“A damn drone would have been easier,” he grumbles as he hands me my pack.
“We need to get an idea of the layout in case I need to get the fuck out fast.” Laying on the cold earth, I prop up on my elbows with my binoculars to start taking notes.
After several moments of pensive silence, I hear Tyler scoff. “This is a suicide mission, Mila. There’s no fucking way you’re making it in and out with Daniil.”
That can’t be true. I’ve broken into some of the most impenetrable places in Russia.
“Every safe has a weakness. I just need to find it,” I snap back without lowering my field glasses.
He curses under his breath, but diligently writes more things down.
“What if—” I begin, but let my thought trail off.
It probably won’t work.
“Tell me. Any plan is better than what we currently have.” He shakes his head and gestures to the jagged landscape around us.
“I still have the USB drive. Tatiana seemed to want it desperately. What if I ask her for help in exchange?” This might be a bad idea.
Out of the frying pan into the fire.
Tyler’s expression as he turns to me makes me think he feels the same.
“That’s just as stupid. She’s going to own you, Mila.” His frown deepens.
“I don’t care at this point. She can use me for whatever she wants as long as Daniil is safe. I have my seven seconds,” I say quietly.
It will be the best memories of my life.
“You’ll be blood tied to her for life, Mila. It’s a huge fucking risk.” His voice is getting that stressed sound.
“I’m a walking time bomb. How long before Nikolai finds me and tries to end me? It doesn’t matter what I do now, I’m fucked. I need to save my brother.” I roll back over and stare at the compound below me.
It’s a damn fortress.
That’s built by a man who has gotten where he is from using people. He’s prepared for retaliation.
Tatiana is my only option.
I always forget how gorgeous and scary as hell she is in person.
This time is worse. I have something she wants, and I’m the one at her mercy.
“You have a lot of balls, Mila. I’m not sure if I should be impressed or furious at you.” Tatiana crosses her legs, revealing a slit in her ebony dress that exposes a pale thigh.
She brushes a lock of her long, black hair from her cheek as she brings a cigarette to her red lips. “Do I just kill you now? What reason should I have for helping you if you aren’t going to give me what I hired you to do?”
I’m struggling to not run away. She didn’t get to this level of power by being nice.
She may not have been in this position for long, and no one knows where she came from, but her violent reputation has spread quickly.
Everyone knows not to mess with her.
Yet here I am.
Tyler is standing quietly behind me. He tried to argue with me the entire way here.
There’s no other choice.
I have to take any risk to save Daniil.
“I have the drive. And, a request. I need help getting into Volkov’s estate. He has my brother.” My words all run together.
Her mouth purses and she stares at me until I shift uncomfortably.
“The item I sent you for isn’t worth the life of my men.” She leans forward letting smoke unfurl from her mouth like a dragon watching its prey. “What else can you possibly offer me to inspire my help?”
When I step forward, I can feel Tyler’s hand grab at my elbow.
Any risk.
“I have his diamonds. I’ll give them to you if you can get my brother out.”
“Mila!” Tyler hisses.
I wave him off.
Tatiana raises one sleek eyebrow. “Do you have a sample?” Her nails click as she snaps her fingers toward a well-dressed man standing near her.
He walks up to me with his palm extended.
I knew it’d come to this. Pulling out the only gem I brought, I place it in the middle of his hand.
And swallow around the lump in my throat when she picks it up.
“How many?” She takes another long drag off of her cigarette while she holds the diamond up to the light.
When I glance back at Tyler, he swiftly shakes his head.
“A whole bag of them. There’s at least two hundred.” I’m all in.
He groans behind me.
“Hmm. Fine. They’ll be your backup, you need to find your own assault team.” Tatiana flicks her ashes onto the marble-tiled floor. “And, bring me what I hired you for.” The smoldering end points first at my chest, then at Tyler’s. “If you don’t, you’re both going to pay.”
Tyler sharply inhales.
I know he’s going to say something, so I interject before he can.
“Deal.”
He manages to stay silent as I drag him outside.
“What the fuck did you do, Mila?” he hisses at me once we’re safely in my car.
“I did what I needed to. Don’t worry, we’ll get Daniil back.” My knuckles are white on the steering wheel driving away.
“Explain to me how we’re giving the diamonds to Ivan and her? One of them is gonna notice.”
He has that stressed sound again.
My nails dig into my palm to keep my voice from wavering. “We don’t.”