Chapter 31 Alexei
Alexei
I wait until they’re by the fence before I give the signal to my guards. In a flash, we emerge from the underground tunnels into the cover of the trees and surround my wife and her brothers. The rest of the Molotov assault crew have already been neutralized, knocked out by a neurotoxic gas.
I don’t know what I expected from Alina—maybe some sign of guilt or disappointment that her brothers’ elaborate rescue plan failed?—but at the sight of me, she screams my name and begins fighting Konstantin’s hold so hard I’m afraid she’ll injure herself.
“No!” Alina struggles harder. “Alexei, don’t!”
She breaks free and launches herself at me.
I catch her with my free arm and cage her tightly against my side.
Despite my fury at her betrayal, something inside me softens at the feel of her slender body pressed against me, at the sweet, delicate scent of her that’s now as familiar to me as the way she looks first thing in the morning, all soft and sleepy, jade eyes hazy and filled with warmth as she whispers, “I love you.”
Deceptive warmth, deceptive words, I remind myself, but it doesn’t seem to matter.
Liar or not, I still want her, still crave her, still need her more than food, water, or air.
She’s mine, and she’ll always be mine, no matter how hard she tries to fight it.
She’s shaking, I can feel it, and I don’t think it’s just from the cold. Her distress is unbearable to me. I gesture at my men, and they step in front of us, further separating us from her brothers, both of whom are glaring at me with unconcealed hatred.
Once I’m sure the Molotovs are no threat, I drop my weapon and pull Alina fully into my embrace, wanting to console her, even though her tears are most likely from the disappointment that her escape plan failed.
Except she wraps her arms around me and squeezes so hard my ribs hurt, her face pressing against my shoulder as sobs rack her body.
“I th-thought—” She’s crying so hard she seems unable to get the words out.
“I thought you were… dead. In the explosion. Or… or burning alive.”
She’s hyperventilating, and to my shock, I realize she’s melting down. Over what could’ve happened to me.
This isn’t an act. Nobody is that good at acting.
Except she almost had me convinced before, almost had me trusting that she loved me, that the harmony between us for the past two months was real.
I was already letting go of my doubts when my hackers alerted me to a subtle inconsistency in the camera feeds from the Geneva police station, and I realized the whole Birgit thing was a setup.
Alina’s brothers—likely with her participation—invented the crisis in order to focus my attention elsewhere while they finally launched their long-awaited “rescue” operation. An operation that successfully bypassed all of my security measures except one.
The moment I learned of their deception, I activated Plan C, a failsafe protocol that no one, not even my guards, knew about.
As our cameras fed us fake images and the Molotovs’ stealth robots planted explosives, my men and I disappeared deep underground while tiny gas grenades inside the fence went off, knocking out the Molotovs’ support team, so when Alina’s brothers arrived with their stolen prize in tow, there was no one there to assist in their getaway.
Instead, my men and I were waiting.
I hug Alina tighter, her tears soaking into my shirt above my bulletproof vest while I battle a peculiar mixture of relief, rage, bitter disappointment, and joy.
She tried to leave me again, as deep down I knew she would.
Tried and failed. I still have her, and now the truth is out in the open, so why am I so reluctant to accept it, the knowledge that despite everything, she still wants to run from me?
Why am I still having doubts, only now in the opposite direction?
Why am I hoping that these tears mean she regrets what she has done? That the way she struggled against Konstantin’s hold and ran to me were signs she was actually glad to see me alive?
I wait until she calms a bit before gesturing to my guards to take her brothers away. Which is when I notice the tiny smirk on Valery’s face and see the red dots all over my men’s chests.
Fuck.
I look up.
Hovering silently over us, some ten meters above, are drones. The kind of drones I’ve never seen before, made entirely of a reflective silvery material that would make them all but impossible to spot from a distance.
Stealth drones. Military grade. Likely remote-piloted with AI assistance, given the precision of those laser dots.
A red dot dances over my arm.
Adrenaline fires through me, clearing my mind like nothing else can. Swiftly, I separate from Alina and back up several steps.
I can’t risk the drone misfiring and hitting her instead of me.
Valery’s smirk stretches into a cold, hard smile. “You got it. Now tell your men to back away from us… if they want to live, that is.”
Alina looks confused at first, but then she must see the red dot on me. A gasp escapes her lips, and she whirls around to face her brothers—and then she looks up, likely having seen more red dots on my men.
“Valery?” Her voice quavers. “What the fuck is this?”
Interesting. Is she not in on this part of the plan?
Maybe not. Her youngest brother is known for his convoluted, impenetrable plans that are often only revealed as such at the end. Though Konstantin clearly knew about the drones because he calmly adjusts his glasses, not the least bit surprised by what’s happening.
“Tell your people to back the fuck up and drop their weapons,” Valery repeats, his tone hardening further, and I grit my teeth but do as he says.
I don’t want bloodshed. Not in front of Alina. Not when she’s been doing so much better mentally and emotionally.
Even as rage burns in my veins, I tell myself that this is just a temporary setback. There’s a plan D. No matter where they take her, no matter how well they try to hide her, I will get her back.
I’ll uproot the whole fucking world to retrieve her if I have to.
At my command, my guards leave their visible weapons on the ground and step away, clearing the path between Alina and her brothers. I expect her to bolt toward them, but she doesn’t.
As Konstantin starts toward her with long strides, she throws herself at me.
Reflexively, I catch her, my heart thudding as she wraps her arms around my waist, clinging to me with a death grip. Remembering the drone overhead, I try to separate her from me, but she doesn’t let go.
“Alina.” Konstantin stops a few feet away. His voice is tense. “We need to go. Now.”
“No!” Still clinging to me, she turns her face toward her brothers.
Her eyes are narrowed and her teeth bared, a tigress in battle mode.
There’s no hesitation in her voice, nothing but furious conviction as she hisses, “Take your fucking drones and your bombs, and leave! This is my home, my husband, my people”—she flings her hand out toward my guards—“and you are fucking trespassing.”
Konstantin glances at Valery, clearly uncertain as to how to proceed.
Alina’s youngest brother steps forward, his tone turning soothing. Like he’s cajoling a small, unreasonable child. “Alina… I know this is scary, but he can’t hurt you anymore. We’ll ensure he doesn’t come after you. You’re going to be safe and—”
“I don’t want to be safe!” She’s all but vibrating with fury at my side. “I want him. I’ve told you that, over and over again, but you don’t fucking listen! He is my husband, the man I love, the man I’m meant to be with, and you two need to accept that, once and for all!”
My heart pounds madly, each word detonating in my brain with the force of a nuclear warhead. This is it. This is her chance to leave me—for good as far as she knows—and she’s not taking it.
Because she doesn’t want to leave.
This wasn’t her initiative.
She… actually loves me.
That wasn’t a lie or a ploy.
Valery must realize it too because he stops, all emotion leaving his face. His voice is toneless. “So you truly wish to stay? To be married to him?”
“Yes!” Alina all but spits the word at him. “Like I’ve told you a million times before. Yes, yes, yes! Take your drones and fucking go. Both of you. Now!”
Valery looks at Konstantin, and some wordless communication passes between them. Then they turn and leave, disappearing through a hole in the fence some ten meters away. The red dots disappear from my men’s chests as the drones soundlessly lift higher and vanish into the blue sky.
Releasing a breath I was holding, I signal to my men, and they disperse to do damage control and salvage what remains of the burning building. Then and only then do I press the button in my pocket, informing Ruslan that plan D—the final contingency—won’t be needed.
That he and his men, who were to follow Alina in case her brothers succeeded in taking her from me, can stand down as well.
Breathing shakily, Alina moves to separate from me, but I don’t let her.
Instead, I turn her to face me. For a beat, we just stare at each other, and then, in a single instant, we come together, our mouths fusing violently, our hands ripping at each other’s clothes as we sink to the ground, heedless of the crackle of flames in the distance and the icy snow melting under our bodies.
Oblivious to anything except each other.