Chapter 14 – Isabella #2
“Indeed, you will.” Grey turned to the guards who had gathered outside the room. “Secure her separately. I want around-the-clock surveillance.”
“I’ll handle her personally,” Ivan volunteered, his tone leaving no room for argument. His hand came to rest on my shoulder, heavy and possessive.
Grey studied him for a long moment, suspicion evident in his gaze. “See that you do. And, Zotov? Don’t get too attached. She’s clearly too much for you to handle.”
“Got it,” Ivan replied evenly.
Something passed between them—some unspoken tension I couldn’t quite decipher. Grey’s lips thinned. “I’ll return tomorrow. We have much to discuss, Iset.” With one last predatory smile, he strode from the room toward the elevator, leaving a vacuum of tension behind him.
The moment he was gone, Mira rushed to me, throwing her arms around my neck. “Bella,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “What have you done?”
I hugged her tightly, breathing in her familiar scent. “What I had to do.”
“But now he knows,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “What will happen now? What will he do to you?”
I shrugged. I had no idea what was in store for me. “Don’t worry, I can handle Grey.”
“Can you?” Her eyes searched mine, filled with worry.
I smiled, then winked at her. “Better me than you, right?”
Before she could answer, Ivan cleared his throat. “Nina, take Mirabella back to her room.”
Nina hesitated, confusion still evident in her expression. “But—”
“Right now.” Ivan’s tone brooked no argument.
Nina nodded, stepped forward, and gently took Mira’s arm. “Come on,” she said softly. “You need to rest.”
As Nina led Mira away, my sister looked back at me, fear and confusion warring in her eyes. I gave her what I hoped was a reassuring smile. It’ll be okay, I mouthed, not fully believing it myself.
I might’ve told her I could handle Grey, but Ivan was another beast entirely.
I turned back around and locked eyes with him. The air between us felt charged, dangerous.
“You knew who I was, didn’t you?” I asked quietly. “All along.”
“Not all along,” he admitted.
In one quick stride, he crossed the distance and gripped my arms. His fingers were like steel bands around my biceps. “You and I need to talk.”
His fingers dug into my flesh as he dragged me from the communications center, down a series of corridors. The tension between us built with each step—a dangerous current humming between us.
Guards and staff moved out of our way, averted their eyes as if afraid to witness what was about to happen.
We reached a small security office. Ivan shoved me inside and followed close behind.
“Everybody out,” he barked.
The two security officers scattered out of the room, and Ivan locked the door with a decisive click. The room was tiny, barely big enough for a desk and two chairs. A bank of monitors showed different areas of the compound, but Ivan ignored them and focused entirely on me.
The moment we were alone, he exploded. “You’ve been playing me all along,” he growled, stalking toward me. His eyes were black fire.
I refused to back away and stood my ground despite the rage radiating from him. “I’m not the one who started this.”
He narrowed his brows. “But you lied to me.” His face was inches from mine, his breath hot against my skin. I could see the muscle ticking in his jaw, the vein pulsing at his temple.
“As if there’s a rule to be honest to your freaking kidnapper,” I said.
He growled.
I sighed. “So what if I lied,” I whispered defiantly, tilting my chin up. “It’s how I’ve survived this long.”
“Then why now?” he demanded. “Why admit to the truth?”
“Because I had no choice!” I shoved at his chest, but he barely budged. It was like pushing against a brick wall. “What was I supposed to do? Let him take Mira? Let him hurt her thinking she was me?”
“You could have told me!” His voice rose, echoing in the small space. “You could have trusted me!”
A bitter laugh built up deep in my chest. “Trust you? The man who kidnapped me? The man who works for Grey? The man my brother hates? Why the hell would I trust you?”
“Because I cared about you since the moment I found you!” he roared.
That stopped me short. “What?”
Apparently, it surprised him, as well. He sighed, then ran a hand through his hair, frustration evident in every line of his body. “I’ve been doing my best with what I’ve been working with. I just needed some goddamn time to figure out what game he’s playing.”
I stared at him, trying to process his words. Did he really care? Or was this just another manipulation tactic? “Well, now you know,” I said, my voice suddenly tired. The adrenaline was wearing off, leaving exhaustion in its wake. “He wants Iset. He gets me.”
“Why?” Ivan demanded. “Why does he want you?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I’ve hacked dozens of organizations, exposed countless operations. Stolen some money. Maybe he was involved in one of them, or maybe he’s got a job to offer?”
Ivan growled. “This feels personal,” Ivan murmured more to himself than for me. “The way he looks at you—at who he thought was you—it’s obsessive.”
I shrugged, tried to ignore the chill his words sent down my spine. “I’ve made a lot of enemies.”
“And he’s not following Paraskia Syndicate procedure.”
Paraskia Syndicate? Who the hell was the Paraskia Syndicate? The ones running this place? The ones Grey and Ivan worked for?
“And now you’ve gotten caught.” Ivan stepped closer again, looming over me. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? What he can do to you?”
“I did what I had to do,” I said, refusing to be intimidated. “I’ve spent my entire life protecting those who deserved to be protected. I’m not stopping now just because things are getting hard.”
Something shifted in Ivan’s eyes then—the anger giving way to something else, something darker and more dangerous. His gaze dropped to my lips, then back to my eyes.
“God, woman,” he growled, “you’re robbing me of my goddamn mind.” And then, his hands were on my face, rough and demanding as he crushed his mouth to mine.
The kiss was brutal, angry, a clash of lips, teeth, and tongues that had nothing to do with tenderness and everything to do with possession.
I should’ve pushed him away. Should’ve slapped him.
Instead, I found myself responding with equal ferocity, my fingers digging into his shoulders, pulling him closer.
Heat exploded between us, his anger transformed into something primal, and my need to disappear into him, to feel him around me, was suddenly overwhelming. His hands slid down to my waist. He lifted me effortlessly, walked with me until my back hit the wall.
I wrapped my legs around him instinctively, pressed against him, my body betraying every rational thought.
His lips moved from my mouth to my jaw, then down my neck, leaving a trail of fire in their wake.
I gasped, let my head fall back against the wall. This was madness. Pure madness. But I didn’t want to stop, couldn’t stop, couldn’t pull away from the intoxicating heat of his touch. I moaned, and that moan was enough to snap us both out of it.
We broke apart and were both breathing hard, staring at each other with a mixture of confusion and hunger. His hair was mussed where I had tangled my fingers in it. My lips felt swollen, bruised from the force of his kiss.
“Do you know what happens next?” he asked, his voice rough.
I touched my swollen lips, could still feel the imprint of his kiss. “Next in now that you know who I am, or next in now that you’ve kissed me?”
A ghost of a smile touched his lips. “This changes everything, Shorty.”
He still hadn’t clarified what he meant exactly. But whatever he meant, everything had changed. Because in that moment, with my heart racing and my body still humming from his touch, I realized the most dangerous thing right now might not be Grey or his threats or even being exposed as Iset.
It was the way Ivan Zotov made me feel. The way he’d gotten under my skin. The way I wanted him, even when I knew next to nothing about him or who he was working for.
The only thing I knew for sure was that he was the enemy, and I should hate him.
Which I didn’t.
That was the real threat here. This man and my crumbled defenses.
Not that I would ever let him or anyone know. “Bring it on, Zotov.”