7. Elena
7
ELENA
A fter the family chat last week, things in the Clark house have settled down, yet Sophie still keeps an eye on me. Even though she apologized, I don’t think she one hundred percent trusts me. Today, we are putting it all behind us because my brother is marrying the love of his life, Grace. All week everyone has pulled together and made Tomas, Mateo, and Zoe’s home into a magical wonderland for them both. It will be a simple wedding of just us in the compound, it would be hard to explain Grace’s marriage to a dead man. They will think she has lost her mind with grief.
Sergei became ordained via the internet so that he could marry them. Grace’s father, Frank, is walking her down the white rose petal-strewn aisle in the back garden, and the wedding arch is a stunning old almond tree, which is blooming with gorgeous white and pink flowers.
Mateo is strumming a guitar as Grace walks down the aisle, looking like an angel toward an emotional Maxim. She’s dressed in a simple white satin slip dress that hugs her curves. Her blonde hair cascades down her back like spun gold in light waves. Her bouquet is a simple wildflower selection from the gardens.
My brother is wearing a pair of navy trousers and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He’s also decided to take out his contact lenses today, he said he wanted to see his wife for the first time with nothing between them.
Who knew my brother could be a romantic? I don’t think I’ve ever seen my brother happier than in this moment as he stares out along the aisle to where Grace is walking to him. The big bad shadow of death wipes a tear from his eye as he stares upon the woman that he is going to marry. Maybe one day something as magical as this might happen to me.
“She looks gorgeous,” Mackenzie says, wiping the tears from her eyes as we sit on mismatched chairs pulled out from the house and set up to accommodate everyone on either side of the aisle.
It is a relatively quick ceremony, and we all hoot and holler when Sergei pronounces them husband and wife and Maxim kisses Grace so fiercely and passionately it almost makes me blush.
The reception is held on one long table beside the pool. We moved the chairs from the ceremony back up to the pool area. Everyone pitched in and made something different for the table. Sergei and I made a traditional Russian wedding gift, Karavai, which is a round loaf of bread decorated with braids, flowers, and swans. Our decorating skills are not the best. The round shape represents the sun, a sign of fertility and prosperity. It is a staple at any Russian wedding. Usually, it is baked by women who enjoy having a family and have healthy children, but Grace is stuck with Sergei and me today with the help of Zoe for the healthy children part, it will have to do for this tradition. Either way, it was made with love and hope from us all, which is all that matters. It truly was an amazingly beautiful yet simple wedding feast, that was filled with nothing but love and hope for a better future.
After the first dance, Maxim reached out and asked me to do the traditional mother/son dance with him.
“Thank you for giving me all this,” he says as we glide over the grass area.
“I didn’t do anything.”
“You saved me, Elena. You made sure that both Grace and I were free from our old lives. That we could have a future without looking over our shoulders for the rest of our lives. I don’t know how I can ever repay you,” he says.
“You owe me nothing, Max,” I tell him as we slowly sway to the music playing through the stereo.
“I do. If it wasn’t for me, you would be a famous ballerina. Your life would be different,” he states honestly.
“Maybe, but then again, if it hadn’t happened you would never have met Grace,” I explain to him.
“And I would never change that for the world but it’s not fair on you,” he says.
“Max, I gave up on my old life a long time ago. You’re not the only one with a second chance here. I won’t be able to be a ballerina, but I don’t have to be Emerald or Persephone anymore unless I need to be,” I explain to him.
“What are you going to do now? You’re still at the agency,” he asks.
“My job with the agency has changed. I’ve been tasked with finding the rest of the jewels. Because I’m supposed to be dead, I can’t go back into the Russian circles, certain people know my face. Even with this blonde hair, they may realize it’s me. I’m supposed to be dead, and if Dimitri saw me, he would know,” I tell him.
My brother nods. “What about Anna? You’re not going to give up on finding her. We must find her for Sergei.”
“That’s what I’m working on. The agency won’t give me any details and when I ask questions, they tell me to move on. I don’t know where she is, but what I do believe is she is deep undercover. Maybe so deep she can’t get out. We’ve hit five years since we disappeared, that’s a long time to be undercover, to be someone you’re not. It will begin to seep into your bones, and you don’t know where the real you and the new you begin.”
Maxim gives me a sad look and I know he still blames himself for how my life turned out. I can’t change it. It is what it is, I need to live with it now.
“I’ll find her, Max, and bring her home, for Sergei,” I promise him.
His brows pull together. “What happens if she doesn’t want to be found.”
“I don’t know, but I must try.”
Max looks over at Sergei and Grace dancing together and I know he feels that same pang of guilt that I do, that we are here alive, and Anna isn’t. That man deserves to have his daughter back.
“I’ll support you. Whatever you need I’ll have your back. Anything for that man,” he tells me firmly.
“You have Grace to think about now, Max. I’ve got this.”
Maxim’s eyes narrow on me. “I can’t let you go by yourself. You’ll need backup.”
This has me chuckling. “Max, you seem to have forgotten who I am. You can’t try to pull that big brother overprotective bullshit with me. Please, I’ve killed more people than you have.”
“Doubt it,” he adds quickly.
I raise a brow at him. “We are going to fight at your wedding about how many people each of us have killed?”
Max looks over my shoulder at the guests and Grace’s family before bringing his attention back to me. “You’re right. Your reputation does proceed you. Just because I know what you can do, doesn’t mean as your big brother I still don’t worry about you.”
Aw, that’s so sweet.
“Max, they trained me to be the best. I am the best. I promise I will be careful. But don’t get in my way,” I warn him.
He rolls his eyes at me, and I know it’s killing him not to overstep. “I promise I won’t,” he says with a grin.
The party continues long into the night, but I’ve had enough peopling for one night. I’m used to being by myself for large amounts of time and moving in with the Clark family has taken a bit of time to get used to being around so many people all the time.
Giggles come from the darkness and my body’s instantly on high alert as I’m not expecting it. Slipping into the shadows, I tread carefully so as not to alert them. When I peek around the corner, I realize what I’ve stumbled into. My eyes widen, and a smile falls across my face as I spot Mackenzie and Damon making out drunkenly. My girl deserves some loving, so I slip away, not disturbing the two of them. Internally, I high five her as I continue to my cabin.
As soon as I enter my cabin, I kick off my heels and peel off my dress before stepping into the shower. It’s the first time in a long time that I feel like my old self. Where I don’t have a target or need to look around the room and clock all the exits. I still do, hard habit to stop. There is no sleazy man I have to try to seduce. I was able to drink alcohol and relax, which is such a strange feeling after all these years of being always on, to switch off for one night, is relaxing.
Once I’ve freshened up, I head to bed, stare up at the ceiling, and wonder what the hell is in store for my life this year. I can’t even fathom where I will be this time next year or in five years. What I do know is, for the first time in forever, I feel like there is a chance that Ellie Clark might eventually be able to live a normal life again, one day soon.
The next morning I’m woken up by a beeping sound. What the hell is that? It continues to beep until I still and realize it’s my work beeper. Groaning, knowing it will keep beeping until I turn it off, my stomach sinks as it means I need to check my encrypted emails. I walk over to my agency laptop and open it, punch in my agent code, and wait for it to connect to the secure server. I make myself a coffee as it connects, and when I sit back down after the first sip of coffee, I know I’m able to face whatever it is on that computer.
I stare down at the screen and there is information about two of the jewels from a close source at the agency who is helping me find Anna.
Pearl – Located in Tulum, Mexico.
She was bought in Morocco by the Libyan dictator Ahmed Salem to join his harem of playthings. She was then won in a card game by Pedro Dominguez, the current leader of the Yucatán Cartel. She was then given to his son, Domingo, as a twenty-first birthday present.
Jade – Located Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
She was bought in Morocco by Sheik Daoui and added to his harem of young women. He’s now grown tired of the women and is selling five of them from his harem on the black market. The sale is going to happen next week.
Shit.
Both girls are in precarious situations. I stare at my computer and the information I’ve been given and work out the best way I can be in two places at once. This is the best evidence for the jewels I’ve seen all week. Once things settled down after coming back from the dead, Sophie and her team let me in on the information they had pulled from Dimitri’s computer, hoping I would be able to shed new light on the entire Morocco situation. Unfortunately, while Morocco was happening, I was in Russia with Ivan, Dimitri’s uncle. If I had known what the bastard was planning, I would have stopped him.
Throwing back the remnants of my coffee, I dress and head out to find Sophie. I’m not about to bother my brother with this news when he just got married last night. Also, Max and Grace are off on their honeymoon later today for a week on their new luxury boat. From what I’m told, Sergei sold off Maxim’s old boat to a friend, and then Tomas bought a new boat in a company named Wildcat Investments, which is Max and Grace’s. Sergei is helping to slowly sell off all of Maxim’s real estate and assets seeing as now he’s technically dead. Maxim’s will stated that Sergei inherited everything, much to our father’s dismay, but thankfully, Maxim was good at hiding his true wealth from our father. Sergei gave him the Lamborghini and Aston Martin as a gesture of goodwill and to stop him from becoming a problem. Maxim is slowly going to repurchase new assets under their new company name to set them both up for their future. I don’t want to ruin what they both have been looking forward to today.
I head over to charities HQ and hope that someone is there that I can talk to about this situation. When I walk into the main comms area, I see Brooks and Sophie talking together quietly. Thank goodness these two are workaholics. The sound of the door closing makes them jump and turn around to see who has arrived.
Sophie’s eyes narrow on me when she sees me. “What are you doing in here?”
“Good morning to you, too,” I bite back. I thought we were getting somewhere, we had fun last night drinking and laughing, but it seems she’s as irritated with me as she always is.
“What are you doing in here, alone?” she questions, looking me up and down.
“My fucking job which is finding the jewels. Which, by the way, I have,” I answer snarkily, folding my arms across my chest.
“You have?” Brooks asks. I have his attention now.
“Yes. But we are going to have to work together on this one because time is of the essence for these two jewels. It’s the best shot of finding them we have. I found out that Jade is in Dubai with Sheik Daoui,” I explain.
“We already know that. That’s not new information,” Sophie bites back.
Ignoring her mood because she’s probably hungover, I continue, “Do you know there’s a chance that she is being sold with four other women on the black market?” That bit of information has her sitting up. “The sale is next week in Dubai.”
“Fuck, we need to get there,” Brooks adds, getting up out of his chair and striding to another computer.
“The Middle East isn’t my area of expertise. I have some contacts in Dubai but not many. I was hoping the two of you would run point on finding Jade as you both have many more contacts than I do, and, Sophie, I know you speak the language,” I explain.
Her eyes widen at that tidbit. I’ve done my homework on you, too, Sophie.
“You’re not going to come with us?” Sophie asks, her voice rising.
“I’ll be in Mexico. They’ve found Pearl. She’s being held as the plaything for some twenty-one-year-old psychopath whose daddy runs the Yucatan Cartel,” I tell her.
“Shit,” Brooks curses.
“You’re going to go by yourself?” Sophie asks.
“Yes. I usually do.”
“You can’t take the cartel on by yourself,” she adds.
“Have before.”
Sophie frowns. “Things are different now.”
“Different? What do you mean?” I ask. As far as I am concerned, nothing has changed other than I’m a ghost.
“You’re Ellie Clark. Max has you back in his life. You’re part of a family. You’re not a lone wolf anymore. There are people here that care for you,” she explains.
“Aw that’s sweet that you care, Sophie, but I have a job to do. The agency doesn’t care that I have people worried about me. This is what I’m trained for,” I tell her.
“What Sophie is saying is, you’re dead. Maybe the old way you used to do things might not work anymore. The contacts you once had are not the same,” Brooks explains.
“You think it’s going to be hard for me to start over from nothing? Please, men are such simple creatures. Me in a bikini will be enough of an incentive for them to come chat. I’ll be fine,” I tell him.
Brooks frowns and Sophie glares at me. Not my fault if Brooks might be picturing me in a bikini.
“Have you dealt with the cartel before?” Sophie asks.
“Over the years I have, but I’ll be honest, I haven’t done much work in Mexico,” I tell them. I’m not foolish enough to think I can go in there, guns blazing like I can in Europe.
“You need help, see,” Sophie exclaims triumphantly as my words have proven her right.
“You don’t have a lot of faith in me, do you?” I ask her.
Sophie pauses and looks up at me with those bright blue eyes and stares me down. “I have faith in you. I don’t think there is a situation you couldn’t get yourself out of. You’re part of a team now, being a Clark sister. And that means you’re not alone anymore,” she tells me sternly.
Oh.
That wasn’t at all what I was expecting her to say. It’s almost nice.
“I’m not taking Mackenzie,” I add quickly.
Sophie rears back and shakes her head. “She’d be a liability,” she states with a small smile on her face, probably imagining Mackenzie being in the field. Interesting concept but one that would get her killed.
“One of my old military buddies lives down in Mexico, Tulum funnily enough. He bought a beach bar there when he left the service,” Brooks adds.
“And you think he is going to be able to protect me?” I ask with my hands on my hips.
“Fuck no. You’ll probably end up saving his ass in a fight. But he knows everyone. There isn’t anything that goes on down on the Yucatán Peninsula that he doesn’t know about,” Brooks explains to me.
He does sound like he could be the one to help me. That kind of local knowledge is invaluable and if he knows the Dominguez family even better, he is going to be my in with that crew.
“And you trust him?”
“With my life on a number of occasions,” Brooks says seriously.
“Okay, sort it out. I want to be out of here today,” I tell them.
They both still. “What about Max and Grace?” Sophie asks.
“Leave them in the dark. Let them enjoy their honeymoon, this doesn’t concern them. After everything they have been through, I want them to have their happily ever after,” I tell her.
“Agreed,” Sophie says with a nod.
I leave them to organize the transport while I work out the best way to get in with the cartel.