Chapter Fifteen
Audrey
Warmth.
It’s the first thing I register when I slowly drift awake. Not the expensive Egyptian cotton sheets or the faint scent of cedar and bergamot lingering in the room.
But him. My husband.
Igor’s arm is draped possessively around my waist, holding me against his chest as though he fell asleep afraid I’d disappear if he let go.
For a long moment, I don’t move, afraid I’ll wake him if I do. Instead, I relish the steady beat of his heart and the distant chirping of birds outside the bedroom windows.
Everything feels serene, and I find myself wishing time would freeze so we could just remain like this forever.
It’s strange how quickly life can change.
Just two days ago, I thought I’d lost him all over again.
He looked at me with suspicion in his eyes, convinced I’d betrayed him.
Every glance hurt. Every conversation felt like walking across broken glass, but now he trusts me again, and somehow, that hurts even more than when he looked at me with nothing but fury in his eyes.
Because I’m lying to him and he doesn’t know. He doesn’t know that I was truly working for his enemy. The fear that he might find out before I have a chance to explain everything grips me like a vise. I close my eyes for a second, pushing that fear down to the back of my mind.
Not now.
He’s still asleep when I tilt my head to look at him.
Without his usual tailored suit, cold expression, and the intimidating presence he carries everywhere, Igor looks younger. Softer. Almost peaceful.
A strand of dark hair falls across his forehead, and I fight the ridiculous urge to brush it away. Instead, I lay silently still, memorizing his face—the strong line of his jaw, the faint stubble shadowing his cheeks, and the tiny scar near his eyebrow that I’ve never noticed until now.
A sleepy frown creases his forehead before his icy blue eyes open to meet mine. The corner of his mouth lifts. “Don’t tell me you’ve been staring at me.”
Heat crawls into my cheeks. “I wasn’t staring at you.”
“You were.”
“I was checking to see if you drool in your sleep.”
A quiet chuckle rumbles from his chest. “I don’t.”
“You sound awfully confident for someone who snores so much, Igor. Do you think you’re sleeping beauty or something?”
“I like the sound of being sleeping beauty.” He shifts closer until there’s barely any space left between us. “Guess who my prince charming is?”
“Oh?” I arch a brow. “Who?”
“My wife.”
I roll my eyes, but a reluctant smile tugs at my lips. “I think your wife would disagree.”
“Hm.” His thumb brushes lazily across my hip beneath the blanket. “She’s usually too busy staring at me.”
I huff out a laugh despite myself.
His expression softens as he watches me. “I have meetings all day,” he says quietly. “I probably won’t be back until late.”
A small knot forms in my stomach. “Oh.”
“I’ve doubled security around the estate. Call me or Sergei if there are any emergencies, and remember, don’t go out alone. It’s not safe.”
I saw how angry it made him when I drove to the club alone a couple nights ago, and I don’t intend to make him that angry again. “I’ll be on my best behavior today. I promise.”
“You’d better be.” He leans over and presses a lingering kiss to my forehead before climbing out of bed. “I’ll check in on you every chance I get.”
Hearing him say that makes the butterflies in my stomach spread their wings. For the first time, it feels like we’re just a normal couple in Miami with regular jobs and a regular life.
I know we’re not, but I’m relishing that idea while it lasts. “Alright, captain.”
I watch him disappear into the bathroom.
A few minutes later, he leaves the bedroom after another brief kiss, the scent of his cologne lingering long after the door clicks shut behind him.
Smiling to myself, I stretch beneath the blankets, wishing I could wake up to Igor beside me every morning.
My phone vibrates against the nightstand.
I barely glance at it at first, expecting it to be Chloe checking in on me. We haven’t spoken in a while and I miss my best friend, but I can’t exactly vent to her about the mess I’m in, so I’ve just stayed away.
Instead of her name, the screen flashes two words that make the smile on my face disappear.
Private Number.
A chill crawls down my spine.
Very few people have this number. Fewer still would call from a private number.
The ringing stops.
For a brief moment, I convince myself it’s nothing. A wrong number. A scam call. Someone dialing randomly. But my relief is short-lived, because the ringing starts again.
I don’t answer immediately. I first spend a couple minutes wondering who it is and contemplating whether or not I should answer.
Only one person has ever reached me with a number I can’t call back: Serrano.
But we’ve only ever communicated through text messages, so it makes absolutely no sense that he’d be calling me now.
I’m inclined to ignore the phone, but whoever’s at the other end of the line doesn’t stop calling, and by the time the phone rings for the ninth time, I groan with frustration and roll over to grab it.
“Hello?”
Whoever’s on the other end of the line remains quiet, which I consider annoying considering they wouldn’t stop blowing up my phone, but now that I’ve answered, they’ve committed to silence.
No sane person would do that.
“Hello?” I repeat, my tone clipped.
Static crackles softly through the speaker, but the caller still doesn’t say anything.
I roll my eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. “Okay, fun time’s over. I’m hanging up.”
Just as I’m about to hang up, a voice cuts through the interference. “You disappoint me, Audrey.”
Every muscle in my body locks.
The voice is distorted, its pitch warped beyond recognition, but I’d know the cold amusement beneath it anywhere.
“Serrano?”
A low chuckle filters through the speaker. It’s chilling. “Hello there, friend.”
My grip tightens around the phone until my knuckles ache. “I’m not your fucking friend,” I bite out angrily. “What do you want?”
“Not much. We had an agreement, and I want you to hold up your end of the deal.”
The lunatic really thinks I’d still happily work for him after he tried to kill me and got me in trouble with the man who would snap my neck in two if I wasn’t his wife? Seriously, fuck him.
“I told you I’m done.”
He chuckles sardonically, the cocky bastard. “Darling, you’re not done until I say you are.”
Anger burns through me, hot enough to drown out my fear. This is what I wanted. Pretending to work for Serrano is the only way I can find out his next moves against the bratva and gather evidence to prove that I’m truly loyal to Igor.
But I underestimated how annoying this sick loser would be and how irritated I’d get just speaking to him. It’s so intense I can feel vomit claw its way up my throat, but I don’t tell him that.
Given what he’s done, it’d be unrealistic if I just jumped straight to taking up the offer. But if he knows how much I despise him, he won’t trust me when I finally agree to work for him again.
I need to keep it balanced—just the right amount of hate and docility. “I almost died because of you.”
“Almost,” he drawls. “But you didn’t. Do you think you’d still be alive if I wanted you dead, Audrey?”
The smugness in his voice makes my skin crawl. I’ve never hated anyone this much. “Do you expect me to thank you for sparing my life?”
“I wouldn’t mind if you did. Joaquin never got the chance to.”
My blood curdles and the air around me heats up to a boiling point. The room suddenly feels too small. “Joaquin…that was you?” I pause and try to get my muddy thoughts in order. “I thought…”
Igor said Emiliano, the second-in-command of the Mexican cartel, killed Joaquin.
My blood runs cold. Joaquin. Emiliano. Serrano. The pieces crash together so violently my stomach twists. Dear God...they’re the same person.
Emiliano and Serrano have been the same person all along.
I’ve never met Serrano.
After Igor broke up with me one year ago, I was contacted by Serrano online, and he asked me to help him take down Igor since he’s one of the most notorious members of the bratva.
By the time I realized the person who contacted me wasn’t an undercover agent trying to take down the mafia like he said, I was too far gone and simply didn’t care if it meant bringing Igor down. I was so thirsty for revenge over a stupid breakup, and now look at the mess I’ve gotten myself into.
The new revelation shakes me to my core.
I can’t let him know that I’m aware of his true identity. I’m not sure how much he knows, but I can’t expose that Igor already knows he’s the one behind Joaquin’s death. I swallow hard and try to remain calm despite the sharp palpitations in my chest.
He lets the silence stretch just long enough for my pulse to hammer painfully in my ears before speaking again.
“So here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to meet me tomorrow. I’ll send you the location and time.”
“No, I’m not,” I shoot back. “The entire house is guarded, and Igor’s security won’t let me out of their sight. I no longer work for you, Serrano. Deal with it.”
“No?” He almost sounds amused. “Do you think you have a choice here, little darling?”
God, hearing him call me that makes me want to throw up. “Don’t call me that. I’m not meeting up with you.”
“You will,” he says gruffly. “Because if you don’t…”
My stomach twists. I’m playing a dangerous game, but it’s a risk I have to take, both for myself and Igor. “And if I don’t?”
There’s another pause at the other end of the line. When he speaks again, his voice is quieter and more dangerous.
“I’ll reserve that for later,” he says sternly. “I’ll send you a location. Don’t try to play smart, Audrey.”
He hangs up, leaving me stunned. I still have my phone pressed to my ear by the time my mind settles, and I realize the son of a gun just threatened me without actually stating the threat.
Play smart my foot.
What’s the most he can do, kill me? Or hurt my loved ones?