Chapter 17
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
BIANCA
My eyes peel open, and I shoot out of bed as if it’s on fire.
Holy shit. How could I forget?
I’m supposed to meet Deidre today. Our first in-person meeting since I became Daniil’s wife, and it completely slipped my mind for no good reason other than my bed is extra warm and cozy and I’m curled up with Eris.
She might be a demon during the day, but at night she is a pure angel, snuggling with me like the only thing she needs to survive is my body heat.
See, who needs a man when you have a dog?
Rousing Eris beside me, I let her out of my room while I shower and hurriedly dress, then head to the kitchen to find Mikhail and Timofey sitting at the breakfast table with mugs of coffee. Eris, for once, is calmly playing with one of her chew toys in the corner.
“Good morning,” I say cheerily, pouring myself a cup of coffee. “I’d like to go shopping today. There’s a little boutique on the Upper East Side that does private fittings. They’ll close the shop for me.”
Stoic as ever, the two guards nod, and Timofey asks for the name of the store so they can run it through their database. I don’t even know what that means, but I’m happy to oblige. They’ll find no threats. Deidre will have made sure of it.
An hour later, we pull up to the curb in front of a boutique called Boutique Amber.
Located in a former architect’s townhouse, it’s both glam and funky at the same time.
I step out of the car, flanked by my two guards.
Wearing an above-the-knee Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress, tall heels, dark sunglasses, and blood-red lips, I feel every inch the mafia printsessa that Daniil accuses me of being.
As planned, the store is empty except for the manager, a man who introduces himself as Marco. Stepping forward, he takes my hand. “Madam Kozlov,” he says in a thick Italian accent, “a personal stylist is waiting for you in one of the private fitting rooms.”
I nod, and allow him to lead me towards the back, both guards hot on my heels.
Right before Marco opens the door to the room I’m to meet Deidre in, I turn towards my hulking shadows.
Pointing at two luxurious armchairs near the door, I say, “Best to wait for me here.” Mikhail and Timofey exchange a look, unsure how to handle my suggestion.
“I don’t think my husband would appreciate you watching me change,” I say, eyebrow arched, but Mikhail stands his ground.
“We need to clear the room first,” he insists. “It’ll only take a minute.”
“Of course,” I grumble. Perhaps my uncle’s guards were less careful, but this has never happened before. Still, when Mikhail enters the small, elegant space, Deidre turns from the mannequin she is dressing and greets him with a friendly smile.
She’s looking all New York high fashion in leather pants, a gauzy gray blouse, and high boots.
It’s a far cry from her usual jeans and blazer.
Her braids are pulled back into a sleek bun, and her majestic cheekbones are highlighted with a swipe of blush.
I never noticed how lovely she is, but it turns out Deidre is a babe.
As Mikhail clears each corner, I go through the charade of introducing myself to her and explaining some outfits I’m looking for.
“Wonderful,” she replies, taking me over to the racks of clothes laid out against one wall. “I think you’ll find much of what you’re looking for here.”
As I rifle through the racks of designer clothes, Mikhail gives me a tiny nod. “We’ll be right outside,” he says, and it sounds like a warning as much as it does an assurance of my safety.
Once he exits, Deidre’s expression loses some of that effortless charm, and the hardened FBI agent emerges. “How are you?” she asks, getting straight to the point.
“I’m doing …” Man, I don’t know how to finish that sentence. Confused by my feelings for my new husband, bored, lonely, unsure if I can really be useful to the FBI, though I’m still desperate for revenge. But I say none of that. I settle on, “I’m doing alright.”
“Good,” she says, carefully eyeing me. “Is Daniil treating you fairly?”
I feel myself blush, so I quickly look away. My eyes land on the decorative tin ceiling before I can meet her gaze again. “Yeah. He’s actually not that bad.”
A small smile stretches across her lips. “I see. So that’s how it is,” she teases, lifting her eyebrows suggestively. “Good. Whatever brings you closer. Did you learn anything of interest?”
Her questioning gaze meets my own, and a sheen of sweat breaks out at my nape. “We haven’t done that … yet,” I validate, my cheeks blazing. “He’s still wary of me. But we’ll get there soon.”
Unable to stand the awkwardness of this moment, I turn around and busy myself hunting through the contents of the rack in front of me. I tug out something silver and shiny, holding it up in front of me in the mirror.
“Shopping for an event?” Deidre comes up behind me. We lock eyes in the mirror, and I know she’s studying me, weighing everything I’m not saying.
“Look, I have something for you,” I say, remembering the papers that I stole from Daniil’s office earlier this week. Retrieving my purse, I offer Deidre the crumpled papers with the random numbers running in columns throughout. “I managed to get into his home office,” I explain.
She stares at the papers, her brows drawing together. “What is this?”
“I don’t know.” I shrug. “I thought you could tell.”
Her mouth drops into a frown. “We’re going to need more than this, Bianca.”
I tug at my hair. “Like what?”
Her lips twist in thought. “I understand Jorge is in town and working with the Kozlovs. What’s he doing?”
I hesitate for the barest of moments, and Deidre notices. But I force myself to blurt out what I know. “The casino. The Kozlovs are laundering Zega money.”
She nods. “As we thought. But it’s nearly impossible to prove. The dirty money gets mixed up with the clean so fast in a casino there is no way to know where it all came from. It’s not enough.”
I rub my temples, feeling oddly defensive. “I’m doing my best,” I argue. “I even got a crazy-ass dog so I’d have an excuse to poke around in places I wouldn’t otherwise have an excuse to poke around in.”
“I understand, and I know you’re doing everything in your power to be useful”—she levels me with a sobering stare—“but now the real work begins.”
I knew this was coming. They want something more concrete to go on, but that can’t fall completely on my shoulders, can it? Grabbing the papers had already been too close of a call. My breath catches remembering how Daniil nearly caught me stuffing the sheets of paper down my pants.
She hands me a small black case. I grip it with hands that have gone cold and clammy. “What is this?” I ask, but even before the words are out of my mouth, I know.
I open the case only to find exactly what I expected. Four tiny black listening devices lay encased in gray Styrofoam. I don’t know what I expected them to look like, but it’s not this. They’re smaller than a baby's fingernail.
“A micro spy bug,” Deidre confirms. “Tiny but it has hundreds of hours of battery power and, most importantly, is undetectable by electronic sweeps.”
All I know is if I’m found with it, I’m a dead woman. “You want me to bug our home?” I ask, dread coiling low in my belly. For some reason, this seems worse than anything I’ve done before. “I’m sure they use some sort of audio jammers to avoid this kind of thing. Can’t you tap their phones?”
She shakes her head. “We tried, they gave nothing away. You’ll need to plant them in his home office, casino office, anywhere he conducts business that you can gain access to.”
“You don’t understand,” I breathe, grabbing her arm. “I don’t have access to anywhere Daniil works. He keeps me separate, locked away from his world. He doesn’t trust me as it is. Me demanding to visit his office or slinking around where I’m not supposed to, it’ll be obvious I’m up to something.”
Deidre’s face is impassive as she leads me to the couch in the corner of the room. We sit side by side, and she gives me a moment to compose myself.
“I know it seems like we’re asking the impossible of you, but you are a strong woman.
I know what you’re capable of. You’ve lived through your uncle and Jorge, and now you’ll live through this.
” She pauses for a moment. “I wish I could help you avenge your family’s death without expecting anything in return, but that’s not how we work. ”
“But the Kozlovs have nothing to do with my uncle. He’s a monster … they’re not like that.” I swallow hard and cross my arms over my chest, feeling self-conscious that I’m defending the Kozlovs.
“They are cold-blooded killers, Bianca. Make no mistake, they aren’t good people.” She stands and smooths down her stylish ensemble. “Your uncle and the Kozlovs, they’re a package deal now. If you want to see your uncle behind bars, I suggest focusing on what you can learn from your husband.”
My hands curl by my sides, nails digging into my flesh. I knew this was coming, so I can’t comprehend why it feels so scary. In the early days, Deidre trained me on the basics of planting bugs and other necessities. I thought I’d never have to employ that skill, but I guess I thought wrong.
“How am I supposed to use these?” I ask, defeat weighing on my shoulders.
“Instructions are in the case. I’ll have Marco pack them into one of the many boxes of designer clothes you’ll be taking home. Make sure you insist on unpacking them yourself.”
Diedre stands, clapping her hands and loudly exclaims, “That dress looks beautiful on you, Mrs. Kozlov. The royal blue really sets off your complexion.”
I take the hideous dress she pushes into my hands. “Yes, thank you,” I say, my voice flat. “It’s perfect.”
“I’m glad I can be of service.” She nods, catching my eye. “Until we meet again.”
“Until we meet again,” I echo.
It’s me against the Kozlovs. I’ll have to find a way to get right with the way the feds need this to play out. If Daniil and his brothers walk free, so does my uncle. It’s all or nothing.
Time to ante up.