Chapter 33 Emil
EMIL
Preparing for an assassination was something I handled solo. For most of my kills, the hits were straightforward and directly traceable. One or two individuals at a time.
This was different.
Simon’s assistance was a standard I relied on to do my job well, but this project was much more in-depth and more of a layered mission than usual. Multiple men would go with me to the final spot where the takedown would occur.
Throughout the day, teams of spies headed out to follow the men and women Sadie identified as the likely decoy representatives.
A variety of organizations were implicated, and I was amazed by how vast the net had been set out for Sadie to be able to analyze and pinpoint who was who and who was headed to which location.
This amount of research and behind-the-scenes work was massive.
I stood with Ivan and Alexsei in the meeting room at my father’s mansion.
The boards on the walls and the screens projecting webs of connections depicted with linked images would’ve been an unnavigable mess without Sadie’s help.
“How do you think she’ll adjust?” Ivan asked.
“Huh?” I faced him and raised my brows.
“Sadie. How will she adjust to not doing…” He lifted his hand at the wall. “All this?”
I smiled, thinking back to how Sadie and I had talked about our future last night. I wasn’t the odd one out anymore. I was just as in love and obsessed with starting and growing my family as the others were. Maybe not Alexsei, but he already had Misha.
“She won’t,” I admitted. “She’s excited to be a mother. We’ll be busy with that, and I’ll let a couple of the others handle my hits. But I don’t think she can shut off this analytical mind of hers.”
Alexsei shrugged. “She shouldn’t.”
“It’s not only obvious that she’s good at this research and project management for an operation, but she’s also dedicated.
” I’d never forget how vulnerable she sounded when she explained her drive to do her job as well as she could.
She missed her parents and was slowly but consistently avenging their deaths by chasing after criminals on the Most-Wanted lists.
She just happened to hit a snag while falling for one—me.
“Where is she now?” Ivan asked.
“Sadie is in the lounge with my wife, talking about babies and placentas and tearing and…” My father held up a hand as lowered his head in defeat, entering the room behind us and clearly hearing what my cousin had asked.
“I don’t want to know. All I can do is respect the fuck out of them for being this strong and handling all of that. ”
“They are kind of born to handle it,” Ivan said. “Motherhood is a force none of us will ever understand.”
I agreed. But I was awfully excited about what it meant to be a father.
“However, I was able to pass along the message that just came in. Not that Sadie seemed to really listen, more stuck on what Gabriella was telling her about how much ice helped and—” He shook his head again.
“What message?” I asked.
“It just came in from one of the crews in Madrid.” He sobered up, all serious now. “Haiti it is.”
I glanced at my cousins and shared a knowing look with them. It was time to lock this down and get it done.
The rest of the day was spent double-checking the plans and moving men into place. Sadie came into the meeting room, too, making sure we were ready for the plans and the precise goal of ambushing the men trying to start up this Obsidian Eye group.
Yesterday, she was adamant to be included and lead this thing. Today, she was more reserved and like a spectator. I supposed she didn’t need to redo anything. We’d covered all the bases. Everything was lined up to move and everyone knew their roles.
The smaller steps of following the decoy leaders were completed earlier. With the results of what happened, we now were secure with the location that had to be reached and who we would eliminate.
It was the confidence she could bank on that had her showing more of a hands-off approach.
It was good to see that she was able to stick to her word.
She wasn’t trying to ride along with anyone at the last minute.
She wasn’t changing anything after second thought.
Sadie was a woman who made a plan and didn’t budge from it after seeing how tested and researched it was.
I liked that.
And I looked forward to the next time she could be a consultant.
Hours remained before “takeoff”. Men waited, available to leave as expected.
This period before a mission could be tense and wrought with anxiety, but we had trained for this.
We fought for this. And not a single man heading to Haiti would flinch or shirk from their expected duties.
Teamwork was often a baseless concept to brag about, but the men I called my family, all of the Dubinin forces, truly operated as one.
“No room for error with this one,” Ivan said as I sat with him and Alexsei on the back patio after dinner.
I shook my head. “No, there isn’t.”
If we failed to stop the Obsidian Eye alliance at this preliminary stage, they would gather and be a bigger force to contend with later.
Fighting a group of enemies was the last thing I wanted to think about when I was about to welcome my son or daughter to the world.
When I would be getting ready to find a home to settle in, then to marry Sadie.
Too many things were falling into place, or would be soon, and it was a fine time for peace, not more war.
“It’s not only about stopping this group from meeting. It’s to get revenge,” I reminded them. Too many people had interfered with Sadie’s work on this case. Too many had attempted to have her killed during it. That shit stopped now, for good.
“I still can’t believe this is where we’re at,” Ivan said, almost smiling.
“What?” I asked, not sure how he’d find anything comical about this situation.
“Yeah, what do you mean?” Alexsei asked, glancing at me as if he’d missed something.
I shrugged.
“Only you, man.” Ivan nudged my knee as he leaned forward in his seat. “Only you would have to fight a war to keep your woman alive.”
I frowned. “That’s not true.” He went through hell to keep Raisa—after being apart from her for eight years. “Have you already forgotten about the shit Konstantin put you through with Raisa?”
He nodded, slightly sober and serious again. “Sure. But that was just the old Petrov family. Not a United Nations attempt of all our enemies being after one of us.”
“And Luka had to fight with the Riveras and Vipers when he took Gabriella,” Alexsei said.
“Yeah,” Ivan replied, “but that’s not the same degree of danger as what Sadie brought to our attention.”
I rolled my eyes.
“I guess it’s true. You just have to go through life doing everything with that much more octane.” Ivan laughed as Alexsei nodded.
“It’s true.”
I sighed, letting them have their laughs while they could.
“Only you would fall for the fucking enemy,” Ivan said, “and then entice more enemies to be an issue at the same time.”
Alexsei grinned. “Yep. Only you would kidnap an agent who wanted to stalk you, then win her over.”
As they chuckled, getting it out of their systems, I sat there proud of the unconventional way Sadie and I had gotten together.
It hardly mattered if everyone’s stories would be the same.
I knew they wouldn’t be. We all took different paths through life.
I just cared that Sadie and I were fated to wind up together.
I refused to be distracted by their teasing me. They meant no harm, and they’d helped me retrieve Sadie when she was taken. If they wanted to relax a little and joke around, the more power to them. I wouldn’t be distracted by anything. The mission awaiting me was too important.
Their laughter died down as my father came out to join us.
He was busy all day, mostly worried about Gabriella telling him that the discomfort that had her wincing was not a sign of contractions or labor.
Dr. Hannan was in the mansion as well, ready to help Gabriella deliver if she wanted to do it here, at home, with private nurses on hand.
She refused to go through the memories of how she’d delivered Andre, on the floor in the middle of a shootout.
He was here now, though, strolling out to sit with us. We talked some more about the plans to end the Obsidian Eye meeting, but eventually, Ivan and Alexsei went back inside, leaving me with my father.
It was getting harder to get him alone. Rare.
With Andre such an attention hog and Gabby about to give him his second new son or daughter, he had to balance family life and work.
I was his son, too, but since I wasn’t a child anymore, he could treat me more like a friend and employee at times than as his firstborn son.
“I wanted to talk to you before you go,” he said, calm and to the point, like he always was.
“All right.” I arched one brow. “What about?”
“I’ve been meaning to find the right moment to stress to you how proud I am of you.”
Huh. I wasn’t expecting that. I knew he was proud of me. He didn’t need to go out of his way and declare it like it was a new, shiny award, another level checked off in this game of life.
“It hasn’t been a smooth transition, getting Sadie back and integrating her into our lives.” He sighed and sat back to gaze up at the darkening sky. “I’ll admit that I was angry when I heard that you were fooling around with an agent. Of all the women in the world, you had to find a federal agent.”
I smiled at his tired expression.
“I was furious about the risks of intel being sold or shared. And I was worried that she was conning you as one more part of her role as a spy.”
“Nope.”
“I see that now. Just like I’ve witnessed how deeply you care about her. How invested you are in starting a new life with her and your child.” He chuckled. “I still can’t believe you’re settling down to have a child of your own.”
“Well, I was never going to be a bachelor forever,” I replied.
“No. I knew that, but with Sadie, you’ve shown how true and close your love is for each other.”
I smiled wider, comforted in the fact that others could witness the love Sadie and I shared.
We had yet to confess those words, but I would as soon as I returned from this mission.
I didn’t want that elation to distract me while I was gone.
It could linger in the back of my mind, this novelty that Sadie and I really cared for each other.
I would use that as additional motivation to come home to her, safe and in one piece, to confess my love for her.
“I know you had to have been in a tight spot, assuming that I wouldn’t approve of her. But not once did I worry that you would betray me or the family. Not once was I nervous that I couldn’t trust you.” He patted my knee.
“Thanks, Father.”
“I can always count on you. Your loyalty to this family cannot be shattered. And I respect that, Son. I really do.”
“Thank you.” I would never stop earning his trust.
“You ready?” he asked. “Ready to protect the family before focusing on the one you’re starting on your own?”
“Absolutely,” I vowed. “Always.”