Chapter 51
Chapter Fifty-One
QUINN
We land as the new day breaks, and I store away the symbolism. It adds to the positive energy gathering around us.
I feel better about facing Victor. I’m not sure we’re prepared, but considering how many weapons my pack has strapped to their bodies, I’m not sure it matters.
The flight attendant waits at the bottom of the stairs to welcome us to Bogata. I haven’t been back to Columbia for a long time. I don’t waste time trying to figure how I feel about it. It is what it is. And the truth is, this place isn’t my home, and it hasn't been for a long time.
Perhaps when we visit Santiago’s father in Cali, it will have a better feel. In time, we will need to find a more permanent place somewhere in Columbia, especially when Santiago takes over his father’s business.
It’s a good distraction, thinking of the future.
Aleksei, Nalla, and Kade disembark first, and it’s stupid, but I’m hit with a sudden sense of loss.
“Relax, bebe. I feel your stress like it is my own.”
I shuffle on my feet to see him better. I have to be subtle in how I do it because of the lineup of Victor’s men waiting to greet us.
I’m conscious of our audience, but I need to see the confidence in my Alpha’s eyes.
Sunrays hit right at the time I look at Santiago, bathing him in golden light, and goddamn, I take that as a sign we’re going to be okay.
“No disperdicies momentos en cosa que no importan,” I whisper.
He fights against himself not to react. Admittedly, I should have come clean before now about how perfect my Spanish is. Reiterating that we’re not wasting moments on things that don’t matter again, right here and now might not be the smartest move. My guard is now struggling to contain himself.
“Tu boca inteligente te va a meter en problemas,” he growls as he walks past. His expression is hard, he’s locked down, as he searches around for any issue.
“Promises, promises,” I smart back, careful not to move my lips, inadvertently confirming my smart mouth is going to get me into trouble. Luckily, I like the trouble Santiago brings.
Aleksei clicks his fingers as soon as my feet touch solid ground. As submissively as possible, I move to stand next to him while he rants in Russian, his arm flailing around.
If I didn’t know the ruse, I’d be terrified by him. He’s acting like an Alpha balancing on the edge of an epic, violent meltdown. That still may happen, especially given the blatant disdain gracing most of Victor’s men as they struggle to make sense of what Aleksei is saying.
I switch to Spanish. “Mr. Petrov refuses to get into any of these cars that Victor has provided. He is thankful, but in Russia, it is a bad omen arriving at a meeting in a white car.”
I ad-lib, badly, but giving a reason under pressure for us not using their cars, this is the best I can do. At the same time, I am most certainly aware Columbians are known for paying attention to superstitions, or agüeros.
One of the men steps forward. I recognize him, but he and all the others don’t act like they recognize me. Or they do know who I am and are just being rude as fuck, which is more likely.
He talks at me, not to me. “We have cleared you through customs.”
“Thank you,” I offer back blandly.
“You are, after all, guests of Ambassador Hernandez,” he says with an equally plastic expression before he starts to drone on and on about what an honor it is that Victor has arranged this convoy.
I shake my head at his insistence we get into the waiting cars. And as soon as I do, he smiles again before shifting to talk smack to his men about how stupid Russians obviously are.
I think happy thoughts and send wave after wave of them via our bond to Kade and Santiago, who are both ready to erupt. Tension was always going to be high, but right now, how we’re being welcomed is disrespectful.
Victor’s appointed spokesperson goes to say something, but we’re interrupted by the arrival of two black SUVs, courtesy of Santiago’s contacts.
“We will follow you,” I say, keeping my smile, poised and practiced, despite their ongoing disrespect towards Aleksei.
I go to walk off, and Victor’s man makes a grab for my arm. I miss it. I mean, I felt it, but I didn’t see him grabbing me. I see the immediate fallout, though. Everyone does.
Aleksei shakes his knuckles out, and the man on the ground swears curses as he sits up, his nose gushing blood like a tap. Nalla intrudes into his space, adding her warning to the mix.
Aleksei’s emotions are not put-on, but his English is especially broken as he lunges at the man again. “You ebat’. My wife not touched by your dirty kind.”
Santiago and Kade are stone statues. They’re devoid of emotion, their guns drawn and raised.
I fight to contain the smile that threatens.
If only Victor’s men realized how easy they are too riled up, how simple it is to get them distracted.
All they do is highlight the gaping holes in the Columbians’ security.
Aleksei barks in Russian, and Santiago and Kade move in coordination, holstering their weapons, standing in front of me and forming an impenetrable wall.
“We will follow you,” I reiterate before I walk over to stand near the passenger door of the first black SUV, with Roshka pressed against my legs.
I wish we could sit in the one vehicle, but we separate again to minimize the potential of falling victim to a “carjacking” or something else Victor could easily stage. Every moment feels more and more like a dangerous setup.
Santiago sits in the front with the driver of our car, while I sit in the back, continuing the farce of him being the guard of the Bratva’s wife. We follow after Aleksei, Kade, and Nalla.
Santiago talks quietly to the driver as we get an official escort to the ambassador's official residence. Like everything so far about our visit to Victor, this too sits wrong. It feels inciteful. I’d put money on it being an intentional reminder to Aleksei of Victor's sway and power.
The other part is, his decision to host us at the embassy compound means I won’t get to see my sister or my mother.
But it’s more personal than that too; it’s him making it clear I’m no longer family.
Victor is expecting me to make an issue of it, while I honestly couldn’t give a shit.
In a lot of ways, they’re not my family.
I’ve missed out on too much over the years, and the distance between us means we’re virtual strangers.
Seeing my sister and my mother is not why I am here. I’ll simply wait until he’s choked on his own tongue and died before I try for a family reunion.
I send a message to Aleksei.
That was not his personal entourage.
I’ll keep lowering the number of men he has on his staff. If there is one mark on your arm, wife, I’m starting a war.
I’m fine.
You’re naive, maya. Men don’t touch another man’s women. Not in our world.
He wants you to react.
I will.
I put my phone down. It would be too easy to keep texting him, and we need to stay focused.
They’re taking us the long way to the house. From the airport, there are a few different ways of getting there, but this one is the longest by far and veers past the main police station.
I reach over and tap Santiago’s arm to catch his attention. While we’re maintaining the whole bodyguard thing for everyone, including the driver, I’m not letting us to get played like this.
“Stop the cars.”
There’s no questioning. Santiago simply reacts.
He picks up his phone and calls Kade. The car Aleksei and Kade are in pulls to a stop.
I relay to the driver the roads I want him to take.
As soon as I’m done speaking, the driver merges back into the traffic and does a U-turn, taking us in the opposite direction of where Victor's escorts are taking us.
It will be interesting to see the ripple effect of us breaking away from the official envoy. But something feels wrong. The only reason you’d take the long route would be to buy yourself time or for us to be arrested by the local crooked cops.
Santiago looks over his shoulder at me, double-checking I’m okay. I use our bond to communicate.
We arrive at the official residence, easily beating the men who were at the airport to pick us up. After going through the security gate, which takes longer than it should, we’re waved on.
The house is exactly as I remember—grand and bland. Architecturally, it’s more European than Columbian, but it’s reflective of the time when cultural influence and money was coming from overseas. It’s similar to Sergey’s house, built to impress, not built for love.
At the bottom of the stairs, more guards stand, waiting.
These wear government-issued uniforms, and they’re watching our every move.
I wait for Kade and Santiago to get out and do their guard duties.
Roshka and Nalla are next, before Aleksei joins them.
Once they are all out, Santiago opens my door.
Aleksei walks off before I’m next to him. I can feel how difficult it is for him to leave through our bond; he’s infusing it with regret and a promise to make amends for the obvious disrespect later.
I knew he would be acting indifferent towards me. He knows I know, but he’s still not happy to be actually treating me this way. I fight not to smile at all the happy butterflies taking flight at his sweetness. For a Bratva badass, he’s not bad at all.
We continue using the language barrier as an issue. The guards are speaking Spanish at my three, but they stare blankly back, not answering, despite Kade and Santiago understanding every shitty comment thrown at them.
I approach and stand behind Aleksei, asking the guards what is going on when they ask for Aleksei’s identification.
“Would Mr. Petrov’s driver’s license do?” I ask, hoping they agree I really don’t want our passports confiscated.