Chapter 15 Gemma
Gemma
"She's a curse. Bad luck. First her mother, then her. The Nero women are poison—"
"That's enough. You're not yourself. Get some rest."
"Promise me. Promise you'll do what's necessary. For the family. Always for the family."
"I promise."
I scurry away from Antonio's door, down the hallway, down the back stairs, and as far away from my husband and his uncle as possible.
Listening to Saint agree with Antonio, to promise him to get rid of me, for the good of the family, made me sick.
My hands are shaking. My vision blurs with tears.
Six months ago, I would have been glad about this turn of events, but now, now…
My blood is boiling. Saint made me care for him. He told me that we would have a baby when it was right and implied he didn't even want to conceive right now.
He fucking lied.
He always planned to get rid of me when he could. Maybe, he's been planning it all along. Maybe, he is the reason we haven't conceived. He might be stopping it somehow.
I make it to our bedroom and slam the door. My chest is heaving. I can't breathe.
The beach house flashes through my mind. Saint holding me. Sharing secrets with me. Telling me that we'll have a child when we are ready. Pretending he doesn't mind.
All of it a lie.
"I promise."
He promised to get rid of me.
I'm shaking uncontrollably. I grab a pillow from the bed, placed it on my face and screamed bloody murder. It doesn't make me feel better, but the shaking has stopped, and my mind clears.
A plan begins to form.
I'm not thinking rationally. I know that. I should stop. Take a breath. Maybe even confront Saint, but I'm not going to be doing any of that.
I pull out the burner phone Alexei's man gave me. I'd hidden it in the back of my closet in an old purse. I'm not supposed to use it, but who the fuck is Alexei to order me around? He wants information, he's going to have to play by my rules.
I type fast: Need to meet. Now. I have something big.
I don't, but I've got time to think of what I can give Alexei. Bank numbers. Routes. Adrian is starting to change things, but I know more than he does, and he can't change things faster than I can leak them.
The response is immediate: Eclipse. One hour.
I look at the bedroom window. There's activity all around. Antonio is dying, and the house and family are getting ready for the shift in power.
I'm confident I can slip out in the chaos.
Saint doesn't want to play. Too bad.
I'm in the game, and I'm not done.
It took me longer to get to Eclipse than I wanted, and when I do, I'm cutting it close. I'm surprised by how busy things are considering it's a Thursday night, and I try not to feel ashamed of the Fair Isle sweater and jeans I'm wearing.
Not exactly good for blending in, but I hadn't had time to put an outfit together. Plus, I'm here to do business, not dance.
I look around. Alexei is nowhere to be found on the floor, which means I need to make my way to his office.
I'm halfway across the club, when I feel a hand snag my wrist. I tense, turn around, ready to knee whoever thought they could manhandle me.
"You shouldn't be here." I'm looking up at Alexei's second, Igor. The scar on the side of his lip, which turns it down slightly, looks stark white in the strobe lights of the club, and he places pressure on my wrist.
I try to pull away, but I can't. "Alexei is expecting me," I growl. "So, I'd suggest you unhand me."
Igor rolls his eyes and pulls me forward. I'm about to cuss him out, when I see a familiar face by the door.
Saint.
My husband.
He's here. Staring at me, blank faced. It doesn't take him long to walk toward me, his long legs eating up the space between us.
"Wife."
"S—Saint."
Igor basically throws me toward Saint who catches me against his chest.
I glance over at Igor, surprise on my face. What the hell is happening here?
"Do not come back," he orders. "Alexei is not someone you want to work with."
"I'm not—"
He glances at Saint. "She got lucky this time." He hands a burner phone to Saint, and I feel my heart plummet. The phone wasn't from Alexei. It was from him. Igor set me up, but why. My mind is reeling. "She won't next time. Keep her on a shorter leash."
My cheeks redden in anger. A leash, like a dog.
"I won't forget this." Saint nods slightly, his arm wrapping around my waist tightly.
Igor doesn't react. "Try." That's the last word he says before turning his back.
Saint wraps a hand around my waist, stopping me from going to Igor and scratching his eyes out. He presses against me so hard, I fear he is going to crush my ribs.
"Don't, Gemma. Let's go."
I try to pull away, but I feel something against my other side. Hard, cold metal. A gun. "Don't fucking test me right now," he growls.
I whirl on him, filled with anger. "You aren't going to kill me."
He snorts, and that dull look in his eyes makes me shiver. Saint has never looked at me with so much apathy. "Don't be so sure."
Saint practically throws me through the door. I stumble into the alley, turning as the lock clicks, leaving us alone. He marches out, and I press myself against the brick wall. Not because I'm scared, but because I need the cold of the brick to ground me for whatever comes next.
"Care to explain, why my wife is working with the Russians?" he asks, marching toward me.
"Not really."
Saint moves with predatory grace. "How long?
" His voice is low and deadly. I know what he's asking.
How long had I been doing this? There's betrayal in his tone, and I want to scream at him.
How fucking dare he pretend that he's angry at me for doing anything more than out-thinking him?
How dare he look at me like I broke something.
"Don't pretend to be the victim, Saint, it doesn't suit you."
He snorts. "No, Gemma, that's your role. The poor princess who never gets what she wants." His words sting. "What was the plan here, Gemma? Were you planning to give him everything? All the Nero intel you've been hoarding? Or were you going to start with my family's secrets?"
"How did you even know where I was? You've been locked in with Antonio."
Saint glares. "Adrian paid me a visit. Had an interesting theory about a traitor with inside knowledge.
Showed me camera footage of Morozov soldiers hitting his operations.
" His eyes are cold. "Funny thing is that they were indeed Morozov soldiers, and they were using intel only someone with knowledge of Nero security would have. "
I remain quiet. That seems to be my best defense.
"They knew too much. How to hit, when, and where to apply pressure. Your brother's men caught one, and he started singing like a canary."
I almost vomit at the idea of Adrian knowing what I'd done.
"Luckily, he doesn't know who is feeding information to them."
"Alexei is the only one who knows."
"And Igor," he counters. He holds up the phone Igor gave him. "He did me a solid by calling me and telling me what the fuck you've been up to."
"Why?" Igor is Alexei's man. Why would he put his ass on the line like this?
"Because he knows what Alexei likes to do to women," he snarls. "You've clearly never heard the rumors about his first wife."
I swallow. I hadn't. I didn't even know Alexei had been married before.
"You should be thanking me for saving your ass."
"Fuck you," I snarl, pointing my finger into his chest. "You put me in this position in the first place."
Saint slams his hand into the brick wall behind me, and I try not to jump. Instead, I flatten my body as close to the bricks as possible. "Fuck, Gemma! I ended our partnership to protect us. Are you fucking insane, going to Alexei?"
I should throw myself on Saint's mercy because he looks ready to strangle the life out of me, but I'm fucking angry. Too angry to have sense.
"You promised Antonio you'd get rid of me!" The words explode out. "I heard you. Both of you. Calling me cursed, poison, telling you to set me aside—"
He doesn't even blink. Doesn't even have the audacity to look ashamed.
"And you think the solution to that is to betray both our families to the Morozovs?" He's breathing heavily, and I can smell scotch on his breath. "You think that helps you?"
I shove at his chest. It's like pushing a wall. "You were going to throw me away anyway! You made it clear well before I overheard you. You've been planning to get rid of me, so I might as well get something out of it," I sneer.
"You get something? What exactly do you get, Gemma?" His hand slams into the wall beside my head. "Alexei's protection? His respect? You think he won't break you the second you aren't useful?"
"Like you're doing?"
"I never—" He stops himself and takes a deep breath. "You heard a dying man's delirium and my attempt to placate him. And instead of coming to me, instead of asking me what I meant, you ran straight to my enemy."
"You said 'I promise'!" My voice breaks. "You promised him you'd do 'what's necessary'!"
"To manage Antonio's final wishes! To handle the succession! Not to fucking divorce you!" He's shouting now, control slipping. "You insane woman, you heard what you wanted to hear so you could justify betraying me!"
"I didn't betray you—"
"You gave intel to Alexei Morozov!" His other hand hits the wall on my other side, caging me in. "You didn't get what the fuck you wanted, so you went elsewhere like a stupid fucking child. Thank God you aren't pregnant!"
His words sting, and I'm crying now. Hot, angry tears stream down my cheeks.
"You pushed me away! You treated me like I was too fragile, too useless—"
"I was protecting you!"
"I didn't ask for protection! I asked to be your partner!"
"And I said no! Which apparently means you burn everything to the ground!
" His face is inches from mine. "What did you think would happen here, Gemma?
You'd give Alexei everything, he'd pat you on the head and call you clever, and then what?
You'd go home to me? Live happily ever after as the woman who destroyed both our families? "