Chapter Forty-One
In which Andrey is humbled. A little late, but…
Andrey…
Nikandr was correct.
Caroline laid into me when I explained the situation again, shouting and gesturing over the lobster bouillabaisse. "Please don't spill it!" he begs, "I've really been looking forward to this." She doesn't bother to look at him.
"What is wrong with you?" She's red-faced and furious. "Okay, I know many things that are wrong with you, but this, Andrey! How could you? First, scaring her into marrying you and second, never telling her? Did you think you could keep it a secret forever?"
"Yes," I answer honestly.
She stands up abruptly and Nik snaps, "Not over the bouillabaisse!"
"If this is what you dragged me over for, I'll take my leave." I stand up, buttoning my jacket. "I need a report back from Melina to see where Iris is."
"Knowing Iris," Caroline says, "she's already picked up Rose and they're making plans to kill you with a well-placed car bomb."
"I switch cars every day or two." I rub my eyes. "That would make it difficult."
"Or, they're over at Roman and Violet's and all hell is about to break loose," she continues as Nikandr serves dinner. "If Rose doesn't murder you, Violet will. And if she doesn't, then I will."
"You think she'll tell them about this?"
"Of course," they say together.
"You're going to be experiencing a lot of family rage," Caroline says. "Your best bet is to make this right with Iris first."
"Andrey, I know you care about Iris, love her, in your way." Nik's tone is kind and it's irritating me. "You're so good at evaluating people so you know how to deal with them. Can't you see how badly this hurt her?"
"Iris told us girls at lunch a couple of weeks ago that she admired your honesty. She said you're blunt, sometimes unkind, but you're honest. Can you imagine how betrayed she feels?" Caroline adds.
I go through the mental binder I keep of all things Iris, and I realize they're right. "So, I apologize to her. I'll ask her how I can make amends. That I… regret keeping this from her. But I know," I add stubbornly, "that Iris is happy. That I make her happy."
"And she makes you happy," Nik insists on pointing out.
"It's true," Caroline agrees. "You haven't been nearly as heartless and unpleasant since you married Iris."
"This is overblown," I say. "Bratva marriages are for life. I'll have time to earn her forgiveness."
Nik shakes his head. "This is different. You lied to the Pakhan to marry her, do you remember that?"
"It wasn't a lie," I say for the twentieth time. "It was an omission."
"There's precedent for releasing someone from a union in cases like these." I think he's joking. But his expression is serious.
"I can't lose her." The words drag out of me. "Not now. She's part of me."
My phone buzzes angrily at the same time as Nik's goes off. "Trofim. Why is there a security alarm? Where is my wife?"
“Miss Iris has been abducted, along with her sister." He's cold and clipped, which is how he handles a disaster. "They were in Wilson Green, her entire detail was shot down."
There's a fist wrapped around my heart and it's tightening. "Footage. Call Kolya, get every fucking person in his department on this." I don't recognize my voice. "Her security- are any of them alive?"
"Melina still has a pulse, the paramedics reported. Av might make it. The rest are gone."
"The SUV's security cameras should have some exterior footage, pull it. How long ago did this happen?" I'm running my hand through my hair, over and over.
"It's unknown," Trofim says heavily. "They were found by a jogger who called 911. That was twenty minutes ago."
Nikandr's looking at his phone. "The alarm went out to all the senior management. Kolya's team located the street cameras around the park. Two SUVs pulled out thirty-five minutes ago. The good news is, the transmitters embedded in their arms are working. They're tracking them now."
"Oh, thank god!" Caroline puts a hand over mouth.
"What have I done?" I whisper it, hoping it won't sound as horrific, spoken out loud. It's worse. "This is my fault. Iris wouldn't have been out there if I hadn't done this to her."
Nikandr kisses Caroline and she cups his face, whispering tenderly. It makes me ache. Will Iris ever look at me the same way again?
"Let's go." He's pulling on my arm. "Come on, brother. Let's go get your wife."
The paralysis disappears as we head toward Morozov Global. That's good. What Iris needs now is analytical and focused. That's what I'll be for her.
"What's the latest?" I put Kolya on Facetime and Nikandr leans in closer.
"We thought we had a lock," he says, rubbing his forehead distractedly. "The trackers' signal paused at one location for fifteen minutes, and then they moved again. Unfortunately, they split up. Rose's tracker is going south on I-95, it's heading through New Jersey. Iris's is on I-80 heading west."
A cold fist grips my heart. "Do you have a fix on the location where their trackers paused for those fifteen minutes?"
He rattles off an address. "It's an area filled with industrial facilities and outlet stores.
Very little residential. According to what I found…
" He's tapping madly on his keyboard, his face intent.
"It's an abandoned strip mall. It was taken over by a real estate development company - Python Investments - two years ago.
According to the city permits office, they were going to renovate it into mixed-use housing and retail. "
Kolya sends me a screenshot, it's an older development, most of the windows are barred, maybe an attempt to discourage break-ins. I catch something on the corner of the building. "Look at the roof line. Their security cameras seem rather sophisticated for a strip mall under renovation."
His eyebrows rise as he runs through the building plans. "This is too thorough. Some of the office buildings downtown don't have this kind of coverage."
"They don't want visitors," I nod. "We'll need two teams, one following each signal. Kolya, do you have drones that can track them without being detected?"
I've offended him. "Of course," he huffs before he remembers who he's talking to. "I mean, yes, Sir."
"Prep a chopper big enough to carry twenty men. We'll hit the primary location first. Iris and Rose may not be there, but someone is."
"I'll handle the guards," Nikandr says, looking distinctly relieved to have something productive to do. He pulls out his gun, checking the ammo clip. "I'm going to call in for advanced firepower." He nudges me gently with his shoulder. "We'll get them back."
This insistent touching of his… I try to raise a haughty brow. But I can't. "I'm glad you're here. Thank you."
He smiles. "Always."
Kolya's already on the helipad, waiting for us with an assistant. They're both hunched over their precious laptops, waiting for the guards to load the last of the weaponry
"Let's talk fast before the pilot starts the rotors," Kolya says.
He can't look at me. He tries, then his gaze darts away.
"Okay, I have two working theories," he says, taking a deep breath.
"The first theory is that they've separated the girls, it makes sense, it makes us split forces searching for them.
It also makes Rose and Iris even more terrified, not having each other as backup.
If these assholes know anything about them, they're aware that it's the worst thing they could do to the twins.
" He flinches just slightly as I stare at him.
I clear my throat, trying to sound calm. "That makes sense."
"The second theory…" he hesitates. "Is that abductors found and removed the trackers."
My fist clenches, my knuckles bulging and white. "That is a strong possibility." I force myself to answer him over the storm shrieking through my brain. "If they know they're dealing with a Bratva family, they would know a tracker is almost a given."
The image of someone tearing the tiny electronic device out of my wife's arm is making me almost blind with fury.
Checking my phone, I see I've got an incoming call from Roman. "What do you know?" I ask.
"Alexsey and I are splitting up," he says. "We'll be going after both signals."
"Kolya's warning that…" It takes me a minute, but I go on.
"He's warning us that it's possible the trackers were already found.
There was that crucial fifteen minutes where the signals were stationary.
If they're experienced enough to take down five bodyguards in seconds, they know that for a Bratva family member, a tracker would make sense. "
There's silence for a moment. Roman grunts, a bit like someone punched him in the stomach.
"We knew that could happen. There are multiple contingencies, always.
And yet we still can't control everything.
Even if they're not at the location you're heading to, there have to be answers there. We'll get them back."
There's a connection between us, a shared grief I've never felt before.
"Before I go," he says, voice a little hoarse, "Violet needs to speak with you." She must have been hovering there, because she's got the phone and she's talking in a rush to get the words out.
"Andrey, I have to know something."
"Yes?" Almost all the soldiers are loaded into the helicopter now.
"Has Iris spoken to you about…" She takes a shuddering little breath. "Did she tell you that she’s pregnant?"
The world shatters around me. The buffeting wind of the helicopter, the lights of the city. Everything is gone. "She's pregnant?"
"I knew Iris hadn't told you yet," Violet says bitterly.
"She was so excited about this baby, but she was terrified that you wouldn't want a child.
I told her that you had to know. She went home this afternoon to tell you.
" The last word breaks into a sob. "You go find my sisters.
Don't let anyone hurt them. But you need to know about Iris. "
"How long have you known?" It doesn't matter. What matters is that my wife was afraid to tell me.
"You didn't know because she wasn't ready to trust you, Andrey! And that's on you. So, you make up for it when you find her. Do you hear me?"
A baby.
"I want this child." I say hoarsely. "I wish she'd had the chance to tell me herself, but of course, I do. A child with Iris? There's nothing on this planet that means more."
"Even your precious Supreme Court judgeship?"
I know Violet isn't happy with me. "I'll resign tomorrow," I say, instantly. "I would leave the Bratva for her. For our child. There's nothing…"
Iris felt safer going to her sisters instead of coming to me about the pregnancy.
And why wouldn't she? I've never given her any indication that I cared about children.
We've never talked about having any of our own.
It could be considered too soon, but nothing could be better.
It's the perfect time. It would always be the perfect time to have a baby with my wife.
"Go get our girls," Violet says. She's barely holding on, trying to hold back a torrent of terrified sobbing.
"I will. I swear it."
A new fear grips my heart, and I stride to the helicopter, hauling myself in next to Nikandr and slapping on my headset.
I must look worse than I thought, because he grips my arm. "Who was that?" he asks.
Switching onto a private channel, I say, "Roman and Violet, she told me. She- Iris is pregnant. My wife is pregnant. We're going to have a baby."
There's the strangest expression on his face.
Joy and excitement, tempered with alarm.
Switching back to the main channel, I say.
"There's an update. My wife and her sister may not be at this location, but it is crucial that we find them.
My wife is pregnant. Every precaution must be taken to make sure she isn't hurt. "
The helicopter takes off, and I watch the Morozov Global sign on top of our skyscraper fade as we swoop out, heading to a strip mall in New Jersey.