Chapter 35
The moment the Zadorovs left, I went into survival mode, locking down anyone who could be at risk.
The Thunder Bay compound is under high alert with double the normal security.
Teddy and Ellie are on strict orders to stay home, with Teddy’s only allowance being hockey practice.
Even then, he’s got an extra security detail with him everywhere he goes.
And then there’s Thatcher. My solnyshko.
He was actually my first thought. I knew the moment I saw his picture in that folder that he had to leave.
The compound in New York isn’t even safe enough for him.
I’m not sure if anywhere in the world would be safe enough for my liking, but Thunder Bay is as close as I’ll get.
The Taranov branch there might not be quite as large as it is in New York, but thanks to Teddy’s union with Ellie, he has the added force of the Santori Mafia.
Sending him away was a no-brainer even though I know it’s going to hurt him like hell. If I’m honest, it hurt me like hell too. But I need him to let go. This was just the first of what will be a never-ending stream of blackmail targeting Thatcher as long as he’s attached to me. So it has to end.
While I was arranging everyone’s safety, Misha was plotting how to get out of their trap. He’s the only one who knows what’s going on, and even though I would’ve preferred to keep it that way, he implored that I go to Ivan for help navigating this…arrangement.
“So what are you going to do?”
“I guess I’m going to fucking marry Oleg. What do you mean? I can’t let them hurt Thatcher. Or anyone else, for that matter. And if they spread the word about…what happened…I would lose all of the respect I’ve earned over the years.”
“What about Ivan?”
“Ivan? You want me to tell Ivan about all this? What if he—”
“He’s not like that, and you know it. If I’m right about him, and I always am, he will help us. You can’t marry Oleg, and you know it. We haven’t come all this way for me to watch you be ensnared in such a trap as marriage…”
“Okay, so…Ivan?”
“I’ve already arranged a meeting. In an hour at his office in the city.”
I’ve just raised my hand to knock on the office door when Ivan yells from inside, “Mila, come in!”
He’s had this office in the city for years but started operating out of here more often when I moved into the compound.
This is the first time I’ve met him here, and I have to say, it’s charming.
It’s warm and inviting, yet sleek and professional.
The contrast between this floor and the estate tells me that Ivan wasn’t the one who authorized the design choices there.
“Please have a seat, dear. You too, Misha. We have a lot to discuss.”
We do as he asks, and he slides us both a folio, then opens one himself.
At first glance, it looks similar to the one I was handed earlier today, and a quick peek inside is all the confirmation I need.
Misha waits for my reaction before opening his, and when I place it back on the desk, he does the same.
Silence suffocates me, and I know I need to say something, but I’m struggling to breathe, much less talk.
“How did you get these?” Misha asks, sensing my panic.
“The Zadorov family thought sending these to me would help their case.”
“And does it?” Misha growls.
Ivan smiles at me, then looks back at Misha.
“It would seem they have gravely miscalculated whose side I might be on. I would never stand for such...abomination. I hope you know that. If I ever found out something like that happened to my daughter, well…Let’s just say their lack of judgment just gave us a real chance to finally get rid of them and anyone else they are working with. ”
All I can do is nod as tears well in my eyes.
The kindness Ivan has shown me, is currently showing me, it’s more than even that of my own father.
I’ve never talked about what happened in Russia to anyone, and especially not to Igor Taranov.
He wasn’t a monster like his father before him, but he would have never believed me.
He admired me, and I was always certain of that.
But in the back of my mind, I knew not to push my luck.
His respect would have gone out the window the second I tried to play the victim of abuse.
Misha is the only one who has ever known, and that’s exactly how I would like to keep it.
Ivan’s expression softens as my tears begin to fall. “I don’t need you to tell me everything, dear, just enough so that we can cut out that cancer once and for all.”
He reaches across the desk with a tissue and waits patiently as I pull myself together.
A few calming breaths are all it takes in order to think straight again, and I dive into my past. With my mental breakdown out of the way, I’m ready to do anything and everything to finally give those assholes what they deserve.
Every name, every face, every action…I remember them all.
And anything I leave out, Misha is quick to include.
Ivan takes notes as we walk him through everything from the architecture of the building to the soldiers’ strengths and weaknesses.
It doesn’t take long to formulate our plan. Ivan is going to play the role of the misogynistic asshole they assume he is, and as long as I can act like a good submissive bride, it should be foolproof.
I’ll fly out today with Misha and a small group of our men, just enough so that we don’t set off any alarms. Ivan isn’t supposed to be coming for several days, closer to the wedding date, but he’s going to sneak in by using his wife Blanche’s family plane to a nearby country, then cross the border by train.
It’s genius, really. The Bratva boss taking a passenger train into the country.
Apparently, he knows a hacking genius who changed all the tickets on that route so that it will be filled with Taranov soldiers.
The hacker has also made fake identification for all the men, so that if the train is stopped, there won’t be any legal problems. Hundreds of our men will be able to get into the area without notifying the Zadorovs or their allies.
Teddy will then fly over closer to the wedding with Ivan’s son, Sasha, posing as his father. Blanche is confident that with the proper makeup, the disguise will be foolproof.
Misha and the men who come with us will have five days to prepare the Zadorov fortress for the takeover.
We’ll have to gain control of the tech, which Ivan’s guy is supposedly helping with, plant weapons throughout for our men when the time is right, and provide several entry points to sneak said men in… among other smaller tasks.
My only task is to behave.
Parting ways with Ivan, we head for the plane where our small group of men waits with an extra suitcase for both Misha and me.
Everything is ready to go, but there’s one call I’m waiting on before we take off. So all we have to do is sit and do nothing but…stress.
Luckily, Misha knows my tells. “Did you hear something thud under Ivan’s desk when we were making our plans?” he asks in an attempt to distract me, I’m sure.
“I did hear something. It was when Ivan said he would fly in with the men—”
“Then he corrected himself and said he and his wife would fly…” Misha raises a brow, smirking. “You don’t think…”
“Holy shit! Do you think that was his wife?”
“He doesn’t seem like the kind of man who would mess around.”
“Damn, Blanche is freaky.”
Misha laughs, but before he can respond, my phone lights up with a call from Thatcher. Good, he got the news. I decline the call and silence my phone, then turn my attention to Misha. “Are you ready to go back to Russia?”
He takes my hand in his and kisses my knuckles. “Let’s do this, moya tsaritsa.”