Chapter 7 #4
I took out the small box and handed it to her.
"It's a CGM. You probably know what it is," I said, and she took it, frowning.
"Yes, of course. It's a small sensor placed under the skin that continuously measures the glucose level in the interstitial fluid," she explained, and I nodded.
"Has Sienna ever worn one?" I asked, clasping my hands together as I began to gently manipulate her.
I had to, I had to protect her. I had been avoiding her for almost four days, four days of sitting as far away from her as possible at the table, four days of leaving a room as soon as she appeared, four days of watching her look away every time she saw me, and it was driving me fucking crazy.
"Yes," Selina said, frowning after a moment's thought.
"When she had her first symptoms as a child, our parents decided she would wear one.
" She continued with a slight, sad smile, surely remembering their parents who had died in a car accident when they were still young.
"But she didn't like wearing it, she complained that it itched.
You should have seen her, she had our parents wrapped around her little finger," she laughed, shaking her head, which made me smile.
I didn't doubt it for a second. "I think it would be a good thing if she wore it again," I said slowly, breathing in gently.
"Especially since we don't know where she goes on her own.
You'll be able to monitor her blood sugar levels and call her if there's a problem," I continued, looking into her eyes.
It was strange to see how the two sisters had almost the same eyes but such different expressions, clearly reflecting their personalities.
My sister-in-law stared at me for a moment, pressing her lips together before shaking her head.
"She won't want to," she sighed, lowering her gaze to the box, but I put my hand on her arm.
"She'll agree when she sees how worried you are, Selina, especially since you're almost full term," I smiled before getting up.
A urge to vomit tightening my throat. "Okay, I'll talk to her.
Thank you, Sasha." She smiled at me, and I nodded before heading for the stairs to my office, ignoring my guilt and growing disgust, but I had to protect her, to at least know how she was doing and, above all, where she was going.
I took out my phone as I climbed the stairs, making sure that the app linked to the CGM was downloaded on my phone.
A CGM that I had asked our family doctor to modify, adding a GPS device inside.
I closed the office door behind me, and my phone began to ring, displaying my secretary's name.
"Yes, Sally, have we received the merger documents?
" " I asked, sitting down at my desk to turn on my computer.
I needed to print them out and proofread them before having my brother sign them, but I froze when Sally hesitated to answer.
"Sally?" I called, my voice now dark. "Um, Mr. Ivanov, Mr. Tremblay's secretary just contacted me to inform me that.
.. he no longer wants to be part of the merger," she said in such a weak voice that I had to literally press the phone to my ear.
I slowly processed my assistant's words, and anger rose so quickly that I instantly got a migraine.
"Mr. Ivanov..." But I already hung up and was dialing another number.
"Tremblay," said a deep voice on the other end of the line, with shouting and laughter in the background, as if he were in a bar.
"What the hell is going on, Tremblay?" I yelled, banging my fist on the table.
There was a moment of silence on the line before he let out a sigh, "I had no choice, Ivanov," he said gruffly as I heard him move around before the noise in the background faded away.
"Are you kidding me? You had no choice?" He growled as a door slammed behind him.
"Stop getting upset, asshole. I have a fucking Council to deal with too, and there's someone on your side who convinced them that the merger was a bad idea," he retorted, and I clenched my jaw at his words.
Someone on our side? Only Yelsky was capable of such a move.
His cousin was on Tremblay's Council, damn it.
I had known Tremblay for many years. He was a few years older than me, but we had spent a lot of time together during our childhood; our mothers had been close.
"We need this merger, Will," I said, trying to calm myself, "I know, Sasha, it could have gotten us out of a difficult situation too, but I need a majority vote on the Council for this decision," he replied, and I could sense his unease over the line.
This merger was something our fathers had already discussed back then, and we had just managed to get organized to put it in place.
"I'll try to get them to agree, Sasha, one way or another," he promised in a sombre voice before hanging up.
I threw my phone on my desk and massaged my neck. This was a mess.
“Look, Uncle Sasha, it’s a drawing I made for my sister,” Andrei told me the next morning as we were finishing breakfast, holding it up proudly.
“It’s very well done, Andrei. I’m sure she’s going to love it,” I said with a smile, ruffling his hair.
He joined his brothers in the living room, and my gaze lifted to meet Nikolai’s at the other end of the table, over his wife’s shoulder. His look was dark.
Fuck. My eyes shifted to Roman, and my younger brother immediately looked away, whistling softly. Him and his big mouth, fucking fuck.
“Sasha,” Grigori called as he stood up from the table, motioning for me to follow him.
My gaze flicked briefly to Sienna, who was talking with Elif, but I forced myself to look away, clenching my fists.
I closed the terrace door behind me as my brother leaned back against the railing, crossing his ankles and folding his arms. “Any news about the merger?” he asked, I grimaced.
“Tremblay’s stuck. His Council doesn’t want the merger,” I said with a sigh.
“According to him, someone from our council changed the minds of his members.” “Yelsky?” Grigori asked, and I saw his expression darken.
“Probably. Either him or Vassili. But most likely Yelsky, considering his cousin sits on Tremblay’s Council,” I replied, scratching my beard.
“We need this merger, Sasha. The Council hasn’t been this fragile since Father’s death,” he growled, rubbing his face.
Anger rose in me at the sight of his worry.
My brother had almost been a father to us.
He had taught us everything we knew, protected us, shaped us into the men we were today.
He had fought for the Bratva, for his family. He deserved peace now, he and Elif.
“Tremblay told me he would handle this, Grigori. On our side, we need to deal with Yelsky and Vassili,” I said, placing a hand on his shoulder.
“We need to dig up Vassili’s secrets. We need proof of that parallel prostitution business” he nodded.
“Our Serbian agent will arrive tonight. I’ll drop her in Mission District.
We should have information soon,” I assured him. Alix had to succeed.
I closed the front door behind me, slipping my phone into the inner pocket of my jacket, and walked down the steps toward my car, then froze when I saw Nikolai and Roman standing beside it.
“Thank you, Semionov,” Nikolai said as he ended his call upon seeing me approach.
Fuck. Semionov, our doctor who had given me the CGM.
I shot Roman a look, he only shrugged, but I could see how tense he was.
“A problem, moy brat?” I asked, sliding my hands into my pockets, big mistake.
It kept me from blocking the punch Nikolai threw.
I staggered against the car, my jaw throbbing, but he was already grabbing my jacket collar, slamming my back violently against the door.
“If you ever manipulate my wife again to get what you want, I’ll rip your head off,” he spat, fury blazing as he shoved the CGM box against my chest. “Don’t force me to do things I don’t want to do, Sasha.
” I clenched my jaw. He was right. Using a pregnant woman like that was wrong, but I didn’t know what else to do, damn it.
I felt like Sienna was slipping through my fingers.
“You think I would’ve done it if I’d had a choice?
” I snapped back, rage boiling over. “Selina is my sister, I would never want to hurt her, but fuck ! I need to know !” I shouted, shoving him back, the box fell to the ground, he staggered a few steps as Roman moved closer to us, carefully.
“You need to know? Know what, Sasha? If Sienna doesn’t want you, there’s nothing you can do, moy brat. ”
The blood rushed to my head so fast that I already lunged at him, his words barely having time to leave his lips, but my back never left the car, because Roman stopped me, his hand pressed firmly against my chest. “Calm the fuck down,” he growled, keeping Nikolai in his line of sight.
“Sienna is an adult woman, Sasha. She knows what she wants. Nothing good ever comes from force,” Nikolai sighed, shaking his head as he slowly calmed down.
I clenched my jaw, refusing to answer, refusing to accept what he was saying, refusing to let her go.
Yes, Sienna wasn’t a child, but I had seen her.
I had seen the real Sienna in our rare moments together.
She wasn’t as strong as she let on. Sometimes, I felt a weariness and a coldness radiating from her that gave me chills.
As if she didn’t care what might happen to her.
As if she were completely disconnected from reality. As if she were… dead.
And Sienna couldn’t die. I couldn’t even imagine it.
“Nikolai, please,” I finally breathed as I saw him turn away to go back inside. “Just for a little while. I’m going to lose my mind, moy brat. I need to at least know if she’s okay when she’s not in front of my eyes.”
I pushed Roman’s hand away from my chest and bent down to pick up the box.
Nikolai turned back to face me, his gaze locked onto mine, and I saw him struggle.
His hand slid to his jaw as he thought. And I knew the moment he gave in.
“I’m doing this for Selina,” he said, snatching the box from my hands.
“She’s worried about her sister. I’ll give her the box, and she’ll find a way to make Sienna wear it.
” He walked away as and I let out a breath of relief.
I’ve got you, moya malen’kaya gadyuka, (my little viper).
—
I parked north of the Mission District, on Fourteenth, and looked at Alix in the passenger seat as she reapplied her lipstick.
“Don’t contact us for seventy-two hours unless it’s an emergency,” I said, handing her a burner phone.
She took it, but I didn’t let go until she met my gaze.
Her blue eyes locked onto mine as she raised an eyebrow.
She was nineteen, but she looked younger.
And we were going to use that, passing her off as a seventeen-year-old girl.
“We can still find someone else, Alix. One word and Sergei will send another girl, an older one…” “When do we do the paternity test?” she suddenly asked, and I stared at her, confused.
“What?” “The paternity test,” she repeated.
“You know, to check if you’re my father, since you’re acting like one”.
She mocked me, rolling her eyes, and I pressed my lips together to keep from smiling.
“Don’t worry, Daddy Sasha. I was trained for this kind of thing. I’ll contact you at the first opportunity with whatever information I get,” she said, snatching the phone from my hand.
“Tell me about that Italian woman who’s driving you crazy instead,” she added, slipping the phone into her bra as I opened and closed my mouth, not knowing what to say.
The Italian? Sienna?
“Stop looking at me like that. Everyone’s talking about this Sienna,” she shot back when she saw my stare.
“The woman who managed to reach the Ice Man of the Bratva,” she added, waggling her eyebrows as I continued to look at her like an idiot.
“You don’t have a picture? Is she really as beautiful as they say?
And a photo of Selina Ivanov? I heard her wedding dress was stunning.
You really keep your women secret,” she sighed, slipping into her heels, one of them broken.
She was right. No photos of our children or women were ever published or shared anywhere.
Even our phones had special encryption to prevent hacking or photo theft.
Everything was done to protect the family.
Alix leaned forward and tore her skirt a little higher, exposing the top of her thigh, then opened the car door.
“See you later, boss,” she said before stepping into the street, already walking with a sway, sometimes leaning against walls, perfectly playing the role of a drunk girl.
I tightened my grip on the steering wheel as I watched her disappear into the crowd.
She would make it.
She had to for herself, and for us.