Chapter 13 #2
She looks away again, her eyes sad. For the first time since I've had her back, I want to make her happy. I don’t like seeing sadness in her eyes.
"I don't know how any of this will end," I tell her, but I make her a vow there and then. "I’ll burn the world to the ground to protect you. Nothing will stop me from keeping you safe, I promise you that."
She turns to face me, her expression determined. "I'm not going to let my family control my life, Ollie. I won't let my fears control my life. I won't let any of them break me."
I cup her face in my hands, unable to stop myself. My touch is gentle as I hold her gaze. "I know, Renata. But it’s my job to protect you now.”
“It’s our job to protect each other.” She smiles sadly, her eyes shining with tears she won’t shed. “We have to fight back. And not every method of protection means a fist.”
“Yeah.” I nod. My mother protected me from my father, even though he outweighed her in power and rank by a landslide.
“I won’t live in fear,” I whisper. “We have to fight back. And the first way we do that is by making sure you don't have a tracker in you.”
Her eyes widen. “Oh, God,” she whispers. “You do think it’s a tracker.”
I nod. “I waited until the wedding, but it’s time. I’m getting that fucking thing out of you now, no matter how much it hurts. You’re strong. You’ll be fine.”
“Oh my God,” she repeats in a heated whisper. She pulls out from under my arm and claws at her skin. “I was afraid of that, but the thought—of that in me--Get it out! I want it out! How do we remove it?”
That’s my girl.
Pride tightens my chest. “It will hurt. Flesh repairs quickly. By now, the skin has grown around it.”
“It hasn't been that long," she says softly, unable to hide her grimace.
"Long enough. First, I have to contact Aleks. Let’s get upstairs.”
“Do it,” she says, her tone vehement. “I won’t be a pawn in his game anymore. Please, Ollie.”
I nod and make the call as we walk swiftly to my room. On the landing, he picks up.
“Ollie? You alright?”
"I think Renata has a tracking device in her arm. I want to check, and if my instinct is right, I need to take it out immediately.”
“Jesus. You think they did it when they attacked and cut her arm?”
“Yeah.” I open the door. Large vases of white and red roses sit on every flat surface. On the small table in the entrance sits a bottle of champagne nestled in an ice bucket and a silver platter of chocolate-dipped strawberries.
We’ll get to that. I point to the armchair for her to sit. She obeys, enveloped in a cloud of satin and lace.
I cover the speaker. “Take it off,” I whisper. I take my hand off. “Go on,” I tell Aleks.
“Alright, so first we have to make sure that's exactly what you’re dealing with.” In front of me, Renata unfastens button after button, slowly undressing. I help her tug off the miles of fabric until she’s standing in front of me wearing a matching white satin bra and panties.
I’m instantly hard. I grit my teeth and concentrate. “Alright. Tell me how I find it?”
“I have an app that can detect a signal from subcutaneous tracking devices. You’ll have to put me on speaker. You’ll see me airdrop an app. Install it. That will give me permission.”
I see a red flash and a prompt. I hit the button.
“Got it. You’re in. Now, hold your phone near the wound on her arm.”
God, it's amazing what he can do. This modern technology shit.
I hold the phone close to her bare arm as Aleks does his thing.
“Give me a second. I'm setting it up it now. This is going to scan for any radio frequencies nearby. If it is a tracker, it will ping."
I watch the screen nervously, not sure why. And then I realize if it shows that there is a tracker, I'm going to get the fucking thing out of her. I could have one of my brothers do it, but no one’s fucking touching her.
The app shows a progress bar as it scans. Renata is breathing quickly, but she stares bravely at the screen right along with me.
A loud beep coincides with a display signal.
“Bingo,” Aleks says. “There it is. The signal is strong. Definitely a fucking tracker. Jesus. You were right, Ollie. Renata, you might be amazing at detecting the truth, but this fucker’s got excellent instincts. Listen to him.”
“Alright, alright. How do I get this fucker out?"
As Aleks instructs, Renata watches me. I brush my free hand across the apple of her cheek. “Are you alright?"
"Never better,” she says with a smile.
“Ollie, are you listening? There should be a small bump just below the surface, probably next to her bicep.
Feel for it. It's going to be tender. The tracker will probably be about a centimeter long, just under the skin. Once you see it, you're going to have to slice through her skin and use sterilized tweezers to pull it out. It’s the only way.” He pauses. "Do you want me to come and do this?"
Heat flares across my chest. "No, asshole. If you touch her, I’ll kill you, and we need you.” I’m breathing heavily. She places a gentle hand on my arm, and I draw in a breath. “I mean, no, thank you, I’ve got this.”
He chuckles on the other end of the line. “Tell me when you’ve got it.”
"Alright. I’ll get one of our first aid kids, then let’s do this.”
Our first aid kits are not your normal run-of-the-mill bandages and alcohol swabs. We keep every room in this house well stocked.
The room is dimly lit, shadows dancing across the walls from moonlight outside the window. But I feel a sense of urgency as I spread out medical supplies on the coffee table and take out the tools that I need.
"Come here,” I tell her, pulling out a desk chair. “Sit on my lap.”
She walks over to me, a bit reserved, but takes a deep breath and sits on my lap. I inhale and gently remove the bandage from her arm, then feel the tender skin like Aleks instructed. She hisses in a breath and grits her teeth but holds still. Wordlessly, I bend and kiss her shoulder.
"I'm sorry it's going to hurt. But I have to make sure it’s there.”
“I know,” she says quietly. "Do it. I want it fucking out."
My fingers shake a bit and finally brush over a small, hard lump just under her skin, making her wince.
"I think I found it. Jesus,” I say, feeling a wave of nausea at the hard bump under her skin. "Feels weird."
"You got it?” Aleks says on the other side.
“Yeah.”
"Good. Next, take the scalpel. Make sure it's sterilized first. There should be alcohol swaps in the kit."