Chapter 18

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Lev

Fuck it. He can wait until the morning.

I don't want to leave her. Not like this.

I fall asleep with Isabella in my arms. I dream we're back on the island, just the two of us. I roll over, and she turns to me, her hand on her belly.

"I have good news," she tells me.

"You're having a baby?"

She nods. "I don't want to fear this anymore. I don't want to fear us. I am ready for the next step."

A sudden explosion shatters our peace. The glass in the window flies into the room. She screams and falls to the floor. I cover her with my body.

I wake in a cold sweat. Isabella's beside me, wide awake. "Lev? What happened? Are you alright?"

Fuck, it was just a dream. Just a dream.

I am not alright.

I reach for the water on the bedside table and take a sip as she lies beside me and falls back asleep. I look at her flat belly.

She isn't pregnant.

Where has my mind gone? God, we need to get rid of Javier. The road before us is so fucking fraught.

I stare at the ceiling, unable to fall back asleep, when my phone buzzes. I glance at the screen.

Dmitri Petrov… our mole within Javier's LSD.

What time do we meet?

You with Isabella?

Yeah

You need to make sure she doesn't overhear us. Meet me at headquarters?

now?

Yeah?

I glance at the time. It's three a.m.

On my way.

I get out of bed and pull the covers over her.

I want everything in me to know I can trust her. I want us to be exactly what she said she wanted—a team. Inseparable.

That means putting this bullshit behind us.

That means facing whatever happens next.

I get to headquarters in record time. Dmitri sits outside on a bench. It's cold tonight, a chill in the air. My breath hangs in the air in front of me.

We nod to each other in silence.

"Hey, boss."

I nod to him and sit next to him on the bench. "Hey. When did you get back?"

"Javier sent me here a few days ago."

"He still has no idea who you are?"

He shakes his head. "None. You have no idea how divided they are. He only trusts himself."

I nod. That corroborates what Isabella has said as well. "And what has he instructed you to do?"

"I've been sent here to make sure nothing goes wrong with the shipment that's coming in tomorrow night."

I blow out a breath and laugh mirthlessly. "What could possibly go wrong?"

He huffs out a laugh of his own. "Seriously, though. But before we make any moves… I gotta show you something."

I know before he shows me what I'm going to see. I don't know if I can trust it, but there's only one reason he called me here in the middle of the night where my wife can't hear us.

I take the packet he hands me silently.

I curse under my breath as I look over the transcript, the communication, the texts.

"They know she's here…"

"They don't just know she's here, boss. They sent her here. She's been working with Carlos Cabrera since before you met her. Do you have any evidence of her contacting him?"

A cold shiver runs down the length of my body. This can't be happening.

"No, but…" My voice trails off.

Dmitri waits patiently.

"She's been in touch with his sister."

"I knew that."

"But have you listened to what they said?"

I feel sick to my stomach.

"Her presence here is part of a larger tactical maneuver."

I shake my head. "None of this implicates her. You're making assumptions."

With a frown, Dmitri shows me the record of a phone call. "Look, boss. This is a record of her phone call with Carlos."

I look at the time stamp. The exact time I caught her hiding with her burner phone.

She said she was talking with Renata. She lied to me.

I nod. "Thank you. Have you told anyone else this yet?"

"No, sir."

"Keep it that way."

A shadow crosses his face, but he nods. "I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news."

"You did your job."

I leave.