Chapter 21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Isabella

I pace back and forth in the Romanov's study, the weight of everything pressing heavily on me.

I'm pregnant.

Javier is using us against each other.

Lev and I have broken up publicly.

He loves me

I'm pregnant.

The decision to break up with him was a calculated and necessary move… But still, pain lingers a bit, like a fresh wound that only deepens my resolve to face the threat against us.

I will not be held back. I am Isabella Morales Romanova, and no one will hold me back.

"Let's get you something to eat," Polina says. "And you need to be doctored up. Are you alright?"

I nod, wiping away tears on my cheeks. I don't have to feign heartbreak because I am heartbroken.

Maybe it's the pregnancy hormones. I want Lev. I want to be right with him again. I want him not to be a jerk who fucks shit up on me.

I want my husband.

Meanwhile, my mind is working relentlessly to find any clue that could turn the tide in our favor. I'm working through every possibility in my mind.

What is Javier's plan of attack? He's coming here, that I know. He'll attack the Romanovs and likely come straight for me. They're his enemies, but I betrayed him. There is no greater crime one could commit.

I feel like the knowledge of how to stay ahead of him is right at my fingertips. Right beyond my reach. I know there's more here than meets the eye… but what?

I can't think beyond the strange mix of nausea and hunger that's affecting my concentration.

Polina brings me some food but doesn't ask questions or push. She knows what her brothers are like.

I take a nap, half expecting that I'm not going to be able to fall asleep, but I guess pregnancy takes more out of you than you'd think. It's warm and comfortable here in the guest room. I close my eyes.

Something happens during my nap as if my brain waves fire, and disparate thoughts knit themselves together while I'm sleeping. Because I wake up with an answer to a question, I wasn't sure I had.

It's the map.

The map.

When we were in his office making love, the maps crinkled beneath us. There were places marked where Javier struck. Lev's been poring over it.

That map. I need to look at that map again.

I call Aria. She answers on the first ring.

"What's up? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I need to see into Lev's office. Do you have cameras in there?"

"Honey, you do not put cameras in the Romanov boys' offices. Are you kidding? They'd murder me."

"Okay, alright, fine. Is there a way you can get in?"

She laughs. It's a little evil, and I love it. "Of course."

I blow out a breath. "There's a map on the desk… I need to see it."

"Alright. Give me ten. But this did not happen."

A few minutes later, my phone rings. "Got it. Open your phone and tap the white triangle."

I do what she says, and crystal-clear footage pops up on my phone. "There." I tap the screen and stare at the map, pointing to a series of what look like random markings. Renata told me there was a map, but I didn't know what she was talking about. It seemed random, trivial, but it isn't.

This is a map of The Cove. When I first saw it, I thought it had something to do with Lev's plan, but now, I know it has to do with Javier's. "These symbols," I tell Aria. "Do they look familiar?"

"Yeah," she says, getting excited. "They look like coordinates. Maybe a code."

"We need to decipher this code. It could lead us to the heart of their operation. I can't see it very clearly here, though."

"This is as close as I can get," Aria says with a sigh.

"Alright. I need to get back to our home."

I'm still calling it our home. It isn't Lev's place anymore. In my heart, I know… this is where I belong. With him. Together.

"Listen, Isabella. We can't afford any mistakes. This is our chance to strike back."

"I know," I whisper. Javier is on the move; I know that now. "I need to talk to Lev."

Where is he?

I pace the room, my stomach growling with nausea laced with anxiety. I want this over with. I know what cruelty Javier is capable of, and I won't allow the Romanovs, any of them, to be hurt on my watch.

"I've got Lev on a secure network," Aria says. "No one knows you're talking."

The air crackles between us. "Lev?"

"Are you okay?" he whispers.

"Yeah," I whisper back.

"He's coming. That's all we know, though. We don't know where or when."

My heart pounds. "I think I do. There was a map in your office, and I think it's a code. We know the shipment's coming in. Our plan is to intercept it and make it look like an inside job, right? So Carlos and Javier will suspect each other."

"Yes, but they changed where the shipment's coming, and our sources have dried up. Dmitri has no idea. He says Javier's in a rage and doesn't trust anyone."

I shake my head. It's the exact type of thing my father would've done.

"Yeah," I whisper. "He's a prime candidate for thinking one of his men betrayed him. Listen, that map in your office… I need to see it again."

"Why?"

"It's just a hunch. Listen, you're the one who knows how to decode information and strategize. Let's look at this together."

"That map was only the first one. A draft. The more detailed one is back in the warehouse." In the warehouse. Where we first met. Where he kidnapped me and took me back to his home.

"The warehouse?"

"Yeah," he says softly. "Should we go?"

I nod. "But tell no one. Remember, we hate each other." I frown. "What the hell are you wearing?"

He looks down at his too-tight T-shirt and shakes his head. "Don't ask. Let's get to the warehouse. First, you go outside and say something to my mother to make her believe we're not together anymore."

"My God, your poor mom."

"She'll be fine. I'm arranging for us to switch transport on the way to the warehouse."

Still…

He makes a series of calls, peppered with a good deal of angry cursing in Russian. I don't know what he's saying, but I know we've kept our ruse. Everyone thinks we've broken up.

It's time.

I walk downstairs, clomping the whole way to attract attention. He's long gone, going through back rooms and staircases in his borrowed clothing so no one suspects it's him.

I march out the front door.

"Isabella?" Ekaterina stands on the front step, her gaze world-weary and tired. "Where are you going, love? Lev wouldn't want you to leave."

I shake my head. "I can't stay. I'll be fine. I… It's complicated, Ekaterina." My voice cracks. I don't have to act much at all. It is complicated.

Her gaze meets mine, and in that moment, understanding passes between us. "Stay safe," she says quietly. "You are strong. You are resilient. No one can ever take that away from you."

I reach for her hand. "Thank you," I whisper and lean in. "I'll be back." She squeezes my hand wordlessly. I walk toward the car that waits.

I know they're watching. All of them. The Romanovs. My brother's people.

My friends.

My husband.

I slide into the car and pinch the bridge of my nose. I'm trembling. So much is at stake. Everything, everything that matters depends on what happens next.

I look out the window when I notice a familiar scent. My skin prickles with awareness. I look around the interior of the car. Why do I smell a familiar scent that… reminds me of my brother? The cloying scent of Zegna Intenso , my brother's signature cologne, fills my nostrils. Ice pulses through my veins when I meet the gaze of my driver in the rearview mirror.

"Going somewhere, Princesa loca ?" Javier says, his look murderous. "Maybe the... warehouse? Yes? Yes! Let's go. I need to introduce myself to your new husband."