Chapter 30

CHAPTER THIRTY

Aria

Something tellsme what Ekaterina needs to show me will be monumental.

A part of me wants to run. Don’t pull me in any more, please don’t give me a reason to stay.

And then of course, as soon as I rise from the table, almost every single one of Mikhail’s damn brothers rises with me. Seriously.

“She’s fine, boys,” Ekaterina says, her silvery eyes kind but firm. “She’s coming with me.”

“We’re under strict orders to not allow Aria out of our sight,” Nikko says, taking a step toward us.

“Nikko, can’t a woman have a conversation in private? Honestly, boys. Your insistence on protecting Aria is admirable, but we need to chat in private. It’s not like I’m even taking her out of the house.”

Nikko shakes his head. “I’m sorry.”

Viktor unfolds himself from the table, all six foot whatever of solid muscle and testosterone. I’m a little intimidated by him if I’m honest, but Ekaterina raised these men.

“Fine,” she finally agrees, steel lacing her voice. “You may come with us but you’ll stay outside the door so we can have some privacy.”

Stern Nikko and Implacable Viktor look at each other and I can tell already they’re immovable, but Polina pleads her case with Lev. Seems the younger ones in the family unite from time to time.

“Lev, can you talk some sense into these boneheads? Seriously. We have a few things to discuss.”

Lev is thoughtful as he folds his arms across his chest. Ollie sits at the table, silent as usual, whittling something in his hands. He finally looks up.

“You can go to the room. We’ll stand guard outside. No one leaves the room or goes near a window without one of us nearby.”

I finally can’t take it anymore. “You guys are treating us as if we’re royalty under attack from an enemy. This is ridiculous. It’s been weeks of nothing happening. Are you just going to continue to smother us for the rest of our lives?”

Polina snickers.

“If we need to? Yes,” Ollie says, looking back at the little wooden figure in the palm of his hand. He takes the sharp knife with his right hand and holds the figure with his left, then scrapes the tiniest detail with the tip of the knife.

“This is exactly what Volkov wants you to think, Aria. What’s the fun if you’re anticipating an attack? No. He’ll wait until you’ve let your guard down.” When he looks up at me, my heart rate spikes. His green eyes sparkle with intensity. “That’s when he’ll strike.” He stands, easily as tall as Viktor but not quite as bulky. “You may go, but we come with you.”

I roll my eyes to Polina, but Ekaterina only smiles warmly and takes my arm. “Let’s go.”

Once again, with every footfall, the heavy step of my guard falls in unison, like a marching band. Ekaterina leads me down a hallway to an open door. “In here,” she says, escorting me into one of her guest rooms. The second Polina and I are over the threshold, she peeks her face in the doorway. “Thanks so much for the escort, gentleman. We’ll be right back.”

Then she effectively slams the door in their faces.

“It’s fine, they can stay out there,” she says with a wave of her hand. “These windows are reinforced with steel bars and bullet proof glass. If anyone gets past that kind of protection, I’d like to know how. Now,” she says, walking to a corner of the room where she has a desk. “Have a seat, Aria.”

I look from her to the desk again, then to Polina, who looks about as baffled as I feel. The white wooden desk is L-shaped and takes up a good deal of space in this corner of the room, but there’s only a slim gray laptop on its surface. There isn’t so much as a paperclip in sight.

I pull out the seat in front of the laptop and look up at Ekaterina. She folds her hands placidly and speaks in a low whisper of a voice so the guys don’t hear.

“If I told them what I had in here, they’d be all over it,” she says in the tiniest of whispers. “And I won’t have that. I trust you, Aria, because Mikhail said you’re a genius with these things.”

I still have no idea what she’s talking about.

“I’ll be quick,” she says, continuing in the barest hint of sound. “I’ve had Fyodor Volkov here weekly for months now. My sons didn’t like it because they don’t trust him. What they don’t understand is that I don’t trust him, either.”

Her eyes gleam. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Ekaterina’s been playing Volkov?

“I got him to trust me. As Kolya may have explained, Fyodor’s growing senile in his old age. He repeats stories over and over again, confuses dates and times, and sometimes doesn’t even remember my name.” She shrugs. “So it was an easy matter to get him to bring me his toys then conveniently ‘lose’ them. Open the drawers, Aria."

I look down at the desk drawers in front of me. My heart is beating too fast. My mouth is dry. Every instinct in my body tells me something’s about to happen.

I open the drawers and find two more laptops and four cell phones.

“Those aren’t just his, some belong to his friends as well.”

“And he just…handed these to you?”

She smiles. “Not exactly. I can be very persuasive when I need to be. But you don’t have to worry about that. All I need you to do is to find information on these devices that will destroy him.” She leans in closer, her voice still a whisper. I jump at the sound of a fist on the door.

“Everything alright in there?”

“Yes, fine!” I yell. “And unless you want to learn more about the dilation of a woman’s cervix during labor or the tenderness of my breasts, I’d suggest you stop now.”

Polina snorts. “I adore you, you know.”

My heart melts a little bit. I don’t want to give her up. I don’t want to give Ekaterina up. But how can I stay knowing I mean nothing to Mikhail?

“Fyodor hurt my sons. He may have been the one who orchestrated my husband’s death.” Ekaterina’s voice hardens. I look up at her. “Destroy him, Aria.”

My hands fly over the keyboard of the computer on the desktop in front of me. Unlocking it is child’s play. I feel my eyes widen and my jaw unhinge as I systematically unlock everything. I go as quickly as I can, which is pretty quick since I have the tools to do it. I know how to bypass the security measures Volkov has in place, and within three minutes, it’s all here. All of it.

Communications and criminal records. Financial transactions. Detailed ledgers and personal information as well. Pictures and family information, and enough digital evidence of crimes to send him to jail for ten life sentences. But as I read, I feel nausea curling in my belly.

“He isn’t working alone,” I whisper, as I recognize names and places. Panic sweeps through me. “He isn’t the one we need to fear.”

I leap to my feet. I have to sound the alarm, I have to —

The sound of a deafening roar shatters my world.