Chapter 31

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Mikhail

“Pull over.”

Before I was made pakhan he might’ve given me shit for making him pull over, but now he only does what I say with a tight-lipped look.

He’s driving too fucking slow for me.

“Listen,” he growls as he reluctantly gets into the passenger seat. “Driving so fast you get pulled over won’t get you there any faster.”

“You sound like Mom. Shut up and let me drive.”

Aleks only sits up straighter and crosses his arms on his chest.

“I’ve got a lot to tell you, Mikhail,” he says with a note I can’t quite identify in his voice.

“How convenient. I have a lot I have to tell you, too.” Namely, how he’s directly impacted by the deal I made to get out of jail. There’s no “get out of jail free” card in real life, ever.

“I’ll let you go first. Oldest brother and all that.”

I know it’s his curiosity, though.

“Bianchi got me out. I owed him a favor, but a small one, so we made a deal.”

“I suspected Bianchi had something to do with it. Mario Rossi texted me and told me you’d probably cross his path.”

“I did.” The fact that we were in the same cell wasn’t lost on me either. “And we struck a deal.”

“Oh?” Now I have Aleks’s attention.

“He has a younger sister who’s causing him some trouble. She’s tried to leave on numerous occasions, and he’s done with it. Says it’s time to marry her off and he’d rather marry her into a group he trusts than take his uncle’s advice.”

I don’t blame Bianchi. His uncle’s a greedy son of a bitch who’d auction his niece off to the highest bidder, character and integrity be damned.

Aleks laughs out loud. “So enter the Romanovs, because we’re so reputable and trustworthy?” He flattens a palm against his chest. “I’m fucking honored.”

“His uncle was talking with Volkov.”

Aleks’s eyes darken. The last woman who entered an arranged marriage to Volkov ended up marrying a man thirty years her senior who locked her in a cage in his bedroom and shared her liberally with his peers.

There’s a reason Polina isn’t allowed contact with that side of the family.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” he says, his dark eyes glittering.

“That you and I both tying the knot within six months gives us a decided advantage? Fuck yes.”

He sits up straighter. “Wait, me? Jesus, Mikhail.”

“I have my reasons.”

I noted the tension between Aleks and Aria and while I was ready to step in if necessary, it would be far easier for all of them if I didn’t have to.

I also happen to know, thanks to Bianchi, that while his sister’s a handful, she’s much more Aleks’s type than Viktor’s.

“Well, then. Happy birthday to me,” he mutters, looking out the window. “Not only do I get a wife, but I also get the unique privilege of taming her. You got a pic?”

“I do.”

I pull out the picture of tall, elegant Harper Bianchi. Honey-brown eyes and sun-kissed skin complement her long, blonde beach waves. Her smile is a bit impish, if staged – the byproduct of hundreds of selfies she’s liberally posted.

“She’s been spoiled,” Aleks says, his eyes fairly gleaming. “Hasn’t she?”

“Without a doubt.”

“I can’t decide if I should thank you or deck you.”

“So soon you forget the punishment for striking your pakhan?”

“Dammit, that’s right,” he says with a laugh, then quickly sobers. “Alright, we can talk about this with everyone else later. I have a more urgent matter we need to address.”

I hit the gas and watch the needle hit eighty-five. I need to get to Aria. She hasn’t answered my calls or texts, and it would concern me if I hadn’t left her under the total wall of protection that’s the entire Romanov brotherhood. I know she needs to nap often and is sometimes so busy with her work that she doesn’t notice notifications.

We’re ten minutes out.

“What did you need to talk to me about?”

Aleks sobers, which isn’t a good sign. When he clears his throat, I feel my hands tighten on the steering wheel.

“Aria’s been poking around. I’m almost certain she intercepted some texts, and when I looked through yours, they were potentially damning.”

Texts? She intercepted texts?

“What kinds of texts were damning? What are you talking about?”

“You got a text from Tatiana, brother.”

Ahh. Shit. “She knew we didn’t exactly meet in a traditional way…”

“No, but she might not be too crazy about the fact that you arranged for her to be sent to you and the woman you paid a finder’s fee to was posing as her friend.”

It’s how we do things here. I fucking kidnapped her, for Christ’s sake. It’s not like we met in a traditional way by any means. Hell, I didn’t even give her a choice about vows or a baby.

“Is this why she isn’t answering my texts?”

“Could be, but I also don’t want to – shit.”

“What?” I say through gritted teeth.

“I get an alert when there’s been any tampering with security measures. It looks as if she’s been unsuccessful, but Aria’s been attempting to circumvent security.”

She is in so much fucking trouble. I clench my teeth together and push the gas pedal even harder. “How?”

“I need to catalog these alerts before I…”

All of a sudden, he goes still.

“Aleks.” What the fuck?

“Fuck. Mikhail, there’s something more urgent we need to respond to, now. An alert’s come in that says there’s been a security breach at the primary residence – Mom’s home. The fire alarms have been triggered and window alarms as well.”

I will myself to stay calm but even the road in front of me goes a little hazy.

Jesus. Fuck. Volkov and his goddamn sons of bitches –

I hit the steering wheel. “Call Viktor.”

The phone rings and rings.

I systematically go through every one of my brothers and get no response. I turn the corner so hard we’re on two fucking wheels. My mother’s estate looms in front of me, smoke billowing into the sky. My heart hammers in my chest, adrenaline nearly choking me.

“Multiple unauthorized entries at the main gate. Detection of explosives. Fire safety alerted.”

Fuck.

“Check real time family status.” My voice sounds as if it’s coming from inside a tunnel, hollow and echoing. I need to stay focused.

“Jesus,” Aleks says in a choked voice, running a hand through his hair. He blows out a breath. “Polina’s in Mom’s guest room. Heartbeat accelerated. Mom’s detected in the same room with her, but her heartbeat’s well below the normal range. Viktor’s nearby, heart rate accelerated. Nikko as well. There’s…” He’s having trouble continuing. “No reading on Lev or Ollie.”

“And Aria?”

“She’s off our radar.”