26. ISABELLA

Chapter 26

ISABELLA

“I’ve seen enough!”

“But there’s more to hear,” Lucien insists and hits play again.

“Please, rather tell me,” I beg him, leaning over and hitting pause.

“How do I know you haven’t drugged this with NeuroMind!” My eyes widen. “You have my mother’s formula!”

“No!” Lucien says. “I don’t think the chemist has the last formulas your mother had perfected before she died.”

“Just how many Neuro drugs are there?”

“Let’s see,” Lucien uses his fingers. “There’s NeuroVeil, NeuroNet, NueroMind, NeuroTox, and NueroMix.”

“That’s a lot of Neuro shit,” I say in disbelief.

“Your mother wanted to change our world,” Lucien told me with a soft laugh. “I loved your mother. She was always so kind. My fucking whore of a mother took off as soon as my father died. Our grandmother thinks she was involved with his death.”

“It’s a real dog-eat-dog world, isn’t it?” I sigh.

“Are you sure you don’t want to see the rest of the video? There are another three, as I’ve recorded every time I’ve seen Stacy,” Lucien tells me.

“Jesus, Lucien!” My eyes widen. “How many times have you been with her?’

“A few.” He shrugs.

“No, thank you, I don’t want to see anymore! I already want to poke my eyeballs out just watching the bit I did.” I take a sip of the ginger tea, pick up a cookie, and shudder. “Did you watch your boyfriend fuck your sister?” Harry nods and looks a little green from the conversation. “That’s messed up.”

“Harry and I have an open relationship,” Lucien tells me. “We know the score and that we both have family obligations to fulfill.”

“That’s even more fucked up.” I’m getting uncomfortable with this conversation, so I turn to Lucien. “What else did you learn from Stacy?” Before he starts talking, I hold up my hand. “Give me the short version, please, without any more visual aids.”

“Sure.” Lucien nods. “Just over a year ago, Roman and I had to have a meeting with Ivan and Marco to discuss your upcoming marriage.”

“I thought Roman didn’t come to America?”

“He doesn’t!” Harry replies. “They video-conferenced, but only Lucien went to Boston.”

“That’s the night we learned of Lev and Stacy’s fake marriage and pregnancy,” Lucien continues. “The night of the attack on Lev and Stacy, and the night I met Harry.”

“What do you mean fake marriage and pregnancy?” My brows crease. “Stacy was really cut up about losing her child.”

“Stacy is an excellent actress. She was never pregnant,” Harry tells me. “Her and Lev aren’t even married either. I think they’re just engaged.”

“The pregnancy only happened after Konstantin told Lev he was getting married and his girlfriend was pregnant,” Lucien explains. “Which would’ve put a huge dent in Lev’s and Ivan’s long-term plans.”

“Why?” I glance from Harry to Lucien. “Why would my brother’s marriage and child affect their plans at all?”

“Oh, fuck!” Harry looks at Lucien wide-eyed. “She doesn’t know.”

“Know what?” Now I’m becoming suspicious.

“Lev killed the love of your brother’s life…”

“Yes, Valentina,” I say. “I know that she was killed that night. I didn’t know it had been Lev that targeted her at the time.”

“The child Valentina was carrying would potentially be the head of the Zhukov Special Forces, the next Zhukov Pakhan, and the rightful heir to the Belov Bratva,” Lucien tells me.

“What?” My brow furrows as I stare stupidly at the two of them. I understand the meaning of the words, but they are not registering.

“Konstantin is the son of Grigory Belov!” Lucien blurts out.

“No!” I shake my head, but I know what he’s saying is true. I’ve seen it, but I just ignored it.

“I’m afraid so,” Lucien says. “Stacy knew about it. Stacy also told me that their plan went wrong the night of that attack. Four men came out of nowhere. Two attacked Lev and really hurt him. Konstantin saved his life, and another two started attacking Stacy.”

“It was all just a scheme to get Lev to Russia so he could secretly record shit about Roman to place in that container that’s sitting in the middle of the ocean with the painted ladies, waiting to be delivered to the international branch of the FBI. He also managed to get a whole lot of incriminating evidence against the Andreevs.” Lucien growls.

“Why didn’t you show these videos of yours to Konstantin?”

“Konstantin has been unreachable as he was planning the mission to get you here.” Lucien’s eyes are hooded.

“Bullshit!” I spit, and fear grips me as the thought that I jumped out of the frying pan into the fire crosses my mind. “You want to take over Stacy and Lev’s plan.”

“Seriously?” Lucien’s brows raise as he looks at me in disbelief. “I run Canada and Alaska. I have the backing of the Zhukovs.” He shakes his head. “I do not need to take over the blip on the radar, which is the East Coast.”

“Your grandmother ordered him not to,” Harry tells me, glaring at Lucien. “Don’t be so fucking melodramatic.” He rolls his eyes. “Everything needs to play out at Lev, and Konstantin has planned it in order to get to the bottom of this.”

I stare at him for a few minutes as my mind ticks over with the information. Is our grandmother trying to get rid of Konstantin by letting him unknowingly keep his enemy by his side? My eyes widen, and I look at Lucien. No, Roman needs Konstantin, so it must be something else. Harry’s words sink in about Karla wanting to get to the bottom of this.

“Our grandmother thinks that Lev’s not acting alone, and there’s another Belov or maybe someone else working with him?” It’s the only thing that makes sense. “Oh my God! Does she think it’s Konstantin?”

“No!” Lucien shakes his head. “We know it’s not Konstantin. But it’s definitely a Belov, Moretti, or…”

“James!” My eyes widen even more. “No fucking way. You’re crazy.”

“The only three people we’ve ruled out are you, Genevra, and Davey,” Harry tells me.

“Shit, Davey!” I snap my fingers. “My dogs! Where are my dogs?”

“With our grandmother,” Lucien tells me, grinning. “She loves them, by the way, and I think you’re going to have to fight with her to get them back.” He laughs at the horrified look that must be on my face. “She loves dogs, especially Cane Corso!”

“She was the one that gifted Titan to you right after your mother died,” Harry tells me.

I change the subject away from my dogs and grandmother I’ve never met. “I don’t think this is my father’s doing.” I shake my head. “He helped me and Stacy escape from the lodge…” My words trail off as I realize how easy it had been to escape the lodge and how Doctor Bimbo had just volunteered the information. “Fuck! I was played.”

“Seems that way,” Lucien said. “There is also one player on this board that everyone just overlooks and moves beneath the radar.”

My heart lurches, and my soul screams— No! But my mind reasons that Andrey is the only one who hasn’t been harmed throughout all this. He hasn’t been kidnapped or threatened, and he seemed rather eager to follow me on my journey to the end of the fucking Bratva hot information rainbow.

The private military contractors always seemed to know where we were and how did Lev track me down in the women’s shelter building? No one outside of our circle knew I was there.

Although my heart and soul are trying to hang on to the name, my mind forces it through my lips, “Andrey!”

“Andrey!” Harry and Lucien say in unison.

“I…” I want to defend him, but I’m not sure if I can. I’m not sure I trust any of the Belovs. “What about his father?”

“The man is brain dead,” Harry reminds me. “And, yes, we’ve confirmed it.”

“What about someone on the team?” I gesture with my hand. “Like… uh… Sergei or his friend Urie?”

“No, it’s none of them,” Lucien shakes his head and glances at my arm. “I noticed you had a bit of an itchy rash on your arm earlier when I brought you inside.”

“It’s nothing, probably just something I touched at that lodge,” I tell him. Other than a little bit itchy, I’d actually forgotten about it.

“I don’t want to alarm you,” Harry says to me. “But while you were at the lodge, someone injected a tracker beneath your skin.”

“What?” I pull the sleeve back and look at the red patch. “What the fuck!” I look at them. “Get it out.”

“We were told to leave it in.” Lucien looks at me apologetically.

My jaw drops as I realize what’s going on. “You’re using me as bait.”

Before any of them can answer, there’s a commotion outside.

Lucien sighs, stands, and goes to the window, turning toward me. “It seems your bodyguard has found us.”

Before Lucien even has a chance to move from the window, Temur bursts through the door, a handgun in each hand.

“Back the fuck away from Isabella, Lucien!” Temur sneers. “Isabella, are you okay?”

“I’m fine!” I wave from the sofa. “Just having tea and cookies.” I look at him. “What took you so long.”

“I had a stop to make along the way,” Temur states and glares at Lucien. “Your uncle is not happy with you extracting Isabella the way you did.”

“I didn’t extract Isabella,” Lucien informs him. “I saved Isabella. It was Lev that tried to kidnap her—again.”

“Yet here we are,” Temur points out. “At the Popov Estate in Fairbanks, Alaska.”

“Popov Estate?” My brow creases, and I look at Lucien. “Did my brother buy this estate? You said it was soon going to belong to him.”

“No.” Lucien shakes his head. “Grigory Belov’s mother was a Popov, and Konstantin is their only living heir.”

“If my brother has so much pedigree murder blood in him, then why isn’t he the one making the alliances?”

“He isn’t a Moretti, nor has he got any claim to Velvet Transport,” Lucien tells me. “He’s also not the one your mother left her NeuroFamily formulas to and all her secrets.”

“You said my brother had to come here with me,” I remind him.

“Yes, so he can claim his Popov inheritance,” Lucien answers. “But he’d already figured out who he was.”

“Miss Isabella?” A petite lady walks into the lounge and stops when she sees Temur standing with his pistols pointed at Harry and Lucien. “Oh my.”

“Temur!” I hiss. “Put your guns down.”

“Not until they tell me why they were anywhere near the woman’s shelter!” Temur says. “Roman said he hadn’t told you where to find Isabella.”

“We were tracking Stacy and Lev as per my grandmother’s orders,” Lucien tells us. “You are welcome to check. When I saw he was going for Isabella, Karla ordered me to extract her and bring her here.”

“How did you find me?” I look at Temur suspiciously.

“You have trackers in your boots, hat, gloves, coat, and…” He looks a little uncomfortable. “Bra.”

“Jesus, Temur!” I hiss. “That’s fucking overkill.” But in my heart, I don’t care. I feel a lot safer with him here. “But thank you for finding me.”

“Of course.” Temur leans forward and tells me, holstering his guns and looking at the woman who walked in the door. “What do you want with Isabella?”

“I have the viewing room ready for her with the box she was meant to receive.” The woman’s eyes meet mine. “If you’d come this way?”

I stand and look at the rest of my cookies and tea.

“I have fresh tea, cookies, and something to eat in the room,” she tells me.

I follow her out of the room and step into a beautiful entry hall, but I hardly have time to take it in. I’m rushed to the end of the hallway and let into what looks to be a cinema room. There is an intricately carved wooden box on the one seat, a gas fireplace keeping the room warm, and the smell of food hits me, making my stomach rumble when I see a food trolley near the door.

“I hope there’s enough for two on there,” Temur tells the woman. “As I’m starved.”

“There is.” The woman nods before explaining to me how the room works. “Mr. Popov is very worried about your safety. That’s why this room was chosen for you. If there’s any trouble, you hit this button.” She picks up a remote off the cabinet and hands it to me. “The room locks into a panic room. There is a fridge in the small kitchen off to the back that is fully stocked and a linen closet with blankets.” She points to another door off to the side. “Through there is the bathroom. It has everything you need in it.” She points to the line of small monitors on the back wall. “Those are the security monitors that allow you to see the entire property.”

“Thank you…”

“Simone,” she answers and smiles. “If you need anything, you can call me on the phone on the wall over there.” She walks to the door. “Mr. Popov does want you to lock the room while you’re viewing and has left you a laptop.” She points to a table at the back of the room, and her smile broadens.

As Simone leaves, Temur closes and locks the door. I look around the room. “I wanted my father to build a cinema room.”

“I’d rather go to the cinema,” Temur tells me. “It’s a nice outing instead of being cooped up in your house all day.”

I nod and walk to where the box is. My heart is hammering like a wild bird trapped in a cage as I sit down beside it. I run my hand over the carvings and frown. The box looks so familiar.

“I think I remember this box,” I tell Temur, picking it up. “It’s one of my mother’s puzzle boxes.”

“Great!” Temur says, exploring the food trolley. “Maybe you should come get something to eat before you get stuck into that?”

I look up at him. “Would you dish me up whatever it is?”

“I’m not sure what you eat.” Temur looks at me.

“Anything,” I tell him distractedly as I start to solve the puzzle. After a few minutes, it clicks open and reveals a bunch of photos of Konstantin and me growing up. “This is a picture of the three of us.”

I hold it up for Temur to see. “Wow. So the commander was a boy once,” he teases.

“He was a good brother,” I tell Temur. “From what I can remember, he looked after me.”

“He still does,” Temur assured me.

My heart catches, and I look at Temur, feeling a lump lodge in my throat. “Temur, has there been any news of my brother, father, and …”

“They’re all safe,” Temur tells me, bringing over a plate of food and some cutlery. “Here, eat.”

“Thank you.” I put the box aside and take the food. “Do you know the man whose house this is?”

“Dmitry Popov,” Temur tells me and shakes his head. “I must say I was surprised to find you here.” He glances around the room. “Dmitry Popov Senior was a seriously ruthless man. They used to call him the Butcher of the North.”

“Delightful,” I say with a shudder as I tuck into the food. “But I guess if my mother was going to send the information for someone to safeguard, who better than a man with that reputation.”

“Your mother sent it to Dmitry’s grandson,” Temur tells me. “I believe this is his farm now.”

“Farm?” I glance around the room. “This doesn’t look like a typical farmhouse to me.”

“It’s not a typical farm,” Temur tells me.

“Do they actually grow or farm anything on the farm?”

“Automatic and hard-to-find military weapons,” Temur tells me as he eats.

“How awesome,” I say with a sigh as I find another smaller puzzle box. “Look here.” My eyes widen with excitement. “I’ve found it.”

Temur’s eyes mirror my excitement. Finally, the box pops open, and it is a thumb drive.

“That must be what your father, Ivan, and Lev have been after,” Temur states. He gets up and fetches the laptop and set of headphones he finds next to it. “Here.” He smiles. “Watch whatever it is your mother sent you.” He picks up the remote and switches on the security monitors. “I’ll keep watch… Is that…”

I stare at the security monitor Temur is fixated on, and my heart drops into my stomach. Lev and Stacy burst through the gates, with three SUVs roaring behind them like a pack of wolves on the hunt. My eyes dart to my arm.

“They’ve got a tracker in my arm!” I gasp, panic setting in as I pull up my sleeve to show him the itch patch on my arm.

Temur whips his head toward me, his eyes wide. “Son of a bitch,” he snarls, and in a flash, he’s slamming his hand against the lockdown button.

The room seals with a metallic hiss. He storms out of the room, his footsteps heavy with urgency, and I hear him tearing through drawers and cabinets in the kitchen. Moments later, he’s back with a first aid kit in one hand and a cold, determined look in his eyes.

“Isabella, I’m sorry, but we’ve got to get rid of it. Now.” His eyes look pointedly at my arm.

“How?” My voice trembles as I see him unsheath a knife, the blade gleaming ominously under the soft lights of the room. My heart pounds so hard it feels like it might burst from my chest.

“We have to cut it out.” He looks at me apologetically. “This is how they’ve been finding you.” He kneels beside me, taking my arm. “Hold still,” he mutters.

Before I can fully comprehend what’s happening, the blade slices into my arm. A white-hot pain shoots through me, and I bite back a scream, my nails digging into the armrest. The pain intensifies as he digs deeper, his focus unwavering.

“There it is,” Temur breathes.

His fingers carefully prying out the small device nestled beneath the layers of flesh. My vision blurs with tears, but I blink them away, watching as he finally manages to grip the tracker with a pair of tweezers.

With a quick, precise motion, he pulls the device out, a tiny, bloody chip now held between the metal prongs. I gasp in relief, the intense pain subsiding into a dull throb as Temur tosses the tracker onto the floor and crushes it beneath his boot.

“Are you okay?” Temur asks, his hands steady as he quickly bandages the wound.

“Well, you just sliced into my arm,” I snap through gritted teeth, the pain throbbing. “And two psychopaths with their private military army have just stormed the house… so how do you think I’m doing?”

“I’m going to take that angry outburst to mean you’re okay,” Temur tells me, a flash of amusement in his eyes as he turns back to watch the drama unfold on the monitors.

I glance back at the monitors, and my blood runs cold as I see Lev and Stacy’s mercenaries swarming the farm, guns drawn, the situation spiraling out of control.

The dull throb in my arm reminds me of what Lucien told me. “Lucien must have left that tracker in me on purpose, to lead Lev right to us.”

“Lucien’s a fucking idiot,” Temur growls, looking at my arm. “He’s playing with fire, and he’s going to get burned by your brother, your uncle, and even your grandmother.”

“I can’t believe they tagged me like some kind of animal.” Rage flares within me, boiling over as I turn back to the monitors, my eyes narrowing. “And I’m even angrier at myself for not seeing through Stacy’s lies.” I look up at Temur, the betrayal cutting deep. “She deceived me at every turn.”

“She’s a damn good actress,” Temur says, shaking his head. “She and Lev had everyone fooled, even the commander. Konstantin’s only flaw is that he’s too trusting when it comes to the people he loves.”

“That’s just a human flaw,” I mutter, my eyes locked on the screen as Stacy and Lev storm through the farmhouse like they own the place. Their private military contractors drag Lucien and Harry out of the study and into the living room, shoving them toward Lev and Stacy. “We need to go help them.” I glance at all the other monitors. “Is this another Bratva house where all Dmitry’s men are?”

“I wondered that myself,” Temur said. “There were only three guards when I came in here and they were Lucien’s men.”

Our eyes widen as we look at each other, saying in unison. “This is another trap!”