Chapter 59

AVALINE

I hovered above her on the bed. I anticipated that she'd use her knee or leg to kick me so I used my knees to stop Sibley's foot and placed the handle of the lampshade against her neck.

"We mean no harm. Please calm down, Ms. Esquilin."

"You're saying that while strangling me with a lamp? Then you expect me not to do anything?" she pointed out and blew a dark blond hair away from her face.

I rolled my eyes and backed away but kept hold of the lamp in case it was a trick to free her so she could move and attack.

We moved around each other like prey and predator—a prey waiting for its predator to lunge, and a predator waiting for its prey to step into its trap.

Devika just stood off to the side as if she were watching an experiment unfold.

"Are you going to help me or not?" I said. I wouldn’t be tired fighting Sibley if Devika had stepped in from the start. There were two of us against just one Sibley; we would have already gotten past this fighting.

She shrugged. "You seem capable enough on your own..." Then came a cheeky smile before adding "Mrs. Levesque."

My cheeks flushed at that subtle compliment. I wiped my face as if perspiration were why it was red.

We all settled down: I sat on the sofa, Sibley was on the bed, and Devika stood between us in case we needed a mediator.

"I'd like to make a deal, Ms. Esquilin."

"Sibley," she clipped back, then flatly added, "Ms. Esquilin sounds too formal; it's creepy."

I inclined my head. "Sibley, then. I'm here to offer you a job."

"As?"

"Kill the underboss you work for, then use me as bait to lure Pascal Monteval."

She arched an eyebrow, suddenly interested. Devika's hand twitched; I'm convinced she's close to telling Czar about my plan.

Sibley's brow furrowed; what had been eagerness now turned hesitant.

"And where will that leave me afterward?" she asked. "I only worked for them because..."

She contemplated then glanced at me and Devika. I nodded, encouraging her to continue.

She stood up as if sitting for too long felt unnatural for her—it's natural; she's an assassin so she's constantly moving around. Devika immediately positioned herself beside me. Didn't she say that I could handle myself?

Sibley raised an eyebrow at him and laughed. Devika looked insulted.

"I'm working for them because I need the money. And they protect me. How can I maintain that standard of living if I betray them?"

I nodded because that was easy to answer. I had already framed my bargains on the way here.

"Once my purpose is done, how can you ensure that your husband won’t blow my head off? If he doesn’t kill me, will he give me a job? I'm sure there’s no room for someone who just tried to kill the capo around here."

"You have my protection, Sibley."

Sibley pinned me with a disbelieving stare, as if I were crazy for making my offer.

"Yes, I'm not the most skilled fighter out there, but I wasn't talking about that kind of protection. I meant you will get La Archante's protection. If Czar kills you, then I’d kill myself too. And tell me, Devika, will my husband let me harm myself?" I directed this at Devika to support what I was saying.

Not a second passed before she shook her head.

"My fate and yours would be codependent. Whatever he does to you, he will do to me. I'll make sure to inform my husband of the changes."

Devika's jaw dropped, while Sibley's eyes screamed caution.

"As for the money, I'll pay you."

"With your husband's money?"

I shook my head. "With mine."

Well, technically, my father's money.

"He lets you work?" Sibley asked.

"She stole from the De Greco," Devika replied for me. "Sneaky heiress."

Right. She was part of De Greco too—too close with my father, in fact. I wonder if she knew it was my father's plan for Czar to kidnap me from the start.

"A lifetime payment for a lifetime security," I said.

"Are you taking away my job?" came Devika's high-pitched reaction.

I was hiring Sibley to ensure we still had security when Freya and I left Saint Petersburg. But I was trying to convince Sibley that I could protect her from Czar because he was too in love with me to hurt either of us, so I opted for an abbreviated reason.

"You're a double agent, Devika, not my bodyguard. I want a personal bodyguard—not someone who just picks whoever is available among you, Eiran, and Alaric."

Sibley nodded. "I accept."

The tension in my chest eased. I felt good about this assassin.

She brushed her shoulder-length hair back with her hand and put it in a low ponytail.

"When do you want it done?" she asked.

"Tonight," I said. There was no reason to delay this any longer. "Devika and I will leave the hotel and you'll wait three hours before going out as if you've just escaped from us. You'll return to your underboss and kill him. Then you'll 'capture' me and tell Monteval that you have me and he needs to fetch us."

There. That should make him return to Saint Petersburg, right? Because he wanted to get his hands on me as his tool.

I dressed in my nightgown to make the ruse believable—as if I'd been dragged out of bed. I also tousled my hair a bit as if I'd pressed it hard against the pillow.

Then I lay down on the bed and waited. Devika was disabling the alarms so Sibley could get through the mansion's security without notifying Czar of the invasion.

CZAR

My bastard of a half-brother never learned. He thought he had the upper hand with his so-called “schemes.” Saint Petersburg is mine. I have eyes everywhere, and nothing goes unnoticed under my nose. Even the traitors. Traitors who are now dead.

I know that the underboss for whom the assassin worked was not the only man that Monteval planted in Saint Petersburg. I didn’t bat an eye when my wife said I’ve lost so many of my soldiers. Why would I? They do not matter. Those who died are those I discovered were working under Monteval’s command.

My wife complains that I rarely go home. I know because I always check the camera feed when I’m out. I don’t go home because my days are occupied with killing off Monteval’s planted soldiers. I do it myself to send a message to those who dare betray La Archante in the name of an incompetent man like Pascal.

I’m saving the underboss for last. From what I’ve gathered, he was the closest to Monteval out of all the traitors.

Each of Monteval’s men here in Saint Petersburg are corpses now. It’s time for me to hunt Monteval himself down. The last member of the Monteval family should be wiped off the face of the Earth.

I’ll give him and our sperm donor a sweet reunion in hell. You’re welcome. Though, I don’t know whether being in hell will be their true hell or the fact that they are buried and I’m ruling over the territory they wanted so badly to keep me away from. But either way, it will give me satisfaction.

“He’s within the territory, sir,” Rio spoke with calm urgency through the radio.

“Czar, Mrs. Levesque is not at the mansion,” Adonis alerted me.

“Mierda!” I slammed the steering wheel. That woman just won’t let me work in peace! For a goody two shoes, she’s doing poorly in behaving.

We’re in the middle of a war, yet she roams around like she’s not my wife who can be used against me.

“Pascal Monteval is near your wife’s location, sir,” Rio updated again.

“They’re in the same location? Standing on the same fucking ground? What?” I snapped.

“No, sir. They’re not in the same location. But Pascal Monteval’s closeness to Mrs. Levesque’s location cannot just be a coincidence. He might be out to get her.”

I did a quick U-turn while playing back the camera feed from earlier before she left.

With each passing minute, I gradually stopped breathing as I listened to my wife’s plans. I do not know everything about it, just that she’s looking for the assassin. I should not have told Devika where the assassin is staying.

Avaline was doing it for La Archante’s cause.

The woman whom I kidnapped, whom I rejected countless times, is the same woman trying to save my territory when she should be rejoicing at the thought of my fall.

“I’m done running away from my feelings, Czar. Don’t you have ears? Didn’t you hear what I said earlier? I want you!”

“It’s you that I want.”

“I want to…” she pointed at my face. “…h-heal your wound. I’m sorry; it’s bothering me a bit.”

“I still want to be friends with you, Czar. Have a nice day!”

She did not change one bit. She liked to jump into waters without knowing its depth. She expected it to embrace her and keep her afloat. She doesn’t know that it’s greedy; it would swallow her whole and rob her of her own breath.