“It was my idea,” Gabriel said, stepping closer to us. He kept his distance, his face neutral and not giving away any of the emotion I knew he must have felt. All the brothers loved Isa like a sister, and hurting her in this way wasn’t a choice they’d made lightly.
But Odina’d needed to be dealt with, and Isa needed to be safe in that bunker.
“What did you do?” she asked, sniffling back the impending tears in favor of understanding. Of getting the answers she so desperately needed.
“I drugged her and put her in your clothes,” Gabriel answered, glancing at Joaquin who nodded even though his face pinched with the ire he knew Isa would give him. “Then Joaquin led her out, pretending to be trying to escape the fire. She couldn’t speak to warn Dima that she was the wrong sister because of the drugs.”
“And then what?” she asked, turning her tightly pinched face until she stared Joaquin in the eye. “You just handed her over and they believed that?”
“They shot me,” Joaquin said, tugging down the collar of his shirt to show the bruise from where the vest had caught the bullet meant for his heart, “and took Odina while I lay ‘bleeding’ on the ground.”
“They could have shot you,” Isa murmured, her voice twisting with anger.
“They did—”
“No! They could havereallyshot you! What the fuck were you thinking?” she asked, glaring at him as if endangering himself was a personal offense to her.
“Mi reina—” he started.
“Do notmi reiname. I forbid you from ever doing something so stupid ever again. Do you understand me?” she asked, her voice trailing off into a whisper as her bottom lip trembled. “My mother is dead. Odina is gone, and even if she’s a complete shit, she’s still my twin. Doesn’t it matter to you what it would do to me to lose you too? Please don’t make me lose someone else I love.”
“I’m not—”
“You’re not what? My family? If you truly believe that then you haven’t been paying attention,” she whispered, her voice trailing off.
“It’s my job to keep you safe,” Joaquin explained, his expression and voice softening with emotion as he stared at her. I’d never heard Isa speak of her bond with the brothers, of the relationship that had somehow survived the betrayal they’d dealt her over the months and grown stronger during her time at my side.
They grounded her. Gave her someone to love and spend her time with, aside from me, and as much as I hated knowing that there were other people who demanded her attention, I acknowledged the fact that Isa thrived on having people to love.
Even when those relationships were odd.
“Then you should have been in the bunker with me, not playing games with my sister’s life,” she said flatly.
“Using Odina as a decoy was necessary to end the fight quicker. It made them think they’d won, and it gave us the ability to get you off the property and to the airplane without risking you being trapped in the bunker with Hugo indefinitely. You needed a doctor as soon as we could manage it,” I explained, touching her cheek and drawing her attention back to me. I didn’t like the jealousy I felt over seeing her so bothered by another man’s theoretical death.
“It was unnecessary. You couldn’t have waited for help? You expect me to believe Matteo wouldn’t have lent a hand?”
“That takes time,mi reina,” I said, my voice trailing into a warning growl. “In the meantime, my men were dying. I owe Odinanothing, but I owe them my loyalty. I will always do what I must to protect you and to protect my people. Sacrificing yourpandejaof a sister to save countless lives was no sacrifice at all considering what she’s done to you.”
Isa went silent, sliding her eyes to the floor as she processed my words. She must’ve known there was truth to them, but it was difficult for people like Isa to grasp the reality of the greater good.
One life did not justify a dozen deaths.
Mariano poked his head into the room, sympathy in his gaze as he locked eyes with Isa momentarily and then looked at me. “My men are suited up and ready to go whenever you are.”
“Where are we going?” Isa asked, giving me her eyes once more.
Cupping her cheek in my hand, I leaned down to kiss her forehead. I hated to leave her, even knowing she wouldn’t be alone. The fact that she was so willing to allow me to touch her despite her anger over the choice I’d made spoke to just how affected she was by what had happened to her parents. “You aren’t going anywhere. You’re going to stay here with Joaquin and Hugo. I have to do something in Brighton Beach.”
“You can’t just leave me here,” she protested, shaking her head from side to side. The wide depth of her gaze made me wish that I could send someone else to deal with Viktor. That I could spend the rest of the night curled up in bed with her and doing what I could to distract her from the reminder of her loss.
“I’ll be back soon.”
“What’s so important that you have to rush off in the middle of the night?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow in that way that she did when she knew I was up to no good, and that she would never approve of my plans.
“Killing Viktor Kuznetsov,” I said.
“His brother has my sister, Rafael,” Isa returned, pulling away from me as much as she could. She erected a wall between us, separating herself from me as much as she could, given our proximity, and shutting me out of her emotions as her tear-stained face went blank.
“I won’t negotiate to get her back,” I answered, placing a finger under her chin and tilting her face up until I could lean forward and brush my lips against hers tenderly. “My plans move forward regardless.”
“But it's your fault they have her in the first place!”
“Te amo, mi reina.But I think you’ve mistaken me for someone who gives a shit about what happens to her. She doesn’t deserve your care or protection. Let her go,” I said, placing one last kiss on her startled lips. “I’ll be back soon.”
Nodding to the brothers, I followed Mariano out into the hallway to go join his men. Gabriel trailed at my heels. His abilities with tech equipment and disarming alarm systems would come in useful when we broke into Viktor’s home while he slept.
We were nearing the end of my list of Kuznetsov scum to wipe from the earth, and nothing would derail those plans or my mission to make sure Isa was safe.