Page 75 of Wicked Arrangement

Innokentiy looks at me as though I’m a fool for a second before replying. “Of course we did. The kidnapping was obviously a set-up to take you out, your affection for her is a weakness. We needed to know her whereabouts.”

“And? Where is she?” I ask eagerly.

He looks at me and rolls his eyes, shaking his head, “See, this is what I’m talking about, you are far too invested in this girl you barely know. You’ve let her make you soft.”

“Watch it, Uncle, you’re still talking to your Pakhan,” I warn.

“My apologies, Pakhan,” he says, his voice bordering on sarcasm. “The girl is with Roman Sharkozi.”

My stomach drops, “So they took her again once my men had been dispatched? Where are they keeping her? Why haven’t you rescued her?” I demand.

Innokentiy fixes me with a level gaze. “Why haven’t you considered the possibility that she’s on Roman’s side? Initially, I assumed she was just some gold-digger, but perhaps she was sent by Roman to seduce you all along, to infiltrate your home and lure you into a trap.”

As much as my initial reaction is to deny this—to say that I know who Kim is and that it’s not true, I can’t help but realize that if our positions were reversed, I’d be asking the same thing.

“I considered it when we first met, but I got to know her, looked into her, there are no connections…”

Innokentiy looks doubtful so I continue. “I know what you’re thinking, but she’d have to be the most successful con woman ever to pull this off.”

Though now I’m starting to doubt my conviction, Innokentiy is right, it all does seem very convenient how she came into my life, befriended my sister and convinced us to reconcile, then the kidnapping, and then fleeing the scene with the enemy. It doesn’t look good.

“If this is true, what use is she to Roman? If she really is a plant, and we’ve realized that because of the kidnapping, why take her again? Why not leave her behind to continue to feed back information and influence us from the inside? That would be the better play,” I reason.

Somehow Kim being kidnapped and at the mercy of my enemy is preferable to her being one of them.

Again, Innokentiy surveys me, looking pleased with himself. “So, you don’t know then? Your little bitch has got a pup in her belly.”

Shock and confusion hit me like a ton of bricks.

“Pregnant? Kim is pregnant?” I ask incredulously.

Innokentiy nods, “According to my intel.”

Relief mingled with fear fills me as I realize why Roman must have her. “That explains why Roman took her, to use the heir to the Volkov Bratva as leverage. Why the fuck didn’t you storm in there to get her the second you heard this?” I ask, enraged that the life of my unborn child has been toyed with.

“Because we need to know all the information first rather than risk another ambush trying to rescue someone who isn’t even on our side. Ask yourself this, how would Sharkozi know Kim is pregnant when you didn’t even know? Surely, there can’t have been many people, if any, that she would have confided in before you. Therefore, it stands to reason that he knows because she told him,” he replies pointedly.

Again, he’s frustratingly logical and I can’t argue with his reasoning. But that still doesn’t change the fact that, no matter who Kim truly is, or her motivations, it’s still my child she’s carrying inside her. I don’t give a fuck why or how he has Kim and my unborn child, just that he does. The fact that Innokentiy has left her there so long without making an effort to rescue her tells me he doesn’t feel the same.

Innokentiy may not have any legitimate heirs with his wife, but if I die without an heir, the Bratva falls to him. David, of course, usually would be next in line, but given his mental health issues, there’s no way that would happen. Innokentiy might be a loyal follower of mine, but perhaps that loyalty doesn’t extend to my child.

“Leave me. I need to think. We’ll talk again soon, Innokentiy,” I reply, deliberately not calling him Uncle, as usual, to show that even if he might be family, I’m still the one in charge.

He nods cordially, “Of course, Pakhan. You should rest. I will see you soon, don’t worry, everything is running smoothly with me around,” he says pointedly before departing.

I need to speak to the only two people in my life I know for certain I can trust, my brother David and Artem. After borrowing a phone from a kindly nurse who came to check on me and bring me some food and more medicine, which I refused, I called Artem.

Artem briefly filled me in on things as much as he could on an unsecured line and informed me that David has been in a bad place since Marta’s death and my coma, telling me he’s been unresponsive and withdrawn. He promised they’d both visit me soon. I dismissed it, telling him that I will be discharged shortly. I have more important directives to issue him than being by my bedside or babysitting my brother.

No matter what it takes, I need to find Kim and bring her back, Alive.

Chapter 38

Yaroslav

The next day

Despite Artem being on the case, I’m still anxious to get out of the hospital so I can look for Kim myself. It’s clear to me that everything isn’t stable with my Bratva either, I need to weed out the traitors and dispose of them once and for all. David still hasn’t been to see me either, which tells me he either blames me for Marta’s death and Kim’s absence, or he’s spiraled so badly he’s catatonic, or both.

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