𝑇𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑥 ✔︎ || 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑑

44

~ phoenix ~

The night before the Ivanov Winter Ball, a gunshot rang through the grounds of Novgorod.

My blood chilled as I watched Ilya and his men assemble behind the veil of vines in the back garden. The loud bang had silenced even the air. The wind stilled and the ravens hushed.

When Ilya opened his mouth, his hard words were clear and filled with purpose. Aleksey glanced up, meeting my eyes briefly before he returned his attention to his Pakhan. His eyes were... hard, empty. I shivered, leaning back out of the window and settling on the window seat.

Apparently, the others hadn't heard the shot. Oblivious to what was happening outside,  Lav sat with Tori cocooned against her stomach and grinned at something Anastasia had said. Rina was completely dissolved in a fit of cackles, her blonde hair splaying out everywhere.

I guess I'd been staring out of the window for too long to realise that the conversation had turned to Russian. I didn't mind in the slightest, feeling too agitated to partake in gossip or whatever it was that amused them. Suddenly, a coppery taste invaded my mouth. I winced, at the painful sting on my lip. I hadn't even realise that I'd been biting it.

I stood, finding my way to the en-suite. The water from the faucet was a stream of ice, freezing my hands. Nonetheless, I splashed some on my face to force myself back to the present. It didn't work. A walk would do, I suppose.

To avoid catching a cold, I found my way to the closet. My party dress hung concealed in some sort of packet. It had arrived this morning but I couldn't bring myself to look at it yet. Grabbing a hoodie, I walked back into the main room.

"Hey, I'm gonna go for a walk," I told the women.

Anastasia frowned, starting to move.

My hands shot out, willing her to stay where she was. "I'm just a little nervous about tomorrow," I said, honestly. "I'll be back in ten minutes."

Though there was a protest on the edge of their tongues, I seemed to have convinced them. After offering them a half-smile, I walked out into the corridor.

I knew I couldn't go and join the men outside, though I itched to know more about their instructions. It was no secret that the bolyeviks were wary of a woman being so close to their operations. Perhaps, I should've been planning the colour of Darius' nursery or choosing the flowers for tomorrow's event.

Maybe that's what I should be doing.

But instead, my feet led me down the stairs and onto the pedestal leading down to the basement. The guard was posted at the same position. He didn't even glance at me when I strode by.

The tech lair was almost empty, except for the few heads still behind computer screens. I wandered to the front monitor, where I knew was the key to fixing everything... well most things. The sacrifices I'd need to make were nothing compared to what Ilya and this Bratva would gain.

I peeked into the drawer, where I'd last seen the pendant. The ruby was still there.

Chevnesheky's words rang in my ears. There was a password and an alarm. It wouldn't be so simple, I reminded myself, but my finger reached forward anyway.

The screen came to life with the touch, displaying words in Russian. I squinted at them, trying to make sense of the words. It was useless, however. I grit my teeth, wondering how... how the hell could I steal that damned chip back?

Unless...

Unless I disabled the alarm system! My eyes widened with the idea. If I couldn't get the password, then I'd have to break into the computer. It couldn't be that hard. My major was supposed to be engineering anyway.

If I just meddled a bit with the circuit boards and cut a few wires, I was sure I could at least temporarily disable the alarm. I just needed a closer look—

"Shouldn't you be upstairs, trying on your dress?"

I jumped, before whirling to glare at Aleksey. "Why? Is that all I can do?" I fired back.

My response did the trick, leaving him fumbling for an acceptable apology.

Saving him the effort, I added, "Joseph isn't going to arrive until tomorrow anyway. I wanted to see if I could help down here."

The lie came easily... too easily. What was I becoming?

Aleksey frowned. "Help? Down here?"

I snorted at his genuine surprise. "I used to do programming."

He nodded, slowly, unbelievingly.

With a roll of my eyes, I turned back to the monitor. "In high school, I did some extra credit, looking at computer security systems and alarm systems. I was supposed to do computer software at Princeton before... this happened," I explained, quietly.

Behind me, I could almost hear the cogs turning in the blond's head. He surprised me, however, by saying, "You could work with these men, then."

My head snapped back towards him.

Aleksey immediately cleared his throat and added, "With Ilya's permission."

A slow grin formed on my lips. "You think he'd say no?"

He raised a brow. "I will bet you three hundred rubles, he will not agree so easily."

Well, I knew a few tactics of persuasion...

Before I made an inappropriate comment, I exclaimed, "Done!"

Coincidentally, the silver-eyed devil appeared behind Aleksey's shoulder. He glanced between us, questioningly.

Instantly, a small pout formed on my lips. "Aleksey was just telling me that I was too stupid to work with computers," I muttered, "mind letting me prove him wrong?"

The blond seemed caught in headlights, shooting a glare at me.

Ilya furrowed his brows, "Is that right?"

Before the Hulk could defend himself, I quickly answered, "And he doesn't believe that I got into Princeton."

Grumbling profanities, Aleksey watched as Ilya leaned over my shoulder to put in the password for the monitor. I almost screamed with surprise. I didn't expect it to be so easy...

When Ilya pulled away, I smiled at him sweetly, admitting, "I lied."

In my peripheral vision, I noticed the blond digging into his pockets.

"Keep your money," I smirked, before turning my attention to the computer.

Ilya, having realised what was going on, shook his head. He left us to go and talk to Chevneshesky, but not before pressing a chaste kiss against my head. I closed my eyes, plugging the guilt before it flooded out.

For obvious reasons, namely the audience in the room, I couldn't corrupt their system yet. Perhaps, for now, I could just play around.

I cracked my knuckles dramatically for the Hulk. This should be fun.

NOTE:
I have school tomorrow. :(
xo, Rosavi