𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑥 ✔︎ || 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑑

54

~ ilya ~

I cradled Phoenix to my chest until she was asleep.

Her small hands were fisted in my shirt. I nuzzled her cheek to see her tears had long dried. So had mine.

One of her arms wrapped around my neck, pulling me down.

I resisted. She was sleeping.

Giovanni Castilli appeared on the other end of the hallway, carrying the struggling brunette. Once he saw me, he hesitantly nodded.

I raised my head and returned the gesture, feeling odd. I figured this would be the only time that we would be in the same room without being at each other's throats.

There was no sort of truce between our Mafias. That had never been my plan. No, what I wanted was to keep the brunette out of his reach until he agreed to removed the bounty from Phoenix's head.

After returning to his compound that day, seeing the destruction and his missing step-sister, he was enraged. The bastard blamed it on my little troublemaker, who certainly did play her role in causing it. I suspected he only did that to seek revenge from me. Nonetheless, he was a fool if he thought I would simply stand by while greedy bounty hunters tried to kill her. Because little did he know I had his precious flower.

That night, only because Phoenix begged, I ordered my men to ensure the girls' safety. The blonde had gone into a trauma-induced coma, which she only woke up from here in Russia thanks to Milena.

However, the first attempt on her life had occurred just as we were leaving Poland. A fucking sniper. If Aleksey didn't get the heads up and she was— I might've burned the entire Italian regime to the ground.

Although not a single hair on her head was harmed, retaliation was unavoidable. As a result, I ordered my men to bring his precious step-sister as hostages to Russia. The friend was never part of the plan but I feared the consequences if I had just left her to die. Phoenix's wrath would be scarring.

The girls were never hurt. I just planned to use them as negotiating chips; their lives for hers.

Phoenix wasn't supposed to find out. Even with the half-truths floating in her mind, she despised me.

Striding out of the West Post compound, I handed the sleeping girl to Aleksey. He carried her into one of the SUVs.

With vengeance, I strode back into the underground club.

"Aliena," I shouted, seeing her appear from the entrance.

The Belarusian turned to me, narrowing her eyes. "What are you doing here? And why'd you steal my date, Ivanov?"

"She is mine," I snarled. "Back off."

Her mouth formed a surprised 'o'. "She's yours?"

Why was their amusement in her tone?

"Yes, why did you take her? And the other two girls?" I demanded, angrily.

Did she dare break this powerful alliance?

Aliena scowled. "Do not make a fool of me, Ivanov. You wanted me to get rid of them."

"If I wanted to do so, I am perfectly capable of it myself," I hissed.

"But Milena said-"

Understanding dawned. We had both been fooled.

"I'm guessing your doctor is dead, then?" she smirked.

I didn't feel the need to respond.

As I turned to leave, she stopped me.

"I was going to transfer the funds tonight. Don't you want it before you leave?" she asked, referring to her half of the money that would go towards our new project.

"No," I said, "not now."

She raised a brow. "You were never one to postpone business, Ivanov."

Ignoring the comment, I spun and walked away.

"Tell Phoenix I said hi," the Belarusian yelled from behind me.

Fucking hell, was she really testing a decades old pact?

Shaking my head to clear the frustration away, I returned to Aleksey.

"The Italians have just left," he informed me in a strained voice.

His unease matched my own.

"Good," I remarked, "next time you see them, shoot them."

My underboss grinned. "Да."

I glanced in the car, where Phoenix slept soundly. Her slightly curly black hair framed her flushed cheeks. She looked like an angel.

With a harsh breath, I looked away.

"Get one of the jets ready," I instructed, impassively.

Aleksey furrowed his brows. "We aren't going back to the compound?"

"No, you will. Take the men and get back. The Belarusians are still willing to go forwards with the project so I want you to see to it that everything runs smoothly."

"Okay," he nodded before questioning, "Where are you going?"

"Home."

NOTE:
My back hurts.
xo, Rosavi