𝑇𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑥 ✔︎ || 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑑

29

~ ilya ~

About an hour before we reached Novgorod, Phoenix fell asleep.

She'd been uncharacteristically quiet. I glanced at her in the corner of my eye to find her unconscious. Wisps of her blue-black hair hovered over her mouth. Before I was tempted to wake her, I returned my focus to the road.

Now, that we were parked outside the safehouse, I debated waking her. Eventually, I decided against it. She must have still been exhausted from the flight and from her... condition.

Opening the door, I swung my legs out. After I straightened my suit, I nodded at the men, who stood waiting at the front gates. They returned the gesture and I made my way to Phoenix's door. When she was secure in my grasp, I followed Aleksey in.

The click of the gate locking shut echoed in the empty air.

The Novgorod safehouse, unlike my glass compound, was a large manor. It was a brick structure, four storeys tall, with lavish fountains and gardens. The place had once belonged to the last Czar before the government had seized the estate in the 1920s. Then, in 63, it was bought by the Bratva. It had been a place of refuge for my predecessors when the country had been less corrupt and stricter with its forces, because technically, it wasn't just a safehouse. It was a small island, perhaps 400 metres wide, that was separated from the mainland by the Volkhov, a large river. There was only a steel bridge that connected it to the city. Here, there could be no eyes nor ears that didn't belong to me.

The gravel of the driveway crunched beneath my shoes.

As I approached, a face I hadn't seen in perhaps a decade greeted me.

I never had the opportunity to meet the famous Anastasia Volkhova again after my father introduced us ten years ago. I didn't need to because I wasn't Pakhan... then.

The woman had a smooth face and bright, unsettling eyes. Royalty was written all over her porcelain features.

"Dimitri," she stated.

"Anastasia," I returned.

Her gaze swept over the sleeping girl in my arms before she moved aside to let me in.

When we were standing beneath the glittering chandelier in the entrance room, Aleksey bowed slightly. As did I, with some difficulty, considering that I was holding Phoenix. Then, he muttered a polite greeting before stalking off down a hallway.

"Приходить," she said, gesturing to Phoenix and then, the stairs. [Come]

I nodded, gratefully, following her up to the first floor. We made a left turn, where I was led into a large room. I waited a moment for Anastasia's permission, and after she nodded, I lay Phoenix down gently on the bed and tucked her beneath the satin covers. She barely stirred.

I followed her out.

"Спасибо за приглашение," I said, eventually. [Thank you for the invitation]

Her blonde curls bounced as she nodded. "Всегда приятно принимать гостей." [It is always a pleasure to have guests]

I could understand the sentiment. Living under high security meant complete isolation from the outside world. Everything posed a threat to this woman.

Novgorod was a safehouse, with more security than the Kremlin and for good reason. Anastasia Volkhova was a direct descendant of her renowned grandmother, the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia. She was royalty. The princess sought refuge from her assailers with the Bratva seventy years ago. Her heir was Russia's lost jewel. And she had to stay that way to survive.

With her family's DNA at the hand of any man in the country, no where but Novgorod was safe. Very few, even in my own Bratva, knew about her. Only the men standing on this island now and Phoenix would too.

In silence, we made our way downstairs. We parted ways at the bottom of the staircase.

"Увидимся позже, Дмитрий. Нам есть что обсудить," Anastasia murmured, softly. [I will see you later, Dimitri. We have much to discuss]

Though her cryptic comment confused me, I nodded and bowed once more.

When she disappeared from sight, I spun and headed for the basement. There was a discreet button on the railing of the stairs. After I located it, there was a slight pause. I waited a moment for the stairway to split in two and a small pedestal was raised in the wide gap. I stepped onto it and descended. Darkness swallowed my vision as the secret gateway closed again.

The moment the pedestal reached the underground level, the iron gates parted for me to pass. The intelligence room had no walls, just large screens and computers that covered ever surface. The guard at the entrance nodded as I walked past.

The safehouse had the best technology in the entire country, which was why it was necessary to make this trip.

I spotted Aleksey, who was in a discussion with the standing head of the premises. Both he and Chernyshevsky had worked in the KGB together, until the government had disbanded it.

I walked over to them, noticing the red gem in the latter's fist. The conversation seemed heated.

When my second-in-command saw me, he frowned.

"Есть проблема?" I questioned, surveying the computer screen before them. [Is there a problem?]

They both hesitated.

Eventually, Chernyshevsky opened his mouth, "Код невозможно расшифровать." [The code is impossible to decrypt]

Slowly, I nodded.

"У итальянцев мозги лучше?" I demanded, roughly. [So the Italians have better brains?]

The man paled, scrutinising the ruby in his hand. "Конечно нет, сэр," he rushed, before adding in a smaller voice, "Но это займет время." [Of course not. But it will take time]

I narrowed my eyes. "Сколько?" [How long?]

Wincing, he answered, "Минимум месяц." [At least a month]

Clenching my fists, I took a threatening step towards him. "Две недели." [Two weeks]

After a moment's hesitation, Chernyshevsky nodded weakly.

Though I was unsatisfied, I knew the Italian Cosa Nostra were not foolish enough to eject their database onto a USB without proper security.

A month ago, I baited them for a reaction. Chernyshevsky had feigned a malware attack on their internal systems. It worked. After probing, he'd revealed that their software was no longer up and active, which meant that they had to have stored it somewhere. This was already an advantage to us. Without their systems up and running, they were weak and vulnerable.

But if we could actually have it in our hands...

Never did I expect it to happen. It was disguised and I wondered just how Phoenix happened to find it. That was Vera's job.

I glanced at the brunette, who was speaking to another officer.

She'd been returned to Russia by her assigned agent last night and immediately, was flown out here. Aleksey reported there was nothing in her story that Phoenix had not already told me but I was still curious to know more.

Before I could move towards her, Chernyshevsky shouted a profanity. It caught the attention of every man in the room.

"Они знают!" he exclaimed, wide, panicked eyes meeting mine. "Они знают, что у нас это есть!"

[They know! They know we have it!]

NOTE:
Yikes, I have too many ideas for this book!!!!
I really dont want it to be like a rubbish, boring romance. I want ACTIONN and DRAMMAAA and SMARTT shit!!
Like always, je t'aime hoes, Rosavi