Chapter Forty-Nine | Ivan
"You're lucky I'm cuffed to this bed otherwise I would have already killed you by now." I roll my eyes at another one of Reid's protests.
Tank and Brick manhandled us into this room, cuffing us to the beds and then doc decided to save our lives afterward.
"I'm so scared." I reply sarcastically, looking at him in the corner of my eye and like I suspected his fists are clenched tight and his jaw ticks. "What is your fucking problem, Reid?"
His head snaps in my direction.
"You, Ivan. You are my fucking problem!" Jesus how has Eliana put up with this fucker for so long.
"To me, you sound insecure." I shrug.
"I'm not insecure." He huffs, pulling at his cuffed wrists.
"Scared then."
"Why would I be scared?" He scoffs, keeping his gaze on the doors ahead where Tank and Brick keep guard in case we manage to escape. I know this was Eliana's idea, so I don't want to piss her off more than she already is.
Eliana.
I admit I was jealous of Reid. I was very jealous when we were younger and I did want her all to myself, but Eliana was and still is loyal. I always felt her loyalty to Reid when she was with me. We kissed once and she cried after, apologising to me because her heart was with him.
I respected it because I respected her. Yes, I loved her. Yes, I wished she was mine — still do sometimes, but I know I can never have her love and I've learned to be okay with that. I'm happy to accept a friendship and I will still lay my life on the line for her if I have to one day because I love her and that will never change.
"You've created some kind of narrative that I'm trying to take her away from you. Since I've been here, have I managed to achieve that? I've barely spent anytime with her." I state. "If you had taken the time to get to know me all those years ago you would know I'm not your enemy, Reid. You treat me like I'm on Baker's level."
"I know you're not." He huffs.
"When I first arrived at the orphanage, nobody would talk to me, and I barely knew English. I met Eliana and she didn't shout at me because I didn't understand her, she was patient, she taught me English, comforted me when I grew frustrated and cried to her about missing my family who were killed right in front of me. How could I not have fallen for her?" I tilt my head up at the bright white light on the ceiling and then close my eyes.
"It's hard not to," Reid mumbles beside me.
"You never knew what it felt like to have no friends in that place. To be hated by most of the kids because of where you came from. Eliana struggled and so did I. We found comfort in each other. Eliana was grateful to have another friend and I didn't want to let her down."
"I know," Reid whispers, looking down at his lap, a strand of his brown hair drooping across his forehead and he flexes his fingers. "I know." He swallows and finally looks at me.
"I kept my boundaries out of respect for you. Despite you hating me, I knew you were Eliana's world. You always have been, and you always be. The jealousy you carry, and all that anger might make Eliana start to feel as though you have no trust in her." I admit and his back straightens.
"I do trust her!"
"I know, Reid. Do you not think she's got enough on her plate right now?"
"I know my jealousy gets the best of me and I try so hard to control it, but I always have this fear in the back of my mind that she'll leave me because somebody better has come along. I mean you used to read with her all the fucking time, and I saw the way she would smile at you, and she spoke about you all the fucking time. 'Ivan did this. 'Ivan did that.' 'Ivan said my hair was pretty today.' I got super jealous, Ivan." I can't help but laugh. "Glad you find it funny." He rolls his eyes.
I yank my wrist and the cuffs break from the metal railings of the bed.
"How the fuck did you do that?!"
"Level ten superpowers." I smirk sarcastically, rolling my wrists to bring some life back into them.
"Can you get me out then?" He begins yanking at his wrists and I watch him struggle with a satisfied smile.
"Not until we've finished our bonding time that Eliana has initiated." I swing my legs over the edge of the bed and stare at him. "I'm not trying to take Eliana from you, Reid. How many more times do I need to tell you this?" I ask, my voice full of frustration because it's like trying to get through a brick wall with this man. Again, how does Eliana do it because if I were her, I'd want to put a bullet in his head every five minutes.
The guy is so infuriating.
"I have these fears and sometimes nightmares about her being ripped away from me again. I've lost her once, what's to say I won't lose her again?" He speaks lowly, his voice cracking. "Eliana is the person to bring a certain light to someone that is so fucking rare and selfishly I wanted to leave people like you in the dark and keep all that light for myself." He smiles tightly, eventually pulling his wrists free, mumbling how he's gonna kill Eliana when he sees her again.
"Her light shines bright enough for all the people she loves, Reid. But for you, it shines the brightest. You might be a half blind fucker, but it's bright enough for you to see just fine." I smile tightly, standing up from the bed to stretch my legs out.
"I'm sorry." I recoil at the sudden apology.
"Did I hear that correctly? Did Reid Warner just take accountability and apologise?" He grabs a knife throwing it sloppily at me, so it misses on purpose. "I accept your apology."
"Great. 'Cause you'll hear no more from me." He rolls his eyes. He's sassy too. "I'll try to keep my jealous at bay."
"That would be appreciated." I nod.
"So, you were taken from Russia?" He asks me, looking at me awkwardly because this is very awkward. Not long ago we were trying to kill each other and now we are having a civil conversation.
"Yep. My parents and little sisters were killed right in front of me. Next thing I know, I'm in a private plane being flown to the U.S and being trained to become an assassin." I shrug, feeling void of any sadness. It happened so long ago, that I'm numb to feeling any kind of emotion to the memory. "No friends, no family, just me."
"You... This... We are your family. I didn't mean what I said earlier on." Reid rubs the back of his neck and I smile feeling my inner child bounce around in excitement.
"Really?" My eyes widen.
"Yeah, you're annoying, so you fit in just right." He can never be nice for one whole minute.
"You know, me and you could be really good friends if we put our differences aside." I recommend because despite him hating me and me always intentionally pissing him off, deep down I've always wanted to be his friend. "Put your pride aside, Warner." I take a seat beside him and nudge him with my arm.
"Hmm." He hums, turning his head to face me. "Friends." He reaches his hand out for me to shake and instead, I pull him into a brotherly hug.
"Friends."
"Hugs are not reserved for you. Unhand me." I throw my head back and laugh, releasing my hold on him. "Don't get ahead of yourself now." He tries to bury down his smile but struggles and we both end up laughing.
I walk over to the door and bang on it. Tank opens the door his stance blocking our exit and he lifts a brow.
"Reid and I are friends now. We've been in here for ages and I'm starving."
"We are starving," Reid speaks up behind me. "And where has my girl gone Tank? You're lucky I don't fire you for going along with this." Reid steps up beside me, glaring up at the seven foot giant.
"Miss Monroe is not on the premise right now. She made it clear not to specify what she was doing. And let's be real, you may be the Don, but we all know whose orders we really follow." Tank smirks and Brick chuckles beside him. Eliana is the real boss around here. Even I chuckle, looking at Reid's disbelief.
"Where is she?"
"Can't say."
"Tank, I swear to fuck don't push me right now!" I purse my lips and stare at Tank, raising my brows.
"Come on, Tank. I'm hungry." I groan but he ignores my protests.
"Tank, I will personally cuff you to a bed next time, and chop off those fucking balls of yours, and then I will make you choke on them. How about that? You wanna choke on some balls?" Reid threatens and Tank pales at the threat, shifting uncomfortably.
"Eliana has gone on the hunt for a woman."
"What woman?"
"A woman called Angela." My blood runs cold, and I stumble back, caught of guard by the name uttered. Reid stiffens beside me, his skin extremely pale all of a sudden and I want to throw up.
Did the same shit happen to him too?!
That woman is sick. A sick and twisted woman! She took advantage of me and from the looks of it, she took advantage of Reid too.
"And Eliana has gone to find her on her own?" I swallow the lump in my throat not liking the fact she's dealing with her on her own. She doesn't truly understand the power Angela has.
"She left with Elena."
"Track them down right now!" Reid exclaims, storming out of the room.
A/N
Bet I surprised you with Ivan's POV. I thought I'd give you a little insight to his mind 🖤