Satin Princess(99)

“But he’s barricaded in there?”

“Yes.”

“Fuck,” I growl, moving past Boris and into the house.

Yulian and Lev follow behind me. I can tell they’re both struggling to keep up with my train of thought.

“Anton,” Lev hisses as we get to the front door, “what the fuck is going on?”

I nod to the guard at the door and he steps aside to let us pass. I put a finger over my lips to signal to everyone to be as quiet as possible.

I move towards the sitting room where the three guards have been stationed. They’re relaxed, but the moment they see me, they stand at attention.

One is about to speak when I raise my hand and silence him. I signal to the men to surround the room and move on my command.

On the count of three.

One.

But I already know what we’re going to find when we bust in there.

Two.

This is a precaution that we don’t really need.

Three.

I kick down the door, but there’s not so much as a flutter from the inside. We take no one by surprise.

Because both the men in the sitting room are dead.

“Fuck!” Lev spits.

I stand over Yaromir’s body. He’s lying a few feet away from the unlucky soldier he chose to keep him company. Their throats are similarly slit, eyes open, faces frozen in death shock.

“Fuck,” Lev says again, circling the room like a caged animal.

“Explain yourselves!” Yulian yells at the men who were standing guard outside the room.

All three of them have paled. They’re staring at the bodies of their brother and don like it’s a bad nightmare they hope to wake up from.

“Answer me!” Yulian roars.

I hold my hand up again and Yulian backs off immediately, giving me the floor. I turn to the three guards, meeting each one of their gazes in turn.

One of the men steps forward. He’s trembling. “Don Stepanov, I swear to you on my life, no one walked in or out of this room. The door has been shut for half an hour.”

“So their murderer can walk through walls, is that what you’re saying?” Lev snarls.

“I think that’s exactly what she did,” I say grimly. Both Yulian and Lev turn to me in surprise. I explain, “Marina grew up in this house. She used to brag to me that she knew all its secrets. She also requested that their meeting take place in this exact room. She must have had a reason.”

“You think there’s a trap door in here?” Lev asks.

“Without a doubt. The men have been standing outside the door for half an hour. Which means, in that time, someone entered the room, killed both men, and left.”

“She could still be here in the building,” Yulian breathes.

I shake my head. “No. No, she left the moment she cut Yaromir’s throat.”

I sniff the air, taking in the faintest whiff of her favorite perfume. Chanel number five. Unforgettable. It still makes my blood run cold.

“Why would she have wanted to?” Lev asks. “She needed his help. Killing him only alienates more of the Ivanov men.”

My eyes narrow as I circle the room. “She knew it was a trap.”

“How could she have known?” Yulian asks. His eyes meet mine, and he says what I’ve suspected now for a while. “Fuck me, she has a mole on the inside.”

“A mole?” Lev growls. “No fucking way. Your men are loyal to you and you alone.”

“Clearly not,” Yulian hisses. “It makes sense. She’s been ahead of us every step of the way.”

“What other explanation is there?” I ask. “She always seems to know when we’re coming. We pick up a trail and the moment we close in, she disappears.”

“Accusing your own men of betrayal without any proof is not gonna go over well, Anton.”

I turn to Lev. “We have to weed out the mole somehow.”

“Leave that to me,” Yulian says. “I’ll smoke the fucker out.”

“I’ll help you,” Lev says.

Yulian looks annoyed. “You don’t trust me to do the job on my own, Lev?”

“I’m just saying you’re going to need all the help you can get.”

Yulian’s eyes narrow. “I don’t need you to hold my hand.”

“Stop it,” I growl. “We don’t have the time for a goddamn pissing contest. I want both of you on the job immediately. Lev, get back to the mansion. I want you to protect Jessa until I get home.”

He doesn’t argue. He just gives me a curt nod and disappears. Yulian stands there awkwardly, waiting for me to hand down his command.

“Yulian, I want you to take the men and do a complete sweep of the house. The Ivanov business ledgers will be in this building. Tear the place apart brick by brick if you have to. Look for anything locked with a combination lock.”

“What makes you think they’re behind combination locks?”

“Because Marina told me that a long time ago. Back when she trusted me.”

“Must have been a magical five minutes.”

I glare at him, not in the mood for jokes at this moment. I stare down at Yaromir’s body. His eyes are still wide, the pupils fully dilated in death. Something tells me that he pleaded for his life in his last few moments. A fool’s request. He knew Marina well enough to know that nothing could move her once she’d set her sights on blood.