I give her a dismissive shrug. “I think the term he’s looking for is ‘Don.’”
“Don?” Olivia repeats, looking between me and Rob. “Like… the mafia?”
“Bratva,” I correct. “Not mafia. Don’t make that mistake again.”
“Bratva,” she whispers. “Of course. You’re Russian.”
I nod. “That’s right. And your brother here made the mistake of getting on my bad side.”
“I think you have that the wrong way around,” Rob growls through gritted teeth. “Olivia, this is the bastard that took Isabella. Abducted her. Shit, he probably raped her before doing God knows what else.”
“Don’t look to God, Robert,” I chide. “Not even God knows what I get up to. And even if he did, he couldn’t stop me.”
“Jesus Christ,” Olivia moans to herself, bending forward so that her forehead touches her knees. “What is happening…？”
“Did he hurt you, Liv?” Rob demands.
Olivia doesn’t reply. She keeps her head between her legs and takes deep breaths, trying to stave off her panic.
“Liv!”
She jerks upright, looking like she might be about to vomit in her own lap. “No. No, he… he didn’t.”
“See, Robert?” I say, turning to him. “I’m not the monster you’ve made me out to be. And I certainly had nothing to do with your fiancée’s disappearance.”
“I have a lead that says you do.”
“Your lead is wrong,” I snap. “I don’t abduct women. And I don’t keep them against their will.”
I get up and walk towards Olivia. She stiffens as I move around her chair to stand behind her, but she knows better than to try to escape. There’s nowhere for her to go.
I take a fistful of her hair and let it run like silk between my fingers. “That is, unless I’m given a reason to.”
“Don’t you fucking touch her!”
“Call off the investigation on my Bratva,” I say. “Call it off now, and I won’t have to hurt your family.”
Olivia flinches, but I ignore her, maintaining my loose grip on her hair.
“Where is Isabella?” Rob’s eyes narrow as my fingers drift down Olivia’s shoulder to graze her bare skin.
“I don’t know any Isabellas,” I tell him.
“You’re fuckin’ lying.”
“It’s not in your best interests to fight me on this, Robert,” I say. “You’re the lead agent on the investigation monitoring me and my men. End it.”
“I don’t have the authority to do that.”
“Then find a way to make it happen. I’ve followed your career—very impressive, I might add. You’ve built a reputation of trust and loyalty around the Bureau. If you claim that the case on me is a dead end, they’ll listen.”
“You really think I would sell out like that? Betray everything I promised to protect?”
I shrug. “You will if you want your family to survive this war you’ve started.”
Suddenly, I yank hard on Olivia’s hair, bending her neck back at a vicious angle. Her mother’s eyes go wide, but she doesn’t make a sound. Her mouth just opens in a silent scream.
The sister, however, goes wild. She grunts and struggles against her ties, nearly toppling her chair—until one of my men presses a gun to the back of her head.
“No!” Olivia screams, finding her voice.
She tries to run towards her sister, but I reel her back against me. Her hands claw at me as she thrashes and looks desperately at her sister. Tears streak her cheeks. They catch the dying evening light like diamonds.
“Please,” she begs. “Please, Aleks, tell him to drop the gun.”
“Should I listen to her, Robert?” I muse. “Should I tell my man to drop the gun?”
His eyes dart wildly between both his sisters and his mother. I want to see the sigh of him admitting he’s been beaten. That telltale slump of the shoulders.
I want to watch the light go out in his eyes when he sees that he cannot win.
And for a moment, it seems as if I might get exactly that. Exactly what I came for.
But then, right at the precipice of conceding, he changes course. The resolve hardens in his jaw, in his fists. The tendons of his neck thrum with tension.
He takes his job too seriously. He has the unfortunate shackle of believing in the work he’s doing at the Bureau.
But it’s more than that, too.
This is personal. He truly believes I am the one who abducted his fiancée. And he’s not one to be moved by threats. Which means I have to do more than just threaten him.
“You’re not going to fucking win, Makarova,” he growls. “We’re onto you now.”
I shrug. “You’ve already investigated all my businesses. If you’d found anything to charge me with, there’d be a warrant issued already.”
“That doesn’t prove shit. All it proves is that you’re clever enough to cover your tracks.”
“That’s right,” I nod as Olivia shivers against me. “I am clever. More importantly, I have infinite resources at my disposal. You don’t want to start something with me, Agent Lawrence, I assure you.”
“I think it’s a little too late for that. This is the second time you’ve come after my family.”
“There wasn’t a first time.”
“Isabella,” he growls sharply. “That was the first time.”
“Your ego is blinding. Your fiancée left you,” I growl. “Accept it.”
He shakes his head. “She didn’t leave shit; she disappeared without a fucking trace. That’s not something she would do. It’s something men like you would do.”
I laugh and tilt my head to the side. “You don’t know the first fucking thing about what men like me do, my friend.” Then I straighten up. “But I know what men like you do. And, more importantly, I know what women like this one do. They do what they want. What they crave, even if they won’t admit it out loud.” I pull Olivia a little closer to me. “Just ask your sister. I think she’s seen how right I am.”
She tries to struggle, but I’m holding her too tightly. “Please,” she whispers. “Please stop… Just let me go. Let them all go.”
“That power lies with your brother,” I tell her. “All he has to do is stop the witch hunt.”
“Rob,” Olivia says desperately, “think of Mia. Of Mom. They don’t deserve this. Is your job worth it?”
His eyes go wide with anger. “You think this is about my job?”
“Rob—”
“This is about Isabella!” he yells. “This is about my life, my woman, my future! This bastard stole it all from me. I want it back!”
Olivia shakes her head. “What makes you think she’s even alive?”
“She’s out there, Liv. My fiancée is out there. And he knows where she is.”
I roll my eyes. “That’s hopeful thinking. But me? I’ve always been more interested in facts. And the facts are that I have the upper hand here. You have five seconds to make your choice before I make mine.”