Page 38 of Trapping His Angel
“What about the boys?” Sloane asked, leaning forward.
Tiffany’s eyes gleamed. “They’ll come after. A year behind. The girls need the first chance, the priority, so they’ll always remember who walked these halls first.”
“Integration?” Valentina gasped. She was a teacher through and through.
Tiffany nodded. “And a neutral ground. A place where all families send their children, where they learn the ways of their bloodlines, but also where they’re forced to work together, to respect each other.”
I could get on board with that, as long as I didn’t have to step foot inside this new academy.
“Who is going to run it?” Sloane asked.
“I’ll pick someone from the girls we rescued. Someone no one would miss. We can train her.” Tiffany giggled.
Sloane, however, groaned, “that sounds like a ton of work. Alexie won’t be happy with me out of the house so much.”
Tiffany nodded. “I’ve got just the plan for that.”
As the two put their heads together, I couldn’t help but think they were more trouble in the same room than me and Valentina had ever been. The ghosts of the crypt seemed to listen, to lean closer, like I was, aware that the women were about to alter the course of Bratva history, from within these very walls.
I stepped back carefully, my breath caught in my throat, and left them to their plans. Zarya Academy would be born in secrecy, as all great things in our world were. And when itfinally opened its doors, every family; ours, our rivals, and our allies, would remember whose hands had first shaped it.
We held the power, and that was an illuminating thought indeed.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The next day, I arrived back at the Bratva mansion, anticipating seeing my lovely fiancée, but she was nowhere to be found in our wing. We still hadn’t found the traitor, and with the Venezuelan Cartel visiting, tensions were high.
As I walked through the halls looking for my wayward fiancée, I couldn’t help getting more pissed off. She could carry my child even now. Did she run from me? I started looking through all the wings of the mansion.
By the time I’d reached the East Wing in my search, it was getting to be dusk. My anger had faded, and I was just worried. What if the Cartel came for her? I needed to get her down the aisle faster than anything. To solidify my claim on her.
A soft giggle reached my ears, as I opened the double door to the East Wing. I didn’t think Isadora would be here, but I shouldn’t be surprised. This was where most of the other girls who weren’t in critical condition were left.
I turned the corner and there she was, just ahead, sitting with her hair flowing down her back, her white stripes shining underneath the light. Mymalen'kiy angel.She was talking to some girls from The Academy, but I wasn’t close enough tooverhear.Not wanting to interrupt the heart wrenching scene in front of me, I took a step back.
Maybe it was my age, but I didn’t want to cause mymalen'kiy angelto frown.
I pulled out my phone and planned for the wedding. Stefan was my first contact. He was the only one I wanted to marry us. He’d been with the organization for a long time, and I trusted his blessing on this union.
Next, I messaged Makari, the organization’s hacker.
It was a brief update on how much information he’d gotten on the traitor. So far, he’d come up with nothing, which meant it was someone powerful. Someone who could outrun one of the best hackers I knew.
This was a problem.
My head throbbed from all the issues I’d been fielding lately. I just wanted to get back to my home on the outskirts of our lifestyle. It was free from all this nonsense. I rarely had to do any espionage that wasn’t in the city; a cesspool place filled with hungry shark-like people, who would sell a soul if it meant they would make it big. Some people wanted to get back the life they thought they wanted in America. Some just wanted to flee other countries, while there was a huge part of the population looking for fame.
They exploited anyone they could for profit.
So, I hated everything about the city, and longed for my home. Soon. I just needed to wrap everything up with mymalen'kiy angel.I waited for the girls to take a break from their gabbing before interrupting, finally ready to face my fiancée head on.
“Isadora.” I stepped out of the shadows.
There were a myriad of reactions. Some girls cried out in surprise, others screamed, and one even fainted. I held back a smirk at their antics. I wasn’t some big bad wolf strolling up to blow their house down.
I was just a man searching for his woman.
Isadora stood and walked toward me.