Page 68 of Trapping His Angel

“The men will get everything else.” He grabbed my bag and swung it on his shoulder, before reaching for my hand.

We left and headed back to the Petrov lands. I dozed off in the car, while Benedikt caught up on family news. He was so remote that he hadn’t been checking in too much with his Pakhan, until now.

He might be in trouble, but he didn’t seem to be taking it seriously. When we reached the mansion, it seemed like a lot was going on. Men were running all over the grounds.

Benedikt and I walked inside and weren’t greeted by the normal servants. That was strange.

“I’m going to head to the Pakhan’s office. Why don’t you see if Tiffany is around? I’ll drop the bags off at our room on the way,” Benedikt said distractedly, before giving me a peck on the lips.

He dashed off before I could say anything in response. I let out a little sigh, but ultimately headed out back to see if I could find Tiffany.

“Tiff? Are you out here?” I called when I reached the main entrance.

Her garden had grown even bigger since the last time I’d seen it.

“Back here,” I heard her far away voice call.

I wandered into the garden, following the sounds of womenchatting and laughing. Deep in the back, there was a small party happening.

Tiffany wobbled to her feet. “Oh good, you’re here. We can get started now.”

Confused, I took a seat. I noticed Valentina was there, holding the phone with Sloane on video. No one said anything about why she was there.

“Alright, ladies. Since Isadora is finally here, we can start planning for Zarya Academy to open,” Tiffany addressed us.

“So soon?” Valentina said.

I noticed she was holding her phone tilted Tiffany’s way, and it became apparent that Sloane was tuning in virtually, once she opened her mouth.

“It makes sense. We need to do some beta phases of the school, and work out the kinks.”

Tiffany nodded. “Right, and Sloane is already taking care of the funding. We just need the men’s approval, which they are deliberating on right now.”

“Do you think we are going to get it?” I raised my hand like I was in class, then lowered it quickly, feeling foolish.

“Of course we will,” Sloane answered. “Our men like sex.”

Tiffany laughed. “Let’s be real, if Alexie were against it, you would agree with him.”

Sloane mumbled something, and Tiffany’s cheeks tinted. I wondered what that was about, but it wasn’t important. The meeting dragged on with ideas on how we could keep the school diverse, but not inclusive. We didn’t want kids getting in that weren’t mafia, or tied to an organization.

That was a good way to get caught.

I tuned out mostly. Valentina moved closer to sit next to me, and Tiffany sat in front of me.

“So, I hear you had your first kill,” she breathed.

I nodded.

“How do you feel about it?”

I shrugged. “Numb, I guess.”

“That’s normal,” she soothed. “Do you think you would like to do it again?”

I grinned, because if it was someone who harmed the family, hell yes. I nodded my answer.

“I think you would make an excellent teacher,” Tiffany commented.