Morozov

Chapter 33

Jack
A frustrated scream left my throat as I slammed the door of my car shut. The front door of the Rodrigues mansion opened soon after.

"Jack," Niveen came running for me. The closer she came, the more I could make out her puffy, red eyes. She was still wearing what she wore yesterday. And there was still Ace's blood on her face, neck and hands. Well, all over her.

"Thank god you're back," she exclaimed, relief lining her tone as she approached but stopped before me. Of course she stopped. Our relationship status wasn't very clear after all and, knowing her, she probably felt bad for practically shooting my brother.

I'd spent the next two hours chasing Vera but I lost her at some point. Then I made my way back home.

"How is he?" I asked, breaking the silence that had built while we stared at each other. Disappointment washed over her face for just a second.
"He's alive. The bullet didn't hit anything vital that couldn't be fixed," she told me and the first weight was lifted off my chest.

I nodded my head, taking a deep breath. Her hands clenched and unclenched, probably wanting to touch me and god I wanted to touch her too. The only reason I didn't act on it was because I was sure to probably crush her if I did. Anger had been a very dangerous feeling in relation with me lately.

"We should go inside," I said, making her nod immediately.
"Yeah. Yeah we probably should."

Inside, Mallory wasn't waiting for me and Eleanor also wasn't home. I didn't know where exactly they brought her because I was sure the whole inner circle was there already.

"Where's Eleanor?" I asked, not wanting my little niece to see me covered in blood.
"She's at the base with Nikita and the others," Niveen answered, making me look at her in surprise. "They're not here already?"

"They won't come," Mallory's voice suddenly chimed from the stairs. I turned my gaze over to her and saw that she was already headed for us. "Ace said not to trust anyone anymore," she explained once she reached us.

She looked up at me, tears welling up her eyes again and I couldn't help but wrap my arms around her, squeezing tightly. Niveen was staring daggers into my side, I knew it. But the only reason I could hug Mal but not her was because I knew Ace would've killed me if I crushed his wife's ribcage.

"He almost died," Mal cried into my chest and I hugged her even tighter. "When will this ever stop?"
I shook my head, letting go of her. "Never, Mal. At least not until they're both dead."

Because Mallory was distracted by Ace falling and didn't hit Nadia in the slightest.

"Eleanor is gonna stay at Nikita's for a few days. We need to get this over with," she nodded her head, wiping the tears off her eyes and sniffing.

"Ace doesn't trust them enough to have them here but trusts them with his daughter's life - that was threatened a day ago," I concluded, raising my brows.

"I trust them. And Ace doesn't know where she is," Mallory answered, making another wave of anger race through my system.

"And he's damn right about that, Mallory!" I said, shocked that I even had to explain this to her. "We don't know who exactly we can trust and until then, Eleanor should be with either you, Niveen or me."

"Wait," Niveen interrupted our conversation, making both our heads snap towards her. "Nadia said Archie helped her."

I turned to face her completely. "And that's fucking impossible. He was with us the whole time. He wasn't the one who broke the ice," I explained.

"Well shit," she said, her shoulders sagging a little.
"We really can't trust anyone anymore," I muttered and I knew she felt addressed, thought that wasn't my plan.