The Assassin’s Billionaire Bodyguard
Chapter 40

Isabella strolled into Bellona headquarters and took a breath. She knew she was in trouble and her stomach rolled with nerves. She should have done things the right way and called it in. Artemis' admin assistant met her as soon as she exited the elevator. "Artemis wants to see you before debrief."

"Of course," she walked the long fluorescent lit hall with trepidation. She knew Artemis had taken this office for tactical reasons. Nothing like walking the long green mile before heading into her office. The assistant knocked once and then pushed the door open for Isabella to walk through.

"Epsilon," Artemis didn't even look up from the computer screen where she sat behind the oversized desk. The wall of monitors behind her were black for a change, usually various cameras all around the world displayed to her with teams wearing go-pros linked straight to her office.

Isabella stood on the other side of the desk waiting for direction.

"Why are you in my office Isabella?"

"Because I screwed up Artemis."

"Care to elaborate?"

"My boyfriend's daughter called me and said she'd had her drink spiked and was somewhere she didn't know the location of. I asked Lacey to trace the number and then I went to replace her."

"And what is the problem with helping a friend in need?"

"Nothing as far as I'm concerned Artemis." She didn't bother to lie. She'd do it again tomorrow if she had to. "Someone called me and asked for help, so I went to help."

"Using a Bellona resource to assist," she reminded her she asked Lacey.

"Should I have instead asked Portia to replace a flare and throw it up in the sky or maybe use the bat signal?"

"Don't be a b***h, Isabella." Artemis chastised bluntly. "You had the right instinct to call in Bellona, but you did it in the wrong way. Do you think I wouldn't do the same thing? Do you think Clara didn't do the exact same thing when you were taken almost seven years ago? The difference is, we pick up the phone and we call our superior. We call our superior and say, hey, someone important to me is in trouble and I need my Bellona family to help me help them." She held her gaze seriously, "when you were taken, the very first call Clara made was to me." She motioned to the chair. "Sit."

Isabella sat down and stretched her long legs out in front of her and sighed. "I know I messed up. I knew Clara was at Mikhail Andropov's. He has weird rules about phones in his house."

"He's a goddamn mobster, I can't imagine why he has weird rules about phones," Artemis rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Did they get the shithead sorted out? How you dated the turd for three years boggles my mind."

A low chuckle escaped her lips at Artemis' comment. "I don't know to be honest. He was what I needed at the time and then he was everything I knew I couldn't stand."

"That girl would have been dead if you hadn't gone into the alley."

"He left another one to die tonight," she saw Artemis' eyebrows go up. "He's the one who took Portia to the bar. He brought her there, fought with her and then left her there alone with no security. The daughter of a billionaire with no common sense or street smarts between her perfectly shaped earlobes and he left her all alone. She was a target for every scum bag in the joint before she walked in."

"Evgeni Andropov is a nuisance." Artemis understated the obvious.

"He collapsed at his father's house tonight while I was yelling at him. Clara was going to the hospital to replace out what is going on."

She watched as Artemis turned to her computer and typed instructions.

Artemis spoke quietly, "they're sending him for a CT Scan. They're suspecting a brain tumor."

Isabella twisted her lips, "makes sense. He's always been a d**k but never a violent one and he's not been himself."

"He's a goddamn coward." Artemis spoke bitterly as she spun back towards Isabella. "Knowing what I know of Camden Torres, he'll be better off dying in surgery than having Cam Torres rip him apart. I know if someone left my daughter in a bar to be drugged, kidnapped and almost raped, they would be praying for death by the time I was done."

Isabella said nothing as Artemis folded her hands atop her desk.

"Do you want kids Ruiz?"

"No ma'am. I'm far too selfish. I like to be able to come and go as I please. I feel too much guilt when I leave my dog. I can't imagine how I'd feel leaving a kid."

"Think you'll ever change your mind?"

"Nope." She kept her face neutral, hating these kinds of questions. "Not sure why people always think a woman will change her mind at some point because of a biological clock. Maybe I don't have the clock. I love kids. My nieces and nephews are amazing little people. I just don't want to be responsible for anyone other than me or the people I get assigned to protect."

"I like you Ruiz. I respect how you know yourself and stick to your convictions. I only asked because you're dating a man with a kid."

"She's an adult, albeit an irresponsible, spoiled brat, but an adult, nonetheless. She doesn't need me as a step-mommy."

"She's still going to be first in his life."

"Good. It means when I have things of my own to do, he has his own distractions."

"What do you want to know about Camden Torres?" Artemis asked directly.

"Whatever he wants to share with me." Isabella rested her clasped fingers on her knee as she crossed her leg. "I have enough secrets in my life. I have no right to demand someone else share theirs with me."

Artemis pursed her lips. "My husband is the only person in my private life apart from my sister who knows I am the head of Bellona."

"Your sister?"

"Mm," Artemis nodded, "she'll be seeing you shortly."

"Whoa! Wait, are you saying you and the shrink are sisters?"

"Yes." Artemis took a breath, "regardless. My husband knows." "What if you got divorced."

"I said to death do us part and I meant it," she said dryly. "You'd kill him?"

"If it meant protecting Bellona or avoid paying him alimony, he's a dead man and he knows it too." Artemis' lips twisted as if she was joking.

Isabella wasn't sure and she swallowed nervously. "Why are you telling me this Artemis?"

"Because Camden Torres is important to you, I feel it is important you understand. He is one of the few people in the world, regardless of your relationship status who would never reveal your association with Bellona. Even if you stopped seeing each other, split up and went your separate ways, Cam Torres could be tortured, and nobody would know. His ability to be secretive makes him a damn good soldier." She eyed Isabella, "also, you are in love with him. Hopelessly in love with him. You raced into a potentially dangerous situation to save his a*****e offspring without any backup or consideration for the risk to your personal safety because you love him."

"Ugh," Isabella leaned forward and dropped her head into her hands. "Artemis, he hasn't had a woman in his life for longer than a month. I can't be in love with someone who doesn't do commitment."

"And yet, here you are in love with someone who doesn't know he can do commitment. He'll figure out you're worth it. I'd stake my career on it." Artemis taunted. "I'm not going to counsel you. It's the shrink's job. I'm only going to tell you. You are one of the best agents we have. You have strong instincts and an ability to analyse and detects anomalies and variances faster than anyone I've ever met. Where Clara is my number two, someday I expect you will be her number two. Trust your instincts with Torres, Epsilon. Maybe he'll need convincing, maybe he won't. I'm just telling you, he's nothing like Andropov. He's a good man."

"Yes ma'am."

"Also, if you ever pull a stunt like this and take off without your team, I'll ground your a*s to desk duty for so long you'll have a bad case of office a*s."

"Noted."

"Go to debrief."

She stood up and walked out of the office without looking back, aware she'd gotten a pass when she hadn't deserved one. She passed Sabine in the hall on the way to debrief.

"Hey sweet cheeks," Sabine grinned as they hugged. "You didn't come straight to debrief."

"No, I stopped to notify Alpha her team was looking for her."

"Liar, you went to punch the bastard in the face."

"Yup and I got one punch in before they pulled me away" she didn't deny the accusation. "Then he collapsed. Artemis checked the hospital notes, and they think he has a brain tumor."

"It would make sense," Sabine nodded, pursing her lips with interest. "My thought was late onset schizophrenia or an unreported head injury, but this makes sense too."

"Artemis said he should pray he dies in surgery otherwise what Cam does to him will be worse than any brain tumor would be."

Sabine's eyebrows lifted curiously, "I want to see the file Artemis saw."

"Not me. I prefer to live with my imagination." She looked down the hall towards psych, "although, it took five guys to restrain him from jumping him and pounding him to the ground. Then he looked him dead in the eye and told him he was going to kill him." "What did Mikhail do?"

"Ruiz, my office, now!" the psychologist bellowed. "You're late. I want to go home and you're holding me up. You ladies can have your tea party later."

"Call me," Sabine made a scared face in her direction as she let Isabella head to the debrief.

She walked into the office and sat down on the sofa opposite where the psychologist sat. The woman was nameless to most of the team. Now though as Artemis had revealed their relationship, she noted they had the same shaped eyes. "Ruiz, tell me about what happened tonight."

Two hours later her head was pounding and her debrief was complete. She made her way to the parking garage and mounted her bike. Her heart was telling her to drive to Staten Island and go to Cam and Portia and make sure they were both okay. Her head was telling her to go home, take a hot shower, cuddle Casper, and allow her mind and body to relax.

She was about to kick it into gear when she saw the car pulling in and she smiled as Clara's eyes met hers through the windshield. She kept her helmet in her hand until Clara walked towards her.

"Evgeni is in surgery. They found a tumor in his brain."

"Artemis told me."

"He's going to survive."

"Only for Cam to kill him?"

"Mikhail might do it first. You know how he is with his daughters and granddaughters. If someone had done to one of the girls what Evgeni did, brain tumor or none, he'd be pissed. He demanded me explain what you meant about the girl in the alley. He had no idea why you two broke up and knowing he let you run into an alley while he waited at his car has him fit to be tied. He said something about giving you what you asked and sending his son to Siberia."

She chuckled, "he said Raisa missed me and asked when I was going to visit. I said when his son was in Siberia."

"How'd you make out with debrief?"

"It was long. Did you know psych and Artemis are sisters?" Clara didn't say anything, and it confirmed she knew. Isabella was amazed, "she told me today and I see it in the eyes, but they are so opposite in personality. Anyway, Artemis was pissed with me but gave me a pass. Told me next time to call her."

"I hope to God there's never a next time but given how stupid Torres' daughter is she's probably going to end up with another Andropov within a month."

"Not on my watch." Isabella said sharply. "I'll wring her neck myself if Cam or Gideon don't first." She yawned widely. "I'm beat. I need to get home."

"Drive safe." Clara paused. "Why don't you take the car? I'll drive the bike to my place and have Elian take it to you tomorrow. Less likely to crash the car than the bike."

She stepped off the bike and took Clara's keys out of her hand. "Thanks." She gave a wave as she headed to the Maserati. The sound of the engine immediately made her smile. Having her bike silenced made her enjoy riding it less.

She raced the car through the streets of New York and took the long way home, enjoying the feel of the car. She swung through a twenty-four-hour fast-food restaurant and ordered a burger and fries, aware it was now four in the morning, and she was hungry, tired and in desperate need of her dog and her bed.

She pulled the car up to the curb and sighed as she noted the Porsche parked across her street. She got out of the car pulling her food with her and locked the car. She saw Lacey look through the living room window and then give a wave before she disappeared inside. She waited for Cam at the door.

When he stood at her bottom step she turned and faced him, "I've just been through a two-hour psych eval. If you're here for anything other than sleep, you should go back to your car."

Cam held her gaze for a moment and then nodded. "I respect that. I just need to know, the guy who took my daughter?"

"Cam, I'm not doing this on the street." She turned and led him into the house. Casper met her at the door.

"Where's the girl?"

She looked at Cam. "What girl?"

"There was a girl here."

"There's no girl here." She shrugged.

"Back door?"

"Cam, we're alone. What do you want to know?"

"The man who took Portia is dead?"

"Yes."

"How can you be sure?"

"My Beta shot his d**k off and my Gamma slit his throat while I ran my blade from his bullet wound to his abdomen."

Cam's eyes widened at her bluntness. "Jesus Christ Isabella."

"Pretty sure Jesus wasn't there. Also, he begged. He begged me to let him live. We found another girl in the apartment Cam. He had tortured her. According to my debriefing tonight, she'd been missing for a month. A month of being his victim. He deserved to die slowly and if I could go back in time, I might have done it slower."

"You are some kind of," he struggled for the word.

"Mercenary, assassin, killer, soldier, murderer, serial-killer?" she shrugged, "depending on what psychological handbook you're using, any of those terms fit."

"You're an actuary."

"Yes. I am. I'm analytical, smart, decisive. I'm notoriously observant and I learn fast. I am also good at determining risk and my brain is wired to assess situations in a way others fail to see." Casper barked once and she looked down aware she was still holding the bag of fast food. She pulled some fries from the bag and gave him two and watched as he trotted off to his bed.

"Clara Draxton?"

"My Alpha of a five-woman team."

"Women?" he asked swallowing the lump in his throat as she didn't balk about answering his questions.

"All women, only women."

He rubbed his face incredulously. "Isabella, I don't know what to make of this."

"It's up to you to make of it what you want."

"I need time."

"Take all the time you need," she shrugged and motioned for the door. "Unfortunately, though, I'm exhausted, and my boss is expecting me at work in," she looked at her watch, "three and a half hours so I need to go get some rest."

She watched as he turned on his heel and left her house without looking back. Casper barked at her and trotted toward her quickly. She lifted him into her arms, aware tears were falling down her cheeks. She locked her front door, took her paper bag of fast food and her dog, and went to bed.