I’ve been in quite a number of crime scenes, but this man has been on my toes for reasons very unknown to me. And I can’t shake the feeling I get in my chest every single time. I could possibly be scared of this man. Am I?

“Hi, husband.” I stepped out of the closet, and he glared at me, which I simply shrugged to.

“Explain why you are in my closet?”

“Snooping around.” He raised his eyebrows in surprise. “...What did you think I’d do? I have no job to do since a certain someone decided to keep me locked up. I had to do something, and snooping seemed like the best, as my darling husband refuses to let me out.” He stared at me, and I stared right back without blinking.

I was sick of this man, and I wanted to be out of this marriage, but I knew I couldn’t. My job was the only thing keeping me sane, and he was taking it away from me.

He walked towards me, and I stood still, looking at him. He paused right in front of me, his eyes staring deep into mine. Heat radiated from his body. He smelled like smoke and whiskey, but I couldn’t tell if he was coming from a bar or doing one of his dirty jobs.

“You can’t get out of this marriage, so how about we come to terms with one thing. You stay at the west wing of the house, and I remain here. You will go to work without putting your nose in my business, or we will have a problem.”

I stared at him, and my eyes graced upon his lips before I looked away.

“We’ll have dinner together.”

“And we’ll go to events together.”

“Pretend to the world.”

“Fine.” He moved away, and I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding.

We finally came to terms with one thing: I’ll have my life, and he’ll have his.

I walked out of the room while he walked into the bathroom.

My heart raced while I mumbled with my fingers. He had mentioned a body earlier and the slaughter of an entire family while keeping a child at the orphanage.

I knew he said I should stay out of his business, but I wouldn’t let an innocent family die due to his dirty dealings.

Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I unlocked his drive.

While I snooped around, I had found a few details on his phone, and I cracked the code through mine in the closet. There were two files in this drive, and it talked about his oil business, but something stood out.

This wasn’t just an oil business, there were a lot of strings attached. Too many deals involved, too many people, including my father. But there was a name that was too familiar: Gabriel Volkov.

My heart jammed against my rib cage as I stared at the name over and over again and his photo became as clear as day in my head

The leader of the syndicate. He has been on the police search board for three years, and no one has found or heard anything of him, yet my husband was in business with this very same man.

“Isabela.” A certain chill went down my spine, and I jumped before turning around.

“Yes?” I looked at him as he stood by the door.

“You forgot this.” He held out a paper, and I looked at it before taking it from his hand.

“Thanks.” I walked away as my thoughts scattered all over the place.

Other than his oil company, there were many other businesses, and if I had to go through an investigation on all his businesses, then I will. I just had to play safe and stay out of trouble.

“Kamal.” I put the phone on my ear while walking to my room.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Code blue. Meet me at my doorstep in fifteen minutes.”

“Roger.” I hung up and began searching for my things, the second mobile and my tracker.

Javier’s room was at the top floor, and I could not put a tracker in his car knowing there were guards around and a chance of cameras in the house. Lucky for me, none was installed in my room.

I do need to check for hidden ones.

Picking up my gun holder, I dashed out the door and ran down the stairs. I kept getting glances from the guards around, but I chose to ignore them.

If my husband was a suspect in a case that was closed three years ago, I needed to know everything about it and how to deal with it.

Kamal stood outside the gates beside his car, and I immediately got in.

“What’s the mission all about?”

“I sent you a file stating twenty different companies I want a secret investigation to be made on. Nothing should be left out, and no one should be caught investigating.”

“An inside work then?”

“Yes, an inside work. And Gabriel Volkov’s case should be reopened.” He paused and immediately started the car again.

“Are you out of your mind? That could have caused an accident!” I snapped at him while I looked through the same document I had closed a long time ago.

“I... Sorry. Gabriel Volkov was never found. Why are we...”

“He signed a deal in one of these companies last week. The man we’ve been searching for is right here. But I need to make sure if he is involved in the rest of the companies, and if truly, there’s another criminal-minded person in this game.”

“Alright.” Kamal’s knuckles tightened against the wheel, and I placed a hand on his.

“We’ll make him pay for what he has done.” Kamal nodded and focused on the road.

Kamal had been Gabriel’s last victim. And even if it’s been three years, no one will be happy hearing the name of their trafficker again, will they?

And it made me sick to my stomach knowing there was a chance my husband was involved, as I had no idea what they really did in the underworld.

I hope I’m wrong.

My body jumped as my phone beeped, and a message came in from Javier:

“Event, 8 p.m. Have a red dress on.” I stared at the message, a red dress? What could that mean?