42
I am wind
M y smile vanished instantly when I realized that the look of hatred was coming from the person I loved, and he was raising his weapon against me.
"What are you doing?" I asked, my pulse racing.
"What I should have done from the beginning," Romeo cocked the gun and aimed it at my chest.
"You want to kill me?" I stayed cold. I had to think. Why was he like this? Had he heard some rumor? When he called, he didn’t seem upset.
"I know everything, Koroleva." The use of my last name was a bad sign. "No need to pretend anymore or offer me your 'I love yous' filled with poison. Not anymore."
"What the hell did they give you at the hospital? An overdose of *Pasión de Gavilanes*?"
It didn't seem like a joke or a game. Just a few hours ago, we had been joking about Ana María humming the theme song from the telenovela all the time. I even suggested to R that we play in bed with our guns, pretending to be characters who end up having sex instead of killing each other.
"This morning you didn't leave by taxi for no reason. You did it because you met Yuri at a hotel." The mention of my brother made me pale. "You've been laughing at me all this time, planning my defeat and my family's behind my back."
"No!" I screamed, fearing he wouldn’t listen to me.
"No? Do you really think you're in a position to talk? You've lost all the power you had over me, there's no spell, enchantment, or charm anymore. The blindfold has finally fallen from my eyes. Do you know why? Because Aleksa is fighting for his life in the hospital because of your brother and his men.
"He wasn't blinded, he didn't believe you, and he brought me all the evidence I needed to understand that you've humiliated me in every possible way. You've lied, manipulated, made me believe in you over my family, betrayed my feelings to ruin my life and cause the death of my men."
"If you let me explain..."
"There is no explanation that matters. It's over, Koroleva. I've lost too much for something that never existed. I got carried away by the expectation instead of seeing the reality. You are a fucking disappointment; the biggest mistake I've ever made. I should never have opened my house to you or your brother. Now I see you truly, without the mask, without that dazzling wrapping that tries to divert attention. You are rot, evil, and betrayal. And to think I would have done everything for you. What a fool!"
I had come too late, R no longer wanted to listen to me. What I should have said at the time would be silenced as soon as he fired. Now he wouldn’t believe me, but I wasn’t going to give up that easily.
I whistled before his finger pressed the trigger. The expression in his eyes warned me he was going to shoot. Luckily, I managed to move to the side, and the bullet only grazed the flesh of my arm.
I felt the burn on my skin as I fell to the ground, rolling to find cover. I heard him curse. It wasn’t going to be that easy to kill me; I had been trained to both attack and defend myself. The second bullet embedded itself in the grass very close to my head, and the third shattered one of the wooden slats of the hammock.
Lady Killer ran swiftly to bring me my weapon. I peeked the barrel over the backrest.
"Have you taught the dog to bring you the gun?!"
"You never know when you might need it, so I thought it best to train her," I responded. "Don’t worry, it was kept in a place Adri couldn’t access," I clarified, calmer than I actually felt.
"And what would have happened if Adriano had whistled?"
"Nothing, she knows how to distinguish different types of whistles. She’s a smart girl." Romeo scoffed. "By the way, I’ve got you in my sights, so stop being an idiot and listen to me. Even guys on death row get a last request, and mine is for you to hear me out." He didn’t respond. Silence was his answer. "I have no intention of killing you and I never did. Well, maybe at the beginning, but that doesn’t count anymore, my desire to end you and yours has expired."
I stood up, not a coward. Blood was seeping from the wound in my arm, sliding down to my fingers; surely it would leave a mark. If I survived, it would be a nice reminder not to lie to your husband if he's a mobster.
His eyes flickered to it for a second, and I saw annoyance in his expression.
Was there still a chance he might forgive me? I had to try.
"You’re right about some things," I continued, "and wrong about others. I didn’t know Yuri was alive until he kidnapped me in Santorini. He was the one who held me on a boat and then in his summer house. Not in a human trafficking ring," I confessed, taking a step to the side.
"Could I have told you when you rescued me? Yes. Did I? No. Why? Because it’s really hard to choose between the brother you thought was dead and the enemy you’re falling in love with. Maybe we’re different in that. I have my own timing and needed to put everything in place before making a decision that has been anything but easy."
"I don’t believe you. You’d say anything to save yourself and save him. You’re caught, so you have to feed me this bullshit. Knowing you, I’m sure you’ve rehearsed this conversation more than once. Of course, I believe he got you out of Santorini, but only to keep planning the fall of my empire."
I had no right to be angry that he didn’t believe me, I had made it very difficult for him to do so, yet it bothered me. I either acted decisively or I was dead.
"You want to kill me?" I was going to take a gamble. "Fine," I raised my hands without letting go of my weapon and moved forward. "Shoot. Here." I pointed the exact spot where my heart was with the barrel, walking slowly towards him. Romeo stayed on guard. "You can ask Andrey what I told him this afternoon about my intentions. Call him."
"You think this will help? That I’ll believe your man? Do you think I’m that stupid? I admit I might have given you that impression because next to you I’ve been a fool, but you have no idea who I am or what I become when my balls are busted and I’m betrayed. Especially by the only woman I’ve allowed to break my heart."
"Then shoot, damn it!" I screamed, unhinged. "Break mine if it makes you feel better! But I warn you, it’s impossible for a nine millimeter to kill what I feel for you. No matter how many bullets you put in my body. Because when I stop breathing, I won’t go towards the damn light, I’ll stay here, haunting every fucking moment of your life. I warned you, Capulet, what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine too. And even if you now consider me your enemy, for me you’re the love of my life and I’ll do anything to prove to you that I’m not lying about that."
I was a step away from him. Seeing the burning hatred in the darkness of his eyes. Knowing myself, I wouldn’t have let him get the first word; if the situation were reversed, my husband would already be lying in a pool of blood.
I always knew Romeo had more soul than I did.
I grabbed the barrel of his gun and pressed it against my chest.
"Do it, you bastard!" Romeo panted.
"You think I won’t shoot?! That I lack the balls?! That I won’t be capable?!"
"What I think, you don’t want to hear, and yes, maybe you lack the balls to hear the truth and it’s easier to pull the trigger. Shoot and forget about knowing the truth!"
Romeo's gaze filled with determination. He raised the gun and aimed it between my eyes. My breathing became erratic, the adrenaline rush so high I thought I would collapse before feeling the lead embed in my brain.
"Goodbye, Koroleva, I’ll see you in hell."
He was about to pull the trigger when a soft voice interrupted him.
"Daddy? Are you practicing shooting without me?"
Adriano's voice shattered the moment. Terror took over Romeo's pupils as he immediately aimed the gun back at my chest.
"Go to your room, Adriano," he thundered.
"I don’t want to, I want to shoot with you," the boy insisted, rubbing his eyes. From my perspective, I could see his sleepy face and his hands rubbing his eye sockets. "Is that blood?" He blinked, focusing on my arm. "Did you hurt yourself, Aunt Nikita?" R looked at me with a hard warning.
"It’s okay, a mosquito bit me and I scratched it."
"Well, it must have been a mutant tiger mosquito, you’re bleeding a lot."
"Don’t worry, your father will take care of me later. It's late, go back to your room, you have school tomorrow."
"But I want to..."
"Adriano!" my husband roared in a tone that brooked no argument.
"Okay," the boy admitted, defeated, "but this weekend, you have to take me to the shooting range. Or to hunt deer, like Aunt Nikita did with my other dad." My still-husband's expression hardened. He didn’t expect the mention of Yuri.
"Go on, obey and go to bed. Do you have your amulet?" I asked. He swung it with a smile. "Perfect, now go, and dream whatever you want, you know that in the world of dreams, you are the master."
The boy ran toward us, and Romeo had no choice but to stop pointing the gun at me. Adri hugged both our legs.
"I like living with you much more than at my mom’s house."
"And we like living with you too, son," my husband added, not taking his eyes off mine. He ruffled the boy’s hair and sent him to bed.
As soon as Adri walked away, the barrel returned to my chest.
Without asking, Romeo snatched my gun away.
"Move."
"Why? Don’t you want my ghost haunting your house? Or does it bother you that I’ll water the grass with my blood?"
"I don’t have to explain what I want or don’t want to do. Walk."
I had no idea what he intended, but it was a good sign that I wasn’t dead yet.
I entered the house, and when we reached the stairs, he muttered, "Up."
"You plan to drown me in the jacuzzi because it's cleaner?"
"What I do from now on is none of your business. So shut your fucking mouth. You and I are finished as a married couple, and forget about the divorce, I prefer to be a widower."
"Widower," I clicked my tongue. "That redhead’s pussy will be soaking wet."
"Wash your mouth before mentioning Irene." I elbowed him in the stomach, and he pulled my hair, slamming me against the wall. "Don’t mess with me, Koroleva, or your journey ends here."
"Then don’t compare me to that whore."
"That whore has more class than you. They say time puts everyone in their place, and in your case, it’s a mass grave," he panted over my lips.
"So what the hell are you waiting for? Weren’t you going to shoot me before Adriano showed up?"
"My son’s visit gave me the time I needed to think. It will be much easier to finish off Yuri if I have you in my hands. We’ll see what your little brother is capable of to get you back. Move!"
He turned me around, pulling my hair, then pushed me, making me stumble and climb the first steps clumsily.
I wasn’t going to resist being his prisoner, after all, it would be much easier to win him back alive than dead. I had to find a way to make him see the truth.
I bit my tongue regarding my thoughts about using me as bait to lure my brother. Yuri wouldn’t risk himself to get me back, but I wasn’t going to tell R that.
I remembered Andrey’s words, I was the wind, capable of turning the sails of Romeo’s ship to guide him back to port. Capable of setting any empire on fire, whether it belonged to my brother or anyone else.
I had chosen, and R was my choice. Even if he didn’t believe me yet, I would make sure to prove it to him.