55. Sandrine
Sandrine
There’s silence on the other end of the phone. All I hear is Lourdes’s breathing, tempered with a few soft whimpers.
“How could Dad do that?” she whispers.
I sniff, too. “I just keep thinking he wanted to protect me.”
“He tried to keep you from your child. Even if he didn’t want you to be with Kirill, which I can understand, but to make you give up Violet…” She trails off.
“I also found out what happened with his car accident,” I say, worried this will snap Lourdes’s support of my relationship.
“I already assumed Yuri had something to do with it,” she says, sounding convinced.
“Not Yuri.” I clear my throat. “Kirill questioned Dad. Roughly. And—”
“Sandrine, I’m married to the head of the Greek Mafia. I know how interrogations work.” She takes a breath. “Did Kirill kill Dad?”
“No,” I say right away. “But he admitted that he shouldn’t have let Dad get into his car. Our father never admitted where I was. Kirill had nothing to gain by killing the only man who knew where to find me.”
“Oh,” Lourdes says, sounding a little relieved. Relieved she won’t have to explain any of this to her Greek Mafia boss husband. “My earlier statement stands. Dad was wrong. He was messing with the Bratva. He may not have stolen their money. He stole their queen!”
I give a small smile at being referred to as a queen.
I look at the time. “I just wanted you to know. I need to pick up Violet and take her to a playdate.”
There’s silence for a moment. Then she asks, “How are things with Kirill?”
“We’re good, Lourdes. Really good.”
After a beat of silence, and something whispered in the background, she says, “Ares’s offer still stands. He will come get you and your daughter if—”
“No,” I say quickly.
“Are you sure? He has three Irish families at his disposal.”
“This is where I belong. This is where I wanted to be. My memory breakthrough confirmed it. You said I looked like I was in love in the video. I was. I…am. And Kirill is a wonderful father.”
“I trust you.” She clears her throat. “When will I see you? I have a baby shower to plan. I’d love to meet my little niece.”
“Tell your husband to bring you to New York for the summit next month,” Ares calls out from the background.
“Kirill didn’t mention the summit,” I say. “But I’ll tell him that I want to join him.”
Will he let me?
“Elodie said she’ll fly in for the shower,” Lourdes says with caution in her voice.
“Elodie,” I repeat her name. “You spoke to her?”
“I did. She says she’s fine.” My sister clears her throat. “We’ll talk to her next month and get the whole story about that man Ares and Kirill found her with.”
Mafia…
“And she called me a sex kitten,” I say, feeling a laugh come on.
“I love you, Sandrine,” my sister says softly.
“I love you, too, Lourdes. Mrs. Greek Goddess of War,” I say with a small giggle at how two middle-class girls from Forest Glen are now wives of the two most powerful men in the mafia. And our cousin…
I hang up, then gather my purse and coat to pick up Violet. When I step outside, I feel that the weather has turned. I survived another Chicago winter.
* * *
Violet erupts from the school as she does every day.
“Mommy!” she calls to me, and runs toward me.
“Hi, sweetie!” I call out and open my arms.
She dives into them, and I want to break down.
I wanted her. I didn’t leave her. It’d been torture these past two months not knowing. But Lourdes was right. My heart didn’t change.
“Look, I drew us.” She wiggles out of my hold and takes out a drawing from her red paper folder. “That’s Daddy, me, and now you!”
In black crayon, she drew Kirill wearing a suit.
His shoes are nearly as big as his head, he has orange hair for some reason, and no face.
I stifle a giggle. I’m in a yellow dress that looks very short and no shoes for me.
In fact, I don’t have feet at all. I have a face at least, and I’m looking down at Violet.
She drew herself with tight black curls that are past her little butt, which they’re not.
She’s in her school uniform. And like me, she has legs but no feet.
“This is beautiful.” I hold it to my chest.
“Can we put it on the refrigerator when we get home?” She bounces and spins.
“Sure.” I brush her face and look for Gale. “We’re supposed to have a playdate with Emily.”
“Emily went home early again.” She makes a pensive face. “She had another episode.”
“Then we need to check on her to make sure she’s okay.”
“Let’s bring her some ice cream.” She grips my hand and pulls me to the car.
A couple of hours after our afternoon with Emily, Violet climbs back into the SUV looking very satisfied that our visit made little Emily feel better.
When we get back to Iron Keep, Violet runs into the kitchen where Nadia is preparing a snack.
I find a magnet for the refrigerator and stick her picture under it. But it drops to the floor.
“Oh no!” Violet picks it up.
“The stainless isn’t magnetic,” the nanny says.
“Then I’ll get one that is,” Kirill remarks from the doorway.
I stand up and look at him. His coat is buttoned all the way to the collar, and his face is stoic.
“Daddy! I drew us.” Violet runs to him.
He keeps his eyes on me until he looks down at Violet. “That’s beautiful.”
With a kiss on her forehead, his eyes return to me. They’re neutral.
“Violet, have your snack,” the nanny says, setting a plate of crackers and fruit on the kitchen table with a cup of milk.
She hands me the picture and skips to the table. The nanny sits with her and reads more of her book. Violet watches minimal television, and she has no access to electronics. No baby tablet. No kiddie phone.
Kirill approaches me and reaches for my hand. “Let’s talk.”
Nodding, I follow him through the corridors, up the stairs, and into our bedroom.
Inside, Kirill holds me against the door. “Ares’s phone is secure. But yours is not. Not from me.”
My heart takes a tumble. “You heard?”
“Every word. You told Lourdes about your father.”
“She deserved to know.” I stare him down. “I defended you.”
“You did, wife. I’m honored.” He kisses my knuckles. “But Ares still wants to take you away from me. Again,” he says through strained teeth.
I grip Kirill’s collar. “And I said no.”
“Doesn’t change that he would dare to—”
I kiss him. “Please don’t be angry at him. And don’t kill him. He’s my sister’s husband.”
Kirill sips from my lips. “Keep kissing me. It calms me down.”
We stay like that, just kissing. His arms around me feel so, so good. And it’s an echo of a feeling that stayed right under my skin all this time. I just didn’t know what it meant.
“I’d like to go to New York with you next month.” I rest my head on his chest. “The art showcase is there.”
“Where the country’s most dangerous crime bosses will be?” He frowns. “Let me think about that. Uh. No.”
“It’s a peace summit.” I look up at him.
“We’ll see about that.” He kisses me again and then shakes the coat off his shoulders.
“Kirill, you’re covered in blood.” I realize now why he didn’t take off his coat in front of Violet.
“I had to kill Chernov’s accomplices from that night.” He makes a fist. “Now everyone knows the consequences of betraying me and that I will carry out the punishment.”
For a split-second, I fear this man who just confessed to mass murder, but it vanishes. How much I love Kirill and trust him eases my terror.
In the bathroom, he snaps on a pair of black plastic gloves and strips off his clothes, not in any kind of sexy way. He’s careful not to let anything touch his face. In front of him, a black contractor’s bag swallows the evidence.
Naked, he struts to the walk-in shower. The view of his ass, his back, and his thighs has lust firing through me. I step that way and see him turning on the water.
Over his shoulder, he says, “Get in here, wife.”