38
Accusations
Nikita, 6 horas antes.
A fter visiting the site proposed by Piluca, the real estate agent, and Andrea falling in love with it, I cornered R to tell him about my plans to keep Arasagasti's wife on our side.
Fortunately, he thought it was a good idea, although he wasn't too pleased about my taxi escape. He made me promise that it wouldn’t happen again. I had no choice but to capitulate. I couldn’t stop thinking about the possibility of talking to him about Yuri. But first, I wanted to see if Andrey could get any information that would clear up more of the mysteries.
If my brother was lying to my face, I couldn't trust him. That, along with the feelings fluttering in my stomach every time I saw my husband, was putting me in a very complex dilemma.
Romeo was uneasy. He had gone to talk to his father, who, after listening to him, asked him to bring me to his house to have a conversation about everything that was happening and to not leave me out of the loop.
We said goodbye to the enthusiastic Andrea, promising her that we accepted her invitation to have dinner with her and Karlos.
My mother wasn't at Massimo's house; she had gone shopping with Irisha, which spared me from having to greet her and one of her trivial conversations.
In Massimo Capuleto's oval office, we were greeted by my father-in-law's furrowed brow. The cold gaze of álvaro San Juan, and a giant screen where Don Giuliano and Salvatore maintained a very serious demeanor.
It was no wonder. The situation was extremely tricky. It was logical that they were worried.
After settling in and being greeted by everyone, my father-in-law asked me to give my version of the events. To describe in detail what had happened at the funeral. Something told me, by the way everyone, except Romeo, was looking at me, that they had some kind of information that made them doubt me.
Did they know something about Yuri? Had they followed me? Impossible, if so, I'd already be dead, dismembered, and thrown into the river. I finished my story, and their expressions didn't change.
"What's going on?" I asked defiantly. I visually scanned the male faces that seemed carved in stone.
"Have you read the newspaper?" my father-in-law asked.
"I haven’t had the time," I confessed. Andrey had already warned me that Jonás had thrown a last posthumous dart.
The newspaper slid across the table to my hands. A headline on the front page with my photo and that of Romeo boded nothing good.
"Jonás Sánchez accuses you of reselling Mentium and us for allowing its commercialization on the black market. He says he has irrefutable proof that you are behind the distribution and that if we haven't stopped you, it's because you are married to my son."
"That’s false!" I yelled.
"Stay calm, we know what that journalist is saying isn't true," my husband said, giving my arm a gentle squeeze.
"Well, it doesn’t seem like your father is so sure," I accused, meeting Massimo’s disapproving gaze.
"For now, I haven't accused you, though if you feel that way, maybe it’s because you're hiding something." I slammed my hand on the table and stood up.
"I'm someone who is straightforward, and if I say it wasn't me, then it wasn't. I'm trying to find out who is behind this, but it's not easy."
"I asked Segarra to provide us with a report on the evidence that has reached the police station implicating you. From what I understand, there is photographic testimony."
"Well, let them show me! Because I haven't resold any batch of Mentium on the black market! It might be some blonde employee, or doctored photos..."
"We'll see," my father-in-law commented, twirling a pen between his fingers.
"Regarding what happened at the funeral," continued Don Giuliano, "my man has continued with the investigations. Someone claims that you were alone with the motorcycles." I looked at Don Giuliano's man and then at him.
"What?! Is it April Fool’s Day and I didn’t get the memo?" I turned to R. "Tell them I was on the bridge with you the whole time!" I exclaimed, looking at R.
"Yes, I've already told them that, but they're not referring to that." He squinted for a second. But what the hell? What did that blink mean?
"Romeo?"
"Isn't it true, Mrs. Koroleva, that it took you a few minutes to get to the bridge with the others and you stayed alone with the motorcycles?" álvaro San Juan threw the accusation.
"What is this?! A fucking trial?! Should I call my lawyer?" No one responded except Romeo.
"Calm down, Nikita. My family just wants to tie up loose ends."
"I got a call!" I burst out.
"A very timely one, that you forgot to mention in your story when we asked you," Salvatore criticized.
"I didn’t think it was important!" I exclaimed, annoyed.
"It was if it left you alone with the vehicles for a certain time." That rattlesnake in the form of my husband's cousin was really pissing me off.
"Shut up, no one asked for your opinion!" It was a complete setup. It seemed like everyone wanted me to confess to a crime I hadn’t committed. "You can check my calls without a problem. Sarka called me to discuss something, as soon as I resolved her question, I hung up. You can verify that."
"We already have," Massimo clarified. "That doesn’t rule out that you could have placed explosives under the motorcycles meanwhile. It's easy to hold the phone with your ear and do something else with your hands. Besides, remember they didn't blow up until you and my son arrived."
"And is that my fault?!" I shouted.
"With your attitude, you only make us suspect more," said Don Giuliano. "We all know that those types of remote-controlled mechanisms only work within a few meters. It's logical that we suspect."
"You suspect?!" I roared. "This seems unbelievable, really. And what’s my motive, Don Giuliano? Enlighten me."
"To bring down the ‘Ndrangheta on the Costa del Sol. To shift the focus towards the Chinese when we have the enemy sleeping in my nephew’s bed."
"Your beauty could have been a double-edged sword, and my cousin is a hotshot who you might have charmed," Salvatore added.
"I can't believe it! Did I also kidnap myself and get sold to a trafficking network?!" I said exasperatedly.
"You could have planned it to make it seem like it wasn't what it was."
"Enough!" roared Romeo. "That makes no sense. I believe in my wife."
I didn’t know what hurt more, the suspicion they harbored against me, that they had come so close to the scorching truth, or that Romeo defended me when he didn’t know about my double game. Right now, I felt awful, even though my expression didn't show it. What was it? What was I doing? I felt like a damn projectile weapon in Yuri's hands, and I had just thrown myself to the wolves.
I thought very carefully about what to say before speaking. I had to find a crack deep enough to sow doubt and make them believe me. If I told them about Yuri now, they wouldn't believe it; they'd shoot me before I could finish explaining.
I needed time, as well as to gather enough evidence so that R would believe me if I chose to switch sides.
I rummaged through my mind and found just what I needed. I looked at my husband with something akin to an apology that I was capable of emitting and addressed the rest.
"If I wanted to screw you over, I would have done it already. I have in my possession some documents that I could have signed to dissociate myself from all of you without getting my hands dirty. Tell them what you proposed, Romeo."
It was my only play. R tensed his body, and I saw the shadow of disappointment cross his gaze, in part, I had betrayed him in front of his family, but I needed a rope to cling to.
"What does she mean?" insisted Massimo. He clenched his jaw.
"I offered her the possibility of divorce. That she could take back her life and her empire with the accounts cleared."
"You're crazy!" his father yelled.
"I love her!" he confessed. "I wanted her to be married to me for that reason and not because of a damn agreement she signed with you," he attacked his father.
"What I've been saying, she's got him by the cazzo [6] " added Salvatore.
"Shut up, asshole, or the next time we meet you might not live to tell about it." His cousin looked at him with malice.
"Calm down, boys! You both are hot-blooded, remember your family, and you don't betray or kill family unless it's strictly necessary," intervened Don Giuliano.
I needed to offer something in exchange for putting my husband's head on the block.
"I love him too," I conceded in front of everyone, "that's why I didn’t sign. I haven’t had the chance to have this conversation with him alone, but I'm not going to sign the divorce, even though the papers are signed by him and are in a folder in my possession."
Romeo's eyes filled with surprise, satisfaction, and determination.
I hadn't told him I loved him, though I had known it for a while. I was up to my neck in shit with my brother involved and it wasn't clear if the turn I was planning to take would lead to a safe harbor.
R stood up, took my hand, and kissed it.
"If you've finished spouting nonsense about my wife, I would appreciate if you started making your apologies. As Nikita has told you, she has nothing to do with the reselling of Mentium or the attack, and I believe her.
"You would do well to focus your attention where it belongs and join efforts in the right direction. Maybe, San Juan isn’t as good at his job as we thought and we should replace him with someone much more competent.
"If you'll excuse us, we're leaving, I have many things to do, among them, finding the real culprits and a son to look after, have a good day."
We left, I with a knot in my stomach and hearing Salvatore mutter under his breath, "He's digging our grave and I'm not going to let him drag us down."
I just hoped that Andrey would bring me something to hold onto before I took a leap toward my own demise.