45
My body is burning
I muttered several curses as I got into the shower with Nikita.
I didn't care about going in fully dressed or that she was still undressed. I had left her that way for convenience; after all, she wasn't going to leave the room, and she was always naked in bed.
I had been stressed for three days, hating her to death for making me feel like a puppet. I left the house and went straight to the hospital once I ensured Aleksa was stable. The doctor told me he had lost a lot of blood, and a fractured rib had punctured one of his lungs. He said Aleksa was a strong man and that I should have faith.
Faith was the only answer, the burning nail to hold on to when science says there is nothing more that can be done. I couldn’t lose Aleksa like I lost Dante; neither of them deserved that fate.
He was in the ICU, so they didn’t let me in. I saw him through the glass and swore that I would take down the traitor who had betrayed us. I drove to my father’s house, not caring that it was the middle of the night. Urgent matters don’t have a schedule.
He greeted me groggily, but seeing my state, he fully woke up. He led me to his study, wrapped in his cashmere robe. He poured a couple of glasses of aged bourbon.
I could have used the entire bottle to calm my nerves.
Without much preamble, I told him what had happened. I preferred to get it all out as quickly as possible.
One of my father's most peculiar traits was that he would stay silent while you told him anything. He listened intently until the person in front of him finished their statement. He said that when someone had something to say, the best approach was conscious listening so that nothing was missed.
He had a theory that people who interrupted their interlocutors were poor listeners. Why? Because, according to him, those people were not focused on what was being said but on the response they wanted to give or the next question they wanted to ask. This way, they could miss many details of the information. That's why he waited until the end to say his piece.
He stroked his mustache with concern when I admitted that I recognized my mistake and said I was ready to face the consequences. I had failed the 'Ndrangheta and would take myself out once I had dealt with my brother-in-law and my wife.
He raised his hand to silence me. He took a slow sip and shook his head.
"You can’t do that."
"I took the oath."
"You haven’t betrayed us; you may have defended the wrong woman, but remember, I put her in your life. If anything, the mistake would be mine, and if someone has to answer for it, it would be me."
"Absolutely not!" I exclaimed, slamming my fist on the table.
“Respect, Romeo, I am il capo of this family. I decide, and I take responsibility.”
“But Don Giuliano…”
“Leave your uncle to me. If it makes you feel better, we’ll discuss it with him, and if necessary, with ‘the tribunal,’ but I doubt your uncle or they would ask for your head. I appreciate your offer; it says a lot about you and the good son I’ve raised.”
“I feel like an idiot! How did I not see it?” I rubbed my face with my hands.
“Because you’ve always had your mother’s heart. You are a just man; that is not something to reproach. You trusted your wife because we had no indication that Korolev was still alive. They tried to kill her, kidnapped her, and none of us imagined it was a smokescreen. Everything pointed to Cheng; it was a mistake.”
“One that cost us dearly. What are we going to do?”
“I won’t argue that, but we need to keep a cool head. You did well not to kill her yet. I agree with you that she can be a good lure. According to the message you showed me, her brother wants her as his right hand, to run the business in Costa del Sol, which gives us some leverage.” He stroked the polished wood and took a sip of his drink. “The best thing we can do is use her to catch Korolev. Once we have him, we’ll offer the heads of the entire family to Don Giuliano.”
“Do you think Jelena, Irisha, and Sarka are aware?”
“Whether they are or not, it's best not to leave loose ends.”
“You don’t mind killing your lover?”
“ Per favore , Jelena is beautiful and a good lay, but the love of my life has always been your mother.” He reclined in the leather chair. “Listen to me carefully. We will act as if nothing has happened publicly. I will have Jelena and Irisha guarded, claiming it’s a precaution due to the events at the funeral. Have one of your men travel to St. Petersburg and keep an eye on Sarka at all times.”
“Do you want us to kidnap her?”
“Not yet. It will be enough to know where she is at all times. You need to respond to Korolev’s message to gain his trust, as if you were his sister. No one should know that we’ve discovered his intentions or that he’s alive.”
“But he might think Aleksa told me.”
“He’s not stupid. He surely has you under surveillance. That’s why it’s important to create a scenario. Tell your men and his that Nikita has the flu and that Aleksa turned up at the hospital and is in the ICU, that the Chinese must have cornered him somewhere. If there’s a mole, they’ll inform Yuri.”
“I also think someone has been selling us out.”
“That’s why it’s important to stay alert and pay close attention to details. Love makes us a bit stupid, you and everyone else.” I nodded. “What about your wife’s right-hand man?”
“We don’t know where he is.”
“It’s important to find him. That man is dangerous.”
“I’ve given the order that when he shows up at the house, they take him to one of the hideouts. I fully trust the people who live there.”
“That sounds good.”
“How can you look me in the eye?” I asked, feeling so disappointed in myself that I didn’t understand how my father wasn’t.
His hand gripped my forearm.
“Everything in life has a solution except death. You did well to come and talk to me. Go back home, set in motion what I’ve asked you to do, and we’ll fix this mess.”
“Yes, father,” I agreed, finishing my drink.
The first thing I did when I set foot in the house was respond to Yuri’s message. I kept it brief, preferring to err on the side of caution so he wouldn’t suspect anything. I didn’t receive an immediate reply, but at dawn, I found a thumbs-up emoji. I was satisfied with that.
I entered the garage and took out the box of Yuri’s keepsakes. In the absence of anything better, a few photos at the barbecue would do. Maybe it was a childish act, but I needed to burn everything I had treasured, that heap of lies that only meant something to the fool R Capulet.
I was more devastated than I could admit. It crushed me to think about how much I had opened the doors of my soul to those damn Russians. The Korolevs had destroyed me, and they were going to pay for every insult, betrayal, and death.
I took a bottle of liquor and downed it, watching every memory go up in flames.
I would personally deal with both of them. I wanted them to die by my hands, to squeeze the life out of them and make them suffer as I had.
I didn’t sleep.
Ana María found me lying on one of the hammocks, with the bottle as empty as my chest. Seeing my state, she sent me to the shower before Adriano woke up.
Adriano... Thinking about him hurt.
Damn! He was Yuri’s son; I had adopted him thinking he was mine, and even that was taken from me. Now what? They must be laughing, seeing how much affection I had for him. What would I do with him?
I had so many things in my head that it was better to clear them out.
I got under the water and shattered my knuckles, venting my rage on the tiles.
Red blood swirled down the drain. And I felt a warmth on my cheeks that had nothing to do with the water pouring from the showerhead.
I broke, I shattered into a thousand splinters that couldn’t be pieced back together. The Korolevs had fractured me in every possible way, crushed my trust and my heart. They made sure to destroy me from the inside out and almost succeeded in taking away everything I cared about. Luckily, that “almost” would keep me standing and would ensure that I hit them where it hurt the most. I would make them pay for the harm they caused me, my men, and my family.
I rubbed my face, erasing all traces of pain.
One needs to turn to ash to fly over the enemy’s head and materialize when least expected.
When Ana María asked me that same day about what was going on with the lady, I told her not to get involved, that all she needed to know was that I was taking care of her from now on and that she was the enemy.
"The enemy? But what kind of liquor have you taken? That one they say has mushrooms?" she snorted.
"The less you know, the better, and not a word about this." I trusted her because she had taken care of us since we were kids.
"I don’t believe you. Your wife loves you."
"What she loves is my dead body. You have no fucking idea what she was doing in this house."
"Of course I do! Those things can’t be faked! Not for so long."
"She’s a great actress."
"Romeo..."
"Don’t insist! I know what I’m doing!" I exclaimed sharply. "And if you want to keep working in this house, you better stay out of my business." She raised her hands.
"You know what you’re doing, but you better not make that girl suffer. Women like her only come around once in a lifetime." I clenched my fists. "There’s no one blinder than the one who doesn’t want to see, and you’re going to lose everything."
She turned around and went back to her chores. Ana María could drive anyone crazy.
Two days later, we still had no news of Andrey. The Russian had vanished. My men assured me he hadn’t passed through the house. Either he had joined Yuri’s ranks or remained hidden in the shadows, and I didn’t know which worried me more.
I had Piero stationed outside my wife’s room. I had entrusted her custody to him, but by the third day without any sign of Nikita’s right-hand man, I grew impatient. I asked Piero to be the one to find the Russian since Aleksa was still recovering in the hospital. The worst had passed, but he was still in a delicate condition.
I was giving him instructions in the hall when a piercing scream from my room made me take the stairs two at a time. It was my wife, and I didn’t think; my pulse raced, and I drew my gun, ready to shoot whoever was making her scream like that.
"Boss..." Piero interrupted from the door, eyes focused inside.
Realizing there was no one else, just Nikita’s naked body, I flared up.
"Get out! Do what I asked and don’t waste time here. I’ll handle this," I shouted without giving him time to respond. I didn’t like my men seeing her naked. She was still my wife, no matter how much of a bitch she was.
I kicked the wooden door shut and looked at her. A film of sweat made her shine. Her reddened body trembled on the bed; she seemed genuine.
I walked to her, set the gun on the nightstand, and shook her.
Damn, she was burning up!
I checked the wound I had refused to treat. It looked bad, red and with a yellowish layer that wasn’t there before. It was infected!
Her temperature was so high she was convulsing. I shouldn’t feel bad. Not after what she had done to me, but whether I liked it or not, it hurt to see her like this. She kept insisting on her partial innocence. Of course, I didn’t believe her.
I untied her, lifted her in my arms, turned on the shower, and brought her in with me once the water was warm.
I called her repeatedly without success. I had behaved like an animal. I wasn’t going to regret it. Nikita had asked for the bullet, and if she died from an infection now, it was her own fault.
I looked at her perfect face, covered in streaks of water, and my stomach clenched. It was the same when I washed her at night and had to soap her glorious body. Every guy knows his dick has a mind of its own, and mine was no different.
I stayed under the water until my arms started to tire.
I wrapped her in a towel, not caring about the trail of water I left until I laid her on the bed.
She was still too hot.
I changed my clothes. Whether I liked it or not, I had to take her to a doctor. Infections were tricky, and as much as I wanted her dead, her time hadn’t come yet. I couldn’t lose her. She was my lure.
An incredulous laugh echoed in my mind.
I wanted to silence it for its implication that “you don’t even believe that yourself, if she’s not dead, it’s because deep down, no matter how much she screwed you over, you can’t stand the idea of losing her.”
"And what the hell do you know?" I scolded it as I went to find something to cover her with.
"Apparently, much more than you, and you better hurry if you don’t want to be given condolences when you arrive at the hospital."
Once I had her dressed, I ran into Adri on the stairs.
"Is Aunt Nikita worse?" he asked innocently. I had told him she had a contagious illness and couldn’t get close.
"Don’t worry. I’m taking her to the hospital to get better."
"Can I give her a kiss?" I couldn’t refuse, maybe it would be the last one. I lowered her and let his little lips press against her cheek. "Don’t worry, Aunt Nikita, Daddy will take care of you."
I gave the kid one last look as Ana María took him away, shaking her head.