Chapter 20 #2
My heart raced. “The attack on my apartment. Sebastian was the target. We never figured out the motive, whether it was Theo’s enemies or former employees or officials who benefited from the NGO we took over.”
“I would eliminate anyone connected to the NGO except Marena. Ilya looked into it, and none of them have the connections nor the means to do surveillance and execute a sophisticated attack.”
I worried my lips. “But you have suspects.”
“I do.”
Theo returned and gave me a careful once-over. “I want you to stay overnight to make sure the drugs are out of your system.”
“That’s fine,” I said.
“I asked Lucy to bring Sebastian this afternoon,” Kolya said. “Is that okay?”
Should I be wary? I wasn’t. But a different emotion occupied space in my heart. Missing my son. Missing my son with Kolya around us. I shouldn’t entertain the idea until Kolya came clean about this infuriating secret he was hiding from me. I couldn’t stomach more heartaches.
Theo stared at me pensively. There was a question in his eyes he wanted to ask, but he wasn’t sure if it was the right time.
“I talked to Jeremiah yesterday,” I said.
My brother’s stance relaxed. “I reviewed the surveillance footage.”
Kolya was a ball of aggression beside me.
“He said he might have killed Renée.”
“Might have?” Kolya exploded. “What does that even mean?”
“Fuck,” Theo cursed, and then, keeping eye contact, he asked, “Care to elaborate?”
“He said…he was told he did.”
“By who?” Theo’s voice sharpened.
“He said he was given drugs. Could it be the same ones given to me that caused me to black out?”
“That’s it,” Kolya growled. “I don’t want you talking to Jeremiah again. He’s messing with you. Tell you what…? Give me thirty minutes with him.”
Theo chuckled darkly. “And what? Torture a confession out of him? Jerry is unwell.”
“He’s a psychopath,” Kolya said.
“And you’re not?” my brother shot back. “There are different levels of sociopaths. How many people have you killed, Petrov? Hundreds, right?”
“I’m a soldier for the bratva, it’s a job, not a craving I can’t resist.”
“Tell me, if spilling blood wasn’t part of your job description, would you crave it?”
“Fuck you, King. I’m not standing here to be psychoanalyzed.”
The triumphant smile across my brother’s face seemed to say he’d won this round.
“I agree. Putting you in a room with Jeremiah is a bad idea.” I had to make my position clear on this. I didn’t regret shooting Jeremiah. But there was a madness in his eyes. He was sick.
“But I want you to get your answers,” Kolya said.
“I don’t want to think about it right now,” I said. “Is Jeremiah on any medication?”
“Some,” Theo said. “It’s keeping him calm.”
“Sedated,” I murmured. “So we really don’t know if the bullet in his head affected his personality.”
Theo just stared at me. I rolled my lips. I wasn’t sure what else to say. Wait…
They got to you, didn’t they?
I gasped, and my eyes flew to Theo.
What if Theo and Marena were working together?
But to what end?
“Did Marena report anything to you?” I asked.
Theo frowned. “I received reports, but there was nothing alarming in them. Why?”
I nearly reached out to touch Kolya. I needed to hold his hand. Now, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to remain here overnight.
At my silence, realization etched on Theo’s face. “You’re not telling me something.”
“Is there something I should be telling you?”
“What’s going on?” Kolya asked, his tone lethal.
“What else did Jerry tell you?” Theo stepped closer.
“That’s as far as you go, King,” Kolya spat.
“Chloe…” Theo gritted. “I’m not the bad guy here.”
“Huh,” Kolya said. “Marena was reporting to you.”
“She wasn’t reporting to me. I received reports. Big difference. I’m Sebastian’s legal guardian.”
“Okay, let’s not get carried away with the blame,” I said. “Clearly, I don’t understand Jeremiah’s state of mind.”
“Did he blame me?” Theo asked. Either my brother was an excellent actor, or the broken, betrayed expression on his face absolved him of subterfuge.
“No. He just said…”
“Just said what?”
“He said they got to me.”
“I don’t understand.” Theo frowned. “Are you saying the people who caused your psychosis were responsible for Jeremiah’s sociopathic behavior?”
“That’s what I understand. Before we got sidetracked, remember I told you he mentioned being given drugs.”
My brother muttered an expletive.
“How hands-on are you with the operations of The Astorian?” Kolya asked.
“This wellness institution is attached to our pharmaceutical research company. It was more my parents’ vision than mine. My mother…well…you know the story. Bigger players in pharma used our lab for developing newer drugs.”
“I don’t want you staying here,” Kolya informed me. “I’m taking you home right now.” When I looked at him in outrage, he added, “Don’t argue.”
“Excuse me?”
“Petrov is right,” Theo agreed. “What you revealed is troubling.” He checked his phone. “Dr. Wyeth is handling Jeremiah’s case. I trust her, but I’ll have a review of the employee roster of this center.”
“I’m not liking the sound of this,” Kolya said. “It’s getting more twisted than I first thought.”
“There may be no link between Marena and Jeremiah’s condition. Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Theo said. “But there’s nothing wrong with being cautious.”
“You know who would love to unravel this?” I asked Theo.
“You have a PI?”
“No. But Lucy has already been entrenched in King and Zahkarov history.”
Theo shot me a dubious expression.
“Are you sure you want to alert anyone in your company?” I challenged.
“I trust my people.”
“Lucy’s also aware of the organization that’s giving me a problem,” Kolya said. “If anyone can connect the dots, it would be her. But if the people behind this are dangerous, Kirill’s not gonna be happy putting his wife in danger.”
“She’s married to the leader of the Russian mafia,” I scoffed. “It couldn’t get more dangerous than that.”
Kolya grinned. “True.”