Chapter 23
Aurora~
Now, while I wasn’t sure what was going on with Viktor, it was clear that something was bothering him.
Ever since the day that we’d left The Akvarium, I’d been getting nothing but hate fucks all week long, but each time that he was done with me, he’d follow it up by pulling me into his arms, making me fall asleep with him wrapped around me, and I just couldn’t make heads or tails of it.
Honestly, the Korolevs were turning out to be a bit of a strange lot.
He was also spending more and more time at ‘work’, and it was hard not to wonder if he was doing it to test himself.
He kept saying that he was becoming addicted to me, but men say all kinds of things when they’re balls-deep in a woman, so I hadn’t really taken his possessiveness seriously, but I was beginning to wonder if I was wrong.
Plus, he’s never done until I agree that I’m his, and a small part of me wonders if that’s his way of making me tell him that I love him when we both know that neither of us would ever say those words to one another.
Nevertheless, his being away a lot more now was giving me time to work on my action plan for the working girls in the territory.
I wanted to create something akin to what us Marchettis had organized, but I didn’t want it to be exact in design.
I could only imagine how I’d be accused of trying to taint them all with my corrupt bloodlines.
So, I was currently sitting on the floor of Viktor’s bedroom, ideas scattered all around me, my new laptop in front of me.
When I had agreed to marry Viktor, I’d had the foresight to lock up anything critical in my safe at home, making sure that no Marchetti family business ever ended up in the hands of the Korolevs.
Plus, even though my place was currently empty, I knew that my brothers checked on it often as a favor to me, but also knowing what was in my safe.
As I tried to put a plan in place, my phone rang, and when I saw Santino’s name flash across the screen, I couldn’t help but smile. When I had visited him and Stefano last week, they’d been too excited to play it cool, and we’d had a very sweet sibling moment with how much I missed them.
“Calling me to scold me about church again?” I teased when I answered the phone.
“Oh, I’m still pissed that you’re missing church as some sort of truce, but that’s a battle for another time,” he replied seriously.
“Then to what do I owe the honor?” I asked.
“Do you have your real phone on you?”
“It’s in my suitcase with my guns, though I make sure to keep it charged,” I told him.
Even though I knew that I should have left my phone back at home in my safe, I’d brought it with me as some sort of security blanket. However, with everything backed up securely, I had erased most of what I’d had on the phone, and it had a double verification code programmed on it for use.
“I’m going to send you some information on a Timothy Cotton,” he said. “He needs...he needs your special touch, Aurora.”
He needed Astaroth’s special touch.
“What can you tell me without the files?” I asked.
“He parties with a bunch of stockbroker types, and they’re good for ordering entertainment,” he said. “Both drugs and girls.”
“Okay, so...what makes him different from all those other stockbroker douchebags?”
“You remember Helen Snead?”
“Yes.”
“Well, Helen was one of the guests at a party last week, and while things were...while things were happening, Timothy was too drugged out of his mind to be discreet about his real preferences. He asked her if there were any hookers with children, and if they were willing to look the other way for the right price.”
My stomach immediately soured, and rage danced up my spine, already thinking that killing would be too good for the sonofabitch. While there were a lot of horrors in the world, nothing was worse than people who preyed on children, and there wasn’t a place in Hell hot enough for them to suffer in.
“I see,” I replied quietly.
“At first, Helen was too scared to say anything, especially since who would take a hooker’s word over that of a clean-cut model citizen, right? But when she couldn’t take it anymore, she asked for a meeting with Stefano,” he went on.
“I’m surprised that Stefano didn’t run out and murder the man himself,” I snorted.
“Well, once you read the file on him, you’ll understand why he didn’t,” Santino replied grimly. “His uncle is Councilman Norman Swazey.”
“Yeah, that makes a difference,” I drawled out.
“Yes, it does.”
“So, I take it that the file you sent over has proof of his proclivities?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer.
“It has everything about the man,” he assured him.
“Including that he works late every Thursday night as an excuse not to have to visit his in-laws with his wife. Their kids have piano practice over on Trisha Street, and it’s close enough to where his in-laws live that his wife always stops for a visit once their sessions are over.
He doesn’t leave the office until around eight. ”
“You now, I never jump into something like this quickly,” I reminded him. “I usually study my victim for a while before making a move.”
“Yeah, I know,” he sighed. “However, we both know that your old method of doing things isn’t feasible anymore. Your new husband is not going to let you go unguarded for such a thing. I mean, does he even know that you’re Astaroth?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I replied drolly.
“The file has pictures of the building, all neighboring businesses, the streets, and anything else that I could think of,” he went on. “We just need to form a plan to bring you back to this side of the tracks.”
“Oh, that’s easy,” I said. “I’ll just tell Korolev that there’s an issue with Carlo’s access to my files, and his guards can do like they did last week. They can hand me off to Marco and Georgio once we reach Marchetti territory.”
“Do you think Korolev is that na?ve?”
“Not at all,” I answered honestly. “But does he suspect that his wife is a secret hitman for the Marchetti family? No.”
Santino let out a low chuckle. “If he only knew.”
“I’m pretty sure that he’d kill me if he ever found out,” I remarked seriously. “With that name having the reputation that it does, I’d be an immediate liability to the Korolevs, and so I really can’t see how they’d let me live.”
“Christ, I hate when you talk like that,” he grumbled. “You’ve always spoken of your own death like it’s no big deal.”
“It’s not,” I replied simply. “I’m only one person in a sea of billions, and I’m not even a good person, Santino. Why would God ever save me?”
“While everything that you just said is up for debate, just know that you matter to me,” he said sweetly. “You matter to me, Papa, and Stefano. Hell, I’m pretty sure that you even matter to Mama.”
I laughed at that because she was such a non-factor in our lives, though we all loved her dearly.
After all, she was still our mother for all that she let our father take over our childhood rearing.
Plus, I understood how hard it was to be a woman in this world.
It was rare for any of them to become more than a wife and/or mother, and even then, they were expected to raise soldiers, not regular people.
“Your brotherly love aside, I’ll check out the files, then get back to you,” I told him, getting back to the topic at hand. “I’ll also let you know if I need anything else.”
After a heartbeat of silence, he said, “You know, you don’t have to do this. Even though I was the one who called you, I understand that you...that priorities have shifted a bit.”
“No matter what’s happening right now with the territories, we can both agree that someone like Timothy Cotton shouldn’t be allowed to live,” I said, meaning it. “Being married to a Korolev isn’t going to change my opinion on that matter, Santino.”
“Very well,” he replied evenly. “I’ll let Papa know that you’ll be doing this and to expect some static. While I have every confidence in you, things can get messy when rushed.”
“Then it’s a good thing that I’m the best at what I do,” I retorted, bragging.
“Yes, it is,” Santino chuckled. “Okay, love you.”
“I love you, too.”
After hanging up with my brother, I quickly searched for my hidden phone, then pulled up the file that Santino had sent.
Luckily for me, there were no cameras in Viktor’s bedroom, though the security was top-notch everywhere else in the house.
However, I also suspected that the lack of surveillance in his room was due to taking on a wife, not because the security wasn’t needed.
Which was working out perfectly for me now.