Chapter 29
Aurora~
Arriving at the safehouse, I wasn’t surprised to see my father and Stefano already waiting for us, and though the situation was a clusterfuck of epic proportions, it felt good to see them.
Now, our safehouses weren’t like what you saw in the movies or like the ones sponsored by law enforcement.
Our safehouses were for situations like this one, someone who was hurt and needed to be tended to without the threat of our enemies finding them.
We had quite a few scattered throughout the city, and each one was equipped with a mini-hospital room for those pesky little things like gunshot wounds or stabbings.
“Get her on the table,” Dr. Ishmael Baruch instructed, hurrying right beside Santino carrying me into the room. “And be careful.”
As soon as Santino placed me on the hospital bed, my father asked, “What are we dealing with?”
“A gunshot to her left arm, but since the bullet is embedded into her flesh, I’ll need to dig it out, though that should be easy enough,” Dr. Baruch answered, already in his element. “I’m more concerned with the stab wound to her side. I need to stop the bleeding to see what I’m dealing with.”
“Whatever you’re dealing with, she better not die,” Stefano bit out, and it was hard not to love the guy just a little bit more.
“Your sister is not going to die on my watch, Stefano,” Dr. Baruch assured him, but then again, what else could he say?
“What happened, Alba?” my father finally asked as Dr. Baruch did his thing.
“I let my guard down,” I answered honestly before letting out a painful hiss as the doctor untied the homemade tourniquet around my waist. “I was...I had too much on my mind that I wasn’t paying attention to where the driver was taking me.”
“I need more details than that, Aurora,” my father practically snapped, but he was just worried about me. My father only lost his cool like this when one of his own was in danger.
“I was at The Akvarium with Viktor when...fuck,” I growled as Dr. Baruch started poking around.
“We should sedate her-”
“No,” all three Marchetti men snapped.
“She can rest once you’ve patched her up,” Santino stated. “Until then, she deals with the discomfort.”
Now, while most people would deem it cruel and unusual punishment to make me endure this level of pain, that wasn’t the case at all.
Not only did they need to know the details about what had happened, but there was always a good chance that I might not wake up for days after being sedated for such injuries, and no one in this room could afford that.
Plus, what if I never woke up at all? Yeah, it wouldn’t be my problem because I’d be dead, but I’d end up leaving my father and brothers with no answers, and I didn’t want to do that to them any more than they wanted me to do that to them.
“Like I was saying,” I said through ragged breaths. “I was at The Akvarium when Viktor and I had a...a diff...difference of opinions. After that, he...he ordered his driver to take me...back to his house, but instead of taking...oh, fuck.”
“Sorry,” Dr. Baruch muttered. “But it really would be best if you were sedated for this.”
Ignoring him, I went on with my story. “Anyway, instead of taking me...me back to the house, Armen drove me to the pier.”
“Do you know Armen’s last name?” Santino asked.
I nodded. “Orlova. He was actually...filling in for...for Viktor’s regular driver, Misha.”
“What happened once you got to the pier?” my father asked.
“As soon as...as Armen turned off the ignition, I...” I had to stop. The pain was becoming too much, but I knew that if I didn’t hurry, I could possibly pass out from the pain alone. “I pulled my gun from the bottom of my purse, then shot him in the back of the head.”
“Since he drove you there, it stands to reason that he was involved,” Stefano remarked, speaking everyone’s same thoughts.
“However, before...before I could do much of anything else...two men opened the car doors to drag me out. I managed to shoot one dead immediately, but the second guy was able to get me out of...of the car.”
“Okay, I need you to bear with me,” Dr. Baruch said. “This isn’t going to be fun for anyone.”
“Just do it, Dr. Baruch,” I gritted through clenched teeth.
“What next?” Santino asked, trying to get my mind off Dr. Baruch’s prodding.
“Uhm, we fought, and everything was...was fine until a...a third man came out from the storage tankers, then flung...flung a knife at me,” I went on. “However, it still wasn’t that big of...of a deal until he shot me, too.”
“What else do we need to know, Aurora?” Stefano asked.
“They were all Russians,” I said, finally dropping the hammer.
“Are you telling me that your new husband tried to have you murdered?” my father asked, and I knew that tone.
“I...I don’t know,” I semi-lied, needing to get my head in the game before I said anything that I couldn’t take back. “I don’t know, but...but I wouldn’t put it past him.”
“Why do you say that?” Santino asked.
I shot my brother a look. “He’s a Korolev, Santino. Do we need any other reason besides that?”
“How does he benefit from killing you?” Stefano asked.
“Maybe...maybe he’s just tired of...of sleeping with one...one eye open,” I grimaced. “I don’t know.”
“Do you think he set you up, Aurora?” Santino asked, and even through the pain, it was clear that they all wanted me to say yes.
“The truth? I think so, but I can’t say for certain,” I answered. “One of the guys made a remark that makes me think that Viktor could be behind all this, but...but I can’t give you a...a one-hundred percent certainty. I...I need to...I need a second to think.”
“It doesn’t matter if he ordered the hit or not,” Stefano said. “He failed to keep her safe, and that’s enough for me to want to kill him.”
“We’re...we’re not going to war without...without proof,” I said.
Letting out a frustrated breath, Dr. Baruch said, “If you guys want her to live, the questioning needs to wait. I have to operate on the stab wound, and I can’t do that with you guys...chattering so.”
“Fine,” my father said. “We’ll wait in the other room, but your insistence changes nothing, Dr. Baruch. If Aurora dies, then so do you. Have I made myself clear?”
“Yes...of course,” Dr. Baruch muttered.
As soon as my father and brothers left the room, I apologized on their behalf. “Sorry about that, Dr. Baruch. They’re just worried.”
“And rightfully so,” he replied graciously. “While your gunshot wound isn’t that big of a deal...well, let’s just say that you won’t be dancing any time soon with your side needing to be stitched up the way that it does.”
“Just do your best,” I sighed, exhaustion finally hitting me like I never wanted to sit up again.
After a poignant pause, he asked, “Would it be alright if I sedated you, Ms. Marchetti? While I know that it could cost me my life, better that than watch you suffer needlessly.”
Appreciating his honesty, I said, “We...we can just both tell them that I passed out from the pain. They won’t know either way.”
“It will be a light sedation, just to get you through the removal of the bullet and the internal stitching,” he said, offering a compromise to save his life. “I think a light sedation will do just fine.”
“Have at it,” I said, not really caring.
“Oh, and I have your purse,” he said jovially, surprising me. “It’s on the chair over there.”
As I closed my eyes, I vaguely remember Santino gathering all my stuff once they’d gotten me into the car, but I hadn’t really given my purse any thought on the ride over here.
Yeah, my phone had rung a few times, but staying alive had taken precedence at the time, and it still did.
Whoever had been calling could call back or leave a message as far as I was concerned.
I also needed to clear my head before deciding on what to do about Viktor.
While it could appear that I was trying to protect my husband, I really wasn’t.
Even if I did suspect him of orchestrating the hit, I had no proof, and the reason that I had married Viktor in the first place was still valid today.
I didn’t want any unnecessary deaths if I could prevent them, and going to war with the Korolevs without concrete proof just wasn’t worth the risk.
Sure, if I died, then I’d have no control over whatever decision my father made, but as long as I was alive, I wanted proof before going after the Korolevs, though I really had only one person in my sights.
If Viktor really had ordered this hit, then I was going to do everything that I could to become the most powerful widow in Korolev history.