Chapter 2
Aurora~
I could hear voices all around me, and it was enough to wake me up, and with as stiff as my body was, it was clear that I’d been asleep for quite some time.
Granted, I knew that all of me had needed the rest and probably still did, but I didn’t like the idea that I might have slept through anything important.
When I finally opened my eyes, it was to see my father and Santino talking with Dr. Baruch, and how fortuitous that they were all here now that I was awake. Yeah, I still fell a bit beaten all to hell, but I was alert enough to finally discuss what had happened.
“She’s awake,” Santino announced as soon as I’d started sitting up in the bed.
Dr. Baruch immediately made his way over, and before I could say anything, he was aiming his little flashlight into my eyes and checking on everything. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I’ve been hit by a train, but still happy as hell to be alive, Doctor,” I drawled out.
Having known me for most of my life, he just chuckled. “Well, the good news is that you’re going to live after that unfortunate ordeal.”
“And the bad news?”
“It’ll be a good two weeks before you can exact your revenge on your enemies,” he said, sounding serious enough to make me smile. “You can’t risk tearing your stitches, no matter how antsy you might be feeling in the next few days.” Giving me a stern look, he added, “I mean it, Aurora.”
“I understand, Dr. Baruch,” I assured him. “Besides, I’m not interested in going on any suicide missions, and I know that I’ll need to be one-hundred percent before doing anything.”
“Good,” he replied tiredly. “Nevertheless, call me if you need anything, okay?”
I nodded. “Okay.”
Stepping back as he put his flashlight away, he then put his stethoscope to use as he said, “Then I’ll leave you to it.”
“Decio is waiting outside, Doctor,” my father informed him. “He will see you to your car.”
“Very well,” Dr. Baruch sighed before giving me one last reprimanding look before heading out.
As soon as the door was closed, my father walked over to the bed, then leaned down to kiss me on my forehead. “We’ll get you home and more comfortable as soon as we’re done here.”
“I want to go home-”
“No,” he immediately objected. “While your condo is safe enough, you’ll be recuperating at the house, and this isn’t up for debate, Aurora. Someone tried to kill you and failed, so the security that surrounds you will be us.”
I leaned back against the pillows, giving in, but only because I knew that this couldn’t be easy on him or my brothers.
Even without the blood connection, Italian men took their machismo very seriously, and it didn’t sit well with them whenever a woman under their protection got hurt, whether it be a gunshot to the arm or tripping over an uneven sidewalk.
“How long have I been asleep?” I asked.
“Two days,” Santino answered as he poured me some water.
“Did I miss anything?” I asked, looking between the two men.
“Your husband hasn’t stopped calling your phone, but no one has answered it,” he stated expectantly. “We imagine that it won’t be long before Aleksei becomes involved.”
“Aurora, you need to tell us everything,” my father said, and I wouldn’t expect anything less.
“Shouldn’t we wait until Stefano can join us? I mean, shouldn’t he be here?” I asked before drinking the entire cup of water.
“He’s been checking on this while Papa and I have been taking shifts with you,” he replied, surprising me. “Anything that he needs to know, I’ll relay when I see him.”
So, starting from when I left the club, I told them everything in the exact detail that I could remember, which was where my photographic memory always came in handy.
Even though everything had happened so fast, my mind had still been able to register everything around me, and I could recite it all without leaving anything out.
When I was done, I said, “The fact that they were told not to rape me is what makes me think that Viktor is behind it. It makes sense that he’s the only one who would care about something like that.”
“But...?” my brother prompted.
“By all accounts, Viktor Korolev isn’t a coward,” I pointed out. “I just can’t see him leaving this to someone else.”
“Maybe he has an aversion to murdering women,” my father suggested. “It’s possible.”
“While that is certainly a possibility, there’s something else,” I replied.
“What is it?” Santino asked.
“There was a fifth man hiding in the container stacks,” I finally informed them.
“Now, while I can’t say why he was there, once I’d been shot, he left, and...
well, if he was part of this, that’s just sloppy work, and I can’t see Viktor hiring people that do sloppy work.
If he was in the habit of doing that, he’d be in prison by now.
” I shook my head, then immediately stopped when pain spiked up my neck.
“I just think that Viktor’s too smart for something like this.
If he really wants me dead, he could have easily staged an accident by pushing me down the stairs or something like that. These men were...were unorganized.”
“Or they could have simply underestimated you,” my father pointed out. “It’s been done before.”
I looked over at him. “After what I showed them at the reception? I can’t see Viktor not impressing upon them that their best chance at success would be to just shoot me, no delaying or messing around. I just...I’m struggling with either Korolev prince being this sloppy.”
They both dissected that a bit before Santino asked, “So, what’s your take on the fifth guy? Just a random man in the wrong place at the wrong time, or do you feel like he’s something more?”
“I honestly don’t know,” I answered tiredly. “If he has nothing to do with this, then why wouldn’t he help me? Yeah, he could have been scared, but...but why watch? Why not run away as soon as he realized what was happening?”
“Can you sketch him and then get with Leah to clear up the details?” my father asked, Leah Gallo being one of his Capo’s daughters, but also a very talented artist, to which my father had several of her paintings decorating Marchetti businesses.
“I can do that,” I said. “I got a good enough look at him that I’ll never forget his face.”
“You never forget anyone’s face,” Santino grinned.
Even though it hurt my face, I grinned back. “This is true.”
“So, what do you want us to do about Korolev?” my father asked. “Santino is right about Aleksei not getting involved, especially if his son really did blotch this.”
“I need to think about that a bit more,” I admitted. “While I have no problem exacting a revenge that’s well deserved, I don’t want to go to war without absolute certainty.”
“While I respect how you’re trying to do what’s best for the family, I cannot simply ignore that they failed to keep you safe, Alba,” my father said, and it was hard not to blame him.
“Innocent or not, I placed you with them with the expectation that they would keep you safe, and within a couple of weeks, you’ve been attacked, stabbed, and shot.
You can’t really expect me to just...just dismiss that. ”
“I think it’s grounds for an annulment,” Santino said before I could reply to my father’s concerns. “Surely, Aleksei Korolev would understand, considering his position in all this.”
Looking between them, I said, “Why does that feel too much like running?”
“Because you’re crazy?” Santino huffed. “Because you have complete disregard for your life? Because you’re bored unless your life is at stake? I mean, there’s a whole laundry list of reasons why you’d see it as retreating versus making them pay for not keeping you safe.”
“I’d rather kill him,” I stated seriously.
Instead of replying to that, my father said, “I think we need to let you rest. While you might be feeling better, you don’t look it, and Dr. Baruch was very clear about your body needing to heal.”
“Okay, but...do me a favor,” I said.
“What is it?” my father automatically asked.
“Do not answer any calls from any of the Korolevs,” I told him. “Until I’m certain what I want to do, I don’t want anyone accidently giving them a heads up about any of this. I am not going to be blindsided by them ever again.”
Santino let out a laugh. “Sounds like a marriage made in Heaven.”
His flippant remark had my father narrowing his eyes at me a bit. “Before I make you any promises, I need to know if there are feelings involved here, Alba. After all, nothing complicates matters more than feelings.”
I wasn’t about to lie to my father, but I also didn’t appreciate the truth. “Whatever feelings that I may have had for my husband are no longer relevant,” I assured him. “Almost being murdered has a funny way of clearing a person’s vision.”
After a few seconds of silence, my father said, “You have my word then.”
While that was a good thing, this entire situation was still a fucking mess.