Chapter 5
Viktor~
I couldn’t lie and say that I didn’t feel like ants were crawling underneath my skin, because I did.
I felt exposed, and it wasn’t a fun feeling.
Nevertheless, after Roman had called my father to ensure that I’d leave here alive, I’d had no choice but to accept the terms of the meeting, though I’d already done it over the phone with Aurora.
At any rate, it hadn’t felt this bad when I’d driven into Marchetti territory, but that had probably been because my car had provided some kind of illusion of safety, though anyone could have taken me out at any stoplight along the way.
Still, getting out of my car-unarmed-felt like I had a huge bullseye on my back, and it was hard not to keep reaching for my phantom gun.
Nevertheless, when I got out of the car, it was to see both Santino and Stefano Marchetti standing at the front door, and they both looked like they wanted to kill me where I stood, and it was hard to blame them after what had happened to their sister under my watch.
Still, that didn’t stop me from walking up the steps, too many guns to count pointed my way, something that I knew, even if I couldn’t see them all. If the Marchettis were anything like their reputations portrayed them to be, they weren’t ones to take any chances.
“Search him,” Santino ordered, and I dutifully put my arms out, so that one of their goons could frisk me thoroughly, and it was everything in me not to react like I normally would to someone touching me like this.
“I came unarmed,” I remarked needlessly.
“Sure you did,” Stefano snorted.
“He’s clean,” the guard announced, but I doubted if it made a difference.
Ignoring him, I asked, “Where’s my wife?”
“In this house, she’s a Marchetti,” Santino said, daring me to give him a reason to shoot me.
“In any house, she’s a Korolev,” I shot back, refusing to cower to these two arrogant fucks. “Whether you guys like it or not, Aurora is my wife, something that both the law and church agree with.”
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Stefano asked. “Or are you feeling brave because your daddy called to make sure that we played nice?”
“Fuck you-”
“That’s enough,” Santino snapped. “The sooner we get this over with, the sooner that Aurora can rest.”
As soon as he said that, my priorities shifted, and bumping dicks with Stefano Marchetti no longer seemed important. There was also no point in it. No matter what, me and my in-laws were never going to get along, and I was fine with that as long as I still had Aurora.
“Lead the way,” I drawled out as I gestured towards the front door.
Without another word said between us, the two men led me through the Marchetti Don’s palatial home, and if this had been any other situation, my eyes would be everywhere, trying to absorb as much information about the enemy as I could.
However, all I cared about was getting to Aurora, and if that wasn’t a sure-fire sign that my priorities were already compromised, then I didn’t know what was.
Now, a part of me had assumed that the meeting would take place in Roman’s office, but when I was led into a sunroom of sorts, it made sense that I’d be led nowhere near the important parts of the house.
The sunroom had no critical documents that I could accidentally see, nor was there a gun count to be seen anywhere.
However, none of that mattered when I finally saw Aurora sitting in one of the seats provided, and if it wasn’t enough that her face was busted all to hell, she looked like she was being propped up by pillows, and a small section of a bandage was peeking out from underneath the short sleeve of her shirt, and it was every-fucking-thing for me not to lose my shit.
“That’s far enough, Viktor,” Roman instructed when I found myself trying to get closer to my wife. “Whatever you have to say, you can say it from where you’re standing.”
Ignoring how her father was standing behind her like a deadly sentinel, and how both of her brothers had gone to stand on either side of her, showing a united front, and also having their guns aimed directly at me, I looked at my wife, and all I could think about was how she should be at home with me, letting me take care of her, letting me make up for what had happened to her.
Aurora didn’t belong here anymore.
She belonged wherever I was.
“I didn’t order the hit,” I finally told her. “I swear it.”
“Except for the fact that it was your driver who took me to the pier, the men who attacked me were Russian, and the timing was also pretty ideal, if you asked me,” she said, finally speaking.
“I mean, don’t get me wrong, that blonde was pretty enough to make any man want to get rid of his wife, so I can hardly blame you there.
Still, don’t tell me that you didn’t order the hit when we both know that you had every reason to do it. ”
Before I could respond to that, Stefano was cocking his gun. “I’m sorry, what blonde?”
Aurora quickly waved away his outrage. “Relax, I hadn’t been expecting fidelity when I said my vows, so my husband’s mistresses are hardly the point here.”
Despite her casual dismissal of the topic, it was easy to feel the shift in the air, every Marchetti man in the room itching to kill me where I stood, and I wasn’t sure if she had mentioned the woman for this very purpose or not.
Nevertheless, it was clear that I needed to do some damage control if there was ever going to be any hope of working on this together.
“I didn’t touch that woman,” I told her, hoping that she could at least believe me on this one. “After you left, I informed her of who I was and made it clear that she was to never approach me again.”
Aurora let out a humorless laugh, but when I saw her wince, quickly stopping her, rage hit me in a way that I hadn’t ever believed possible. Even watching that damn video over and over again, I still hadn’t been prepared to see her beaten and in pain, and it was fucking with me in the worst way.
“Even if I was stupid enough to believe that, what you did or didn’t do with her doesn’t change the facts of what happened, Korolev,” she said, and I couldn’t believe how badly I had fucked this up.
“It was still your territory, your driver, and the men were all Russian. It was also you who instructed Armen to take me home, instead of seeing me there yourself. In a territory full of Korolevs, you sent me home alone with one that wasn’t your blood.
” She leaned back against the pillows. “Even if you weren’t behind the attack, whose fault do you think this is? ”
I clenched my teeth painfully because she was right, and it was a raw feeling to have her scatter all my failures at my feet, in front of her family no less.
“I get that it looks bad,” I conceded. “But I didn’t do this, Aurora.
Also, why would I marry you for the greater good, only to kill you a couple of weeks later? ”
“Maybe you finally realized that being married to a Marchetti was a little more than you could handle,” she taunted, and if she wasn’t owed, I’d correct her really quickly. “Maybe the novelty of fucking your enemy’s daughter finally wore off-”
“Don’t,” I snapped, shaking my head at her, not caring that her brother was aiming a gun at my head. “Don’t talk about us like that.”
“We’re all adults here-”
“I don’t give a fuck!” I roared. “Do not talk about us like that!”
Aurora cocked her head, her dark gaze narrowing a bit. “What are you doing here, Korolev? What do you think this visit is going to accomplish?”
There were lots of reasons why I was here, truth be told.
I was here to see that she really was safe.
I was here to let her know that I wasn’t the one behind her attack.
I was here because I hadn’t seen her in days.
However, more importantly than all those reasons, I was here because I wanted to take her home with me.
I missed my fucking wife.
“I’m here to take you home,” I finally said, making her eyes widen in surprise.
“She’s not leaving with you,” Roman stated confidently, speaking like what a Mafia leader should sound like. “Despite the question of your involvement, Aurora needs to heal, and she can only do that where she feels safe.”
His words were like a knife in my chest, especially since I couldn’t argue his point.
In order for her to heal, she needed rest, and how could she really rest in a place where she didn’t feel safe enough to close her eyes?
There was also the fact that I didn’t trust anyone around her that wasn’t family.
Yes, I wanted to take her home with me, but I’d only trust her with me, my father, and my brother.
Not even my mother would be able to go near her.
Still...
“She’s my wife,” I reminded them all. “She belongs at home with me.”
“Oh, I’ll be back,” Aurora smirked.
I eyed her warily. “When?”
“When I’m finally well enough to finish what you started, Korolev,” she replied coolly.