Chapter 6
Aurora~
As soon as I said the words, that tick in Viktor’s jaw was back. “I didn’t order the fucking hit. How many times do I have to tell you that?”
“You don’t have to say it at all,” I fired back. “Especially, since I probably won’t ever believe you.”
“I didn’t fucking do it!” he roared again, and if I was anyone else, I might believe him. However, with one attempt on my life already, I couldn’t afford to believe him. “I also can’t find out who did it if you won’t tell me what happened!”
“You know what happened,” I pointed out stubbornly. “You can’t tell me that you don’t have cameras at the piers.”
Calming down, he said, “There’s a difference between seeing what happened and knowing what happened. There’s no audio in the surveillance.”
“You should probably remedy that,” I drawled out. “I mean, you wouldn’t want to make the same mistake with your next wife.”
Viktor’s chin went up, and the fire in his eyes was unmistakable. “I will only ever have one wife,” he said, his voice hard and tight. “And I already told you what would happen if you ever thought about leaving me.”
“Oh, and what was that?” Santino chimed in, my brothers clearly looking for blood.
Looking straight over at Santino, Viktor said, “I told her that I’d follow her to the ends of the earth, then drag her back by any means necessary, and that still holds true.”
Instead of getting angrier, Santino just laughed. “Christ, you really have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.”
Not wanting to give up all my secrets just yet, my father finally put an end to the meeting. “You’ve come to say what you have to say, and now that you’ve said it, you can be on your way. Aurora needs to rest.”
“I came to take my wife home with me,” Viktor spat.
“Well, that’s not happening,” my father replied evenly. “She will be nowhere near any Korolevs until we’re certain that she is well enough to defend herself from whatever may come her way.”
“You can’t keep me from my wife,” Viktor stated, though we all knew that he was merely reaching.
“I’ve already told you that I’ll be back,” I reminded him.
Viktor looked at me as he said, “Coming back to kill me is vastly different than you coming home, so that I can take care of you.”
Instead of letting me reply to that, my father spoke up again. “See Mr. Korolev to his car. We are done here.”
“I’m not,” Viktor argued, and he was either very brave, stupid, or both.
“Do not take advantage of the consideration that I granted Aleksei,” my father said. “I’ve also already made it clear that Aurora can only heal where she feels safe, and that is not with you at the current moment.”
Finally accepting defeat, Viktor looked at me as he said, “YA yeshcho ne zakonchil s toboy, zhena. Eto yeshcho daleko ne konets.”
“Well, for now, you’re done with her, and as for this not being over, that’s the one thing that all of us in this room can agree on,” my father stated, letting Viktor know that we all spoke and understood Russian.
“Now, take your leave before only your brother is left to take over after Aleksei is gone.”
Nothing more was said as Viktor turned to leave, Santino and Stefano right there with him, making sure that he got into his car and left, and it wasn’t even five minutes later that my brothers were back, my father practically drinking his favorite bourbon right out of the bottle.
“Well, that was entertaining,” Stefano grumbled as he took a seat next to me, Santino opting to join my father for a drink.
After they all got settled, I asked, “So, what do you think? Is he lying or telling the truth?”
To my surprise, Stefano said, “It doesn’t matter what we think, Aurora. The only thing that matters is if you believe him or not.”
I looked over at my brother. “What? No opinion?”
“Oh, I have an opinion,” he replied. “I just don’t think it’s one that you’re going to like or even agree with.”
That piqued my curiosity.
“Oh, do tell,” I drawled out.
After looking around the room at all of us, Stefano said, “While I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I believe him, he might deserve the benefit of the doubt.”
That had my eyebrows jumping quickly. “What?”
“I’m just saying that his anger seemed genuine,” he explained.
“I agree,” Santino remarked, making me crack my neck as I whipped my head in his direction.
“Not only did he agree to come here unarmed, but he seemed really pissed off by the entire situation. He even went so far as to explain about some blonde chick, when I can’t imagine that Viktor Korolev has to ever explain himself to anyone but Aleksei. ”
I looked between my two brothers, absolutely incredulous. “I can’t believe that you guys are actually siding with him.”
“Whoa, hold on,” Stefano quickly replied. “We are not siding with him. As men, we’re merely identifying with him.”
“What in the hell does that mean?” I asked, looking between all three men.
“It means that the man came here unarmed to take you home, Alba,” my father chimed in. “Even though he knew that we would not let you leave, he still tried, and that doesn’t sound like a man that wants to be rid of his wife.”
“It sounds like a man who needs to finish the job,” I countered. “And what better way to do that than get me back home where I end up suffering some unfortunate ‘setback’ with my recovery.”
After a second, my father said, “If you really feel like he is behind this, then we will back you up, no questions asked, Aurora. However, even you’ve said that you can’t be certain that it was him.”
Suddenly, I felt exhausted, but I didn’t know if it was from my injuries or Viktor’s visit. Still, the feeling had me wanting to take a tomorrow nap. “I’m tired, and I just...I need to think some more.”
“Gonna take a tomorrow nap?” Santino asked.
I nodded. “Yep.”
“I don’t know why you don’t just say that you’re going to sleep until tomorrow,” Stefano grumbled.
“Because that sounds gluttonous,” I explained. “A tomorrow nap doesn’t sound like I’m sleeping my life away.”
“Christ on a turtle, woman,” Stefano sighed. “You were shot and stab while fighting off four grown men. It’s okay to feel battered and weakened.”
“No, it’s not,” I argued. “Not when there’s still someone out there who wants me dead.”
“Which is why you’re here,” my father pointed out. “Which is why I refused your husband’s request to take you home with him.”
Seeing that I was probably ready to crawl out of my skin, Santino said, “Let’s get you to bed.”
Thankful for the small reprieve, I let my eldest brother lift me in his arms, and neither of us said anything as he carried me back upstairs and into my old bedroom.
When he finally set me down on the bed, I did my best to get comfortable, but I knew that it’d still be a couple of more days before I was going to be able to get some quality sleep.
Once Santino helped me get as comfortable as possible, he sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at me. “We will find out who was behind this, Aurora. I promise.”
Looking at my brother, I said, “I just don’t want them to win.”
“The Korolevs?”
I shook my head. “The others. If we end up in a war with Aleksei, then the Germans, Romanians, and Chinese will win. We will have done their dirty work for them.”
“Is that your way of saying that you hope Viktor isn’t behind this?”
“I’m saying that it’ll be easier if he’s not,” I clarified.
“Tell me, how do you feel about your husband?” he asked. “He seemed rather angry for you to act so dismissive of him.”
“I’m not dismissive of him,” I denied. “A person just has to be on their A-game when dealing with a Korolev, and I’m a few points below that right now. So, rather than give him any kind of edge, it’s wiser to tamp down whatever feelings I may have about him.”
“And do you have feelings for him?” Santino asked pointedly.
Not wanting to lie to my brother, I said, “Yes, but they’re complicated ones.”
“I wouldn’t expect any other kind between a Marchetti and a Korolev,” he quipped before kissing me on my forehead, silently giving me permission to love my husband if it ever came down to that.