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Whatever Elio is mad about, I’ll die before I let him take it out on Luna.
He opens his eyes, and when he looks at me this time, it’s with an expression that isn’t all blind anger.
There’s something else there too.
“I have sent Gia to get some more information,” he starts. He glances at Luna, and immediately I understand what he’s asking.
He wants to tell me something.
I put her down and smile. “Why don’t you finish making the house, and we’ll come look at it in a minute?”
Luna’s eyes dart between us. “Mommy, are you scared?”
I do my very best to relax my face. “No, baby, not scared at all. My friend and I just need to talk, he got really mad and wants to tell me how he feels.”
She visibly relaxes at that. “You’re good at hearing feelings,” she says before she turns her attention back to the sand.
I grab Elio’s arm and pull, hoping that he’ll follow me.
To my surprise, he does.
“What are you doing?” I hiss when he’s just out of earshot.
“Nico found something. The Russians are admitting to the hit on your Nonna and Luna,” he snarls.
My chest feels frozen, and for a second my ears thunder with a noise that is louder than the surf. “What?”
“The Russians. They have claimed responsibility for trying to hurt Luna, and your Nonna Mia.”
I shake my head. “No. I heard you. But Elio, that makes no sense.”
“What sense do you need it to fucking make, Caterina?” his growl is so low, chills break out across my skin.
But I refuse to be scared by him. Elio is not going to sit here and intimidate me in front of my own child.
Not when he came off as such a dick, anyway.
“For one thing, reacting like this is probably exactly what they want. Did you think about their motivation, claiming responsibility for this? Did they say that they specifically targeted Luna? Who else knows about her?”
He’s glaring at me, but I keep pouring out questions. None of this makes sense, and I want more information before I scare the crap out of my kid by rushing her into the car at the last minute. I'm also not about to talk about this in front of her, so I take my chance and let the questions flow.
“Do you have any bad blood with the Russians? I thought you guys set up something pretty lucrative last year. Why would they jeopardize that?
“Do they owe anyone some kind of favor? Does anyone owe them a favor? How did they come across this information?
“And, finally, why on earth would they claim responsibility for something that’s grounds for a war?”
The silence between us is deafening. I can hear the rasp of sand as the wind pushes it up the beach, and the thunder of the waves echoes like a drumbeat in my chest.
Elio hasn’t moved. I’m not even sure that he’s breathed, and he’s staring at me like I’m the one who has lost my mind.
I resist the urge to poke, and instead, I settle my hands on my hips. “Did you think about any of that before you rushed over here, scaring Luna and me?”
“I did not need to,” he whispers.
“Why not?”
“Obviously, one of your twisted family members decided to sell her out,” he responds darkly.
