“Don’t darling me.” Alessia turned toward Inna instead. “Let’s go. The food will burn.”
It looked like she had stopped reacting to this family a long time ago and replaced shock with practical decisions. That was a healthy adaptation.
Inna looked between all three of us for a second before she followed Alessia out.
Rodion threw one last glare at Roman, then left as well. His footsteps disappeared down the hallway.
I looked back at Roman. He was still standing there, touching his jaw, checking the damage with that detached focus.
“We don’t bring police into the business. You know how that ends,” I said. “And respect your older brother’s marriage. Including mine.”
“Get the fuck out,” he said through his teeth.
I smiled, picked up my phone, and left the room.
I couldn’t say it out loud, but Rodion deserved Alessia in his life. If anyone was left to carry too much alone, it was him. He fought Father’s pressure from every angle and built the Konstantinov Bratva while Roman and I were still being shaped. He worked through most of it with no one standing beside him. He built everything while still fighting our father’s hatred towards him. Father thought he was weak, but Rodion was the rock of Konstantinov Bratva. No one really acknowledged what that cost him. In better words, he grew up lonely until Alessiahappened. He deserved her.
Scrolling through my phone to call Akim, I slowed when I stepped into the sitting area. A small gathering was forming near the couches. Inna stood with Alessia and two other women. One blonde who spoke while moving her hands, while the brunette beside her listened with a smile, a white cane resting lightly at her side.
I moved closer without interrupting, my attention settling on the group. Rodion wasn’t in sight anywhere nearby.
The girl talking looked comfortable in the space. But the one holding the cane got my attention. She followed the conversation, head angled slightly away from everyone, still as if she was using sound to map the room instead of sight. She couldn’t be the blind girl Rodion mentioned earlier, could she?
“My sister is a pianist,” the blonde said, “and she always comes on Saturdays for her session. She plays for Officer Roman.”
I stopped moving.
Officer Roman?
Alessia tilted her head. “Officer Roman?”
“Yes,” the blonde confirmed, and the girl with the cane turned her face a fraction.
“It looks like the officer has guests today,” she said.
I read the situation, and it was better than anything we had today.
This was Roman’s blind girl. The one connected to the police, we believed, was a threat to the Bratva, except that the law enforcement in question was Roman himself.
Roman Konstantinov, a man who should dismantle police operations, was apparently involved with a blind pianist in a way none of us had accounted for.
Clearly, Roman had this covered.
I pocketed my phone and stayed where I was. Some things deserved full attention.
Chapter Forty-two
Inna Grace
“I just don’t understand.” Imoved through the hotel room, still trying to process the entire day, reaching behind me for the zip of my dress. “Your family is genuinely strange. Do you three always fight like that?” I worked the zipper down and slid the dress off my shoulders. “Why would Rodion punch Roman? There has to be a story there.” The fabric pooled around my feet, and I stepped out of it. “Did you and Roman do something to him? Because that level of cold doesn’t come from nowhere. That kind of resentment builds for years.”
Dmitri stood near the door, removing his watch. “You’re taking his side now?” he asked.
“I’m not taking anyone’s side. I’m asking a question.” I reached behind me and unclipped my bra. “And Roman. He has really changed. Kicking those girls out like that? He looked at them like their existence offended him personally.” I shook my head. “And can we talk about the fact that nobody seems concerned that Roman is apparently an officer? Because I have questions about that too.”
Dmitri stepped behind me. His hands moved to my bra straps and slid them down my shoulders. “Would you stop talking about my family for one hour today?”
“I’m just curious.” I sighed and let it go because pushing further would turn it into an argument.
