Mafia.
Mexican mafia.
My grandfather was Iker. Iker wanted Cole.
The words were in English. I understood English perfectly. But inside my head, they collided and rearranged themselves as they belonged to another language entirely.
Dmitri stood, slid the gun back into his waistband, and turned toward me. He held his hand out.
“Looks like you’ll need to reconsider your approach if you ever want to see Inna again,” he said to my mother without looking at her.
My legs shook when I stood. Dmitri’s hand closed around my waist, steadying me before I lost my balance.
“She is my daughter!” my mother shouted.
“And she is my wife,” Dmitri thundered. “Unfortunately, you admitted you came here because of Konstantinov and not because of her,” he scoffed. “Before you decide to contact her again, think carefully. You don’t simply respect Konstantinov.” His eyes finally shifted toward her. “You fear them. And Inna is a Konstantinov.”
Then he walked me out.
We stepped back into the same hallway I had entered, carrying questions and hope. Now I walked through it with Dmitri’s arm around me. The same hand that killed a man less than a minute ago.
What shook me more was that Iker was my grandfather, and my mother ran a mafia organization.
Mafia.
That was the word I had been searching for that could fit who Dmitri was. And I never thought of it. He wasn’t simply dangerous. He belonged to the Mafia.
I didn’t know how to cry about any of this or what shape this kind of grief was supposed to take. So I just kept walking.
Chapter Forty-four
Dmitri Konstantinov
I held Inna’s hand aswe moved silently through the hallway. What just happened in that room rearranged things. Inna understood money, power, and danger in theoretical forms. But watching me put a bullet in a man’s head was a different education entirely. I was prepared for what came after once she understood the shape of the life she was standing in.
As we neared the stairwell, Inna stopped, and so did I. She pulled her hand from mine, looking at the floor for a second before stepping back. I stepped toward her automatically, watching her face. I expected her to break down because I could still see traces of hurt there, but she inhaled deeply and looked up at me.
The shift happened almost instantly. Whatever I expected to find in her expression disappeared behind something smoother and more controlled, which unsettled me immediately.
“I think.” She pointed back toward the room we had come from. “I forgot to tell my mother something.” Her eyes returned to mine. “It won’t take long. Is that okay?”
I stayed quiet, trying to read what this was. When she realized I wasn’t answering, she waved one hand dismissively, and a slight smile touched her lips.
“Come on, it’s not a big deal. I’ll be right back.”
Even her voice had changed. The uncertainty she carried when we left the room was gone. I followed her immediately because whatever this was, it needed a witness.
She pushed the door open and stepped back inside. Her mother, who had been pacing while speaking on the phone, stopped and faced her. She lowered the phone slowly from her ear, surprised to see Inna.
“I forgot something,” Inna said, a smile sitting on her mouth that felt wrong in the room somehow. “We’re okay. We moved to Florida actually, and my name is Inna now. Though people call me Inna Grace, I prefer Inna,” she chuckled softly. “Cole is a big boy now. The most chaotic human being I’ve ever met. He is at that age where he’s always right about everything, you know how that is.”
She laughed again, and that sound landed strangely against the silence.
“Anyway, I just wanted you to know we’re okay. You look amazing, by the way. Since you’re clearly okay, I can stop wondering what happened to you. I didn’t want to leave without saying that.” She smiled wider. “And don’t worry about Cole and me. Eat and sleep well.”
I looked at her mother. Her expression matched mine too closely.
“Okay. We’ll leave now. Bye,” Inna waved before turning toward me. “Shall we?” she asked. “I believe we have plans with Alessia.”
