Page 168 of Lethal Obsession

I give him a sideways look from behind my wide glasses and the scarf drawn over my head. “That’s an odd choice when you’re working on the island your family runs.”

“Contracted by Mak,” Jack says. “Which means it’s my shit show. Fortunately I get along with my cousin Luca a hell of a lot better than I do with my father, Enzo, back in New Orleans. And”—he gives me a conspiratorial wink—“this contract has the added advantage of severely pissing off said father.”

That almost makes me smile, despite everything. “When it comes to pissing off fathers,” I say tightly, “I’m pretty hard to beat at the moment.” My smile fades as we come out of the marina into a parking lot and a black sedan pulls up alongside the curb. “Are you sure you know where he is?” I ask Jack as he opens the door.

He nods. “He’s on a motorbike,” he says. “We’ll follow him.”

“Stay well back,” I warn him. “Alexei will likely shoot first and ask questions later if he thinks he’s being followed.”

“Funny.” Jack gives me a dry smile. “Lars said exactly the same thing. You’d almost think I’ve never done this before.”

“Sorry.” I’m too worried to say it with any real sincerity. “But Alexei—well. He can be . . .” My voice trails off uncertainly.

He can be what, Ofelia?

A sadistic, murderous psychopath, as Mickey accused him of being?

Sometimes, certainly. He had to become those things, or he never would have survived the Orlovs. And when cornered, I don’t doubt he can become them again.

But behind the persona he was forced to assume there is also a man who never lost his compassion and honor, despite all he endured.

The man who loved me in silence to save me from himself.

“Unpredictable,” I say finally.

Jack glances at me. “It’s not my first rodeo, Ofelia,” he says quietly. “And Alexei and I have worked together before. He won’t just pull out a gun the moment he sees me.”

Let’s hope you’re right.

We move swiftly through the city streets close to the port, then turn up a coastal road that winds around the mountains until Palermo disappears behind us. I can still see The Singularity lying at anchor in the distance, a white square on the horizon.

“He’s just up ahead.” Jack glances at me. “I think I should approach him—”

“No.” I shake my head. “Pull over here and tell me where to find him.”

The sedan comes to a halt on a gravel patch beside a parked Ducati.

“He’s taken the hiking trail.” He nods at a narrow path, frowning. “I don’t think I should let you go up there alone—”

“Then feel free to follow me.” I’m already out the door, running up the trail. It’s steep and rocky, but despite my flimsy sandals, wig, and way too many clothes, I race up it like a mountain goat. By the time it finally opens out into a rocky headland surrounded by prickly pear, I’m breathing heavily. I pause behind a large boulder to catch my breath.

Alexei is standing about thirty meters away, on the very edge of the escarpment, staring out toward The Singularity. His wig is gone, discarded along with his sunglasses and helmet on the ground beside him, the leather strap of his eye patch visible across the back of his head.

“You shouldn’t have followed me, Jack.” He speaks without turning around.

“It isn’t Jack.”

He spins to face me with terrifying swiftness, his expression the flat, hard mask I remember from the very first time I ever saw him, the night Masha and I were kidnapped. “I gave orders.” Even his voice has the same chilling calm as it did then.

“And you should know better than to think I’d obey them.”

One arctic blue eye scours the path behind me.

“Jack is here, along with his men.” I walk slowly across the headland until I’m standing a few paces from him. “I asked them to stay back.”

He doesn’t answer, just stands at the cliff edge with the same uncanny stillness I recall from the time I was imprisoned.

“I’m sorry you heard the things that Mickey said.” I’m surprised at how calm my voice is, given the erratic racing of my heart. “I’m sorry he said them at all—”