Page 177 of Lethal Obsession

“Roman came on his own plane as soon as I called,” Luca says, watching me. “He was going to head straight to the hospital, but when he heard you were here, he said he’d come to the villa first and collect you.”

I turn to Lourdes. “Why don’t you go down with Jack now,” I say, “and I’ll wait for my family to get here? I know you must be desperate to see Benny.”

She’s already on her feet, her face pale. “Benny,” she echoes hollowly. “Yes.” Her eyes, wide with pain and shock, settle on me. “Will you be alright here on your own?”

“Of course.” I attempt to smile reassuringly. “I’ll feel better knowing that Benny has you with him.”

She hesitates, her eyes darting from side to side as if she’s searching for the right words.

There aren’t any right words for this. There won’t be, not for a long time.

If ever.

Lourdes and Benny never asked for any of this. I can’t expect them to understand it. Or to forgive it.

“Go.” I gently push her toward Jack. “Hug Benny for me. I’ll come find you as soon as Papa and I have seen Mickey. And whenever you’re ready, just say the word, and we’ll organize your flight home.”

“I—thanks.” Lourdes’s voice is quiet. Her eyes settle on my hand, resting on the table. “Unless you want a repeat of the Mickey scene,” she says, trying and failing to smile, “you might want to put that ring somewhere your father won’t see it.”

I stare at the sapphire until it blurs in the sun. Luca diplomatically pretends not to notice when I slide the ring off and put it back into the pendant at my neck.

I don’t want to hide it. From anyone, even my father.

Reality, however, is that after the events of today, that ring is unlikely ever to leave the pendant again.

I might have been able to talk Alexei down off that clifftop, to make him see that Mickey’s accusations were nothing but smoke.

But nothing I can say will ever undo what has happened to Lars, nor the fact that Alexei blames himself for it.

Forever, for Alexei, meant sailing off into a sunset, away from anything that could hurt us. I don’t need to close my eyes and see his blank, dead face to know that particular version of forever ended the moment he saw that bomb go off.

No wonder Lourdes wants to leave, I think tiredly. Sometimes I wish I could walk away from it all too.

I stand on the steps as Lourdes leaves with Jack. She turns to look at me as the car pulls out. Her small smile doesn’t reach her eyes, which are wide and hollow with shock and the aftermath of the day’s horrors.

The car is barely out of sight when another black sedan comes racing up the hill at breakneck speed, closely followed by a stream of other cars. My father opens the door of the lead vehicle before it’s fully come to a halt, his face grim and unsmiling as he pulls me hard against him.

“Thank Christ you’re not hurt.”

I cling to him wordlessly, closing my eyes and allowing myself the luxury of pretending, like the child I once was, that my father can magically make everything alright again.

Except this time he just can’t.

“Roman,” I hear Luca say behind me, “you are welcome in my home.”

“Luca.” Papa shakes his hand behind my back. “Good of you to do this. I think you already know Dimitry?”

“Of course,” says Luca as he shakes the hand of my father’s oldest friend. “Good to see you again, Dimitry. Wish the circumstances were different.”

“Where’s Petrovsky?” I pull back to see Papa looking grimly around. “Mak was on his way here to meet him when we spoke earlier.”

Then you know more than I do. And by the extremely dangerous gleam in my father’s eyes, the farther away Alexei is, the better for everyone.

“I believe they’re meeting elsewhere,” I say carefully. “For security reasons.” I meet Luca’s eyes, and he gives me a small nod that says he has correctly gauged the diplomatic currents at play.

He steps in front of my father, smiling to defuse the tension. “Come in.” He opens his arm in a welcoming gesture.

“I don’t mean to be rude,” Papa says, which does nothing to lessen his visible impatience, “but I need to get to the hospital and see my son. Are you ready?” he asks me.