Page 233 of Lethal Obsession

He doesn’t quite manage a laugh, but he does squeeze my hand.

“I will miss Lourdes, though,” I say softly. “I never imagined having a wedding without her.”

“Okay, hold up.” He narrows his eyes at me. “Are you saying this wedding is a real thing that is going to happen? As in soon?”

“It’s what Alexei and I both want. Apparently he was planning a surprise wedding in Sicily, before . . . you know.”

Sometimes I wonder if I will ever be able to speak in terms that don’t include before and after. There is the life we all lived before Lars went up in flames and the weird limbo we’ve existed in ever since.

“When Alexei called, he said that a lot was going to change after that night, but he didn’t say how.” I glance at Benny. “I haven’t heard from him since then. Whatever is going on over there, I think that was the night they were going into action. Darya told me that Papa called and said everything went well, but I don’t know any more than that.”

“Are you worried?”

I pause, then shake my head slowly. “No. If it had gone wrong, I would know by now. And when we spoke, Alexei was good.” I give him a small smile. “He said he’s been hearing Lars’s voice in his head.”

“Ha.” Benny’s laugh has an acerbic edge. “I hope you told him that is the first sign of madness.” He forces a genuine smile. “I’m glad you two are good, though. Really.” He looks around the church interior. “So this is where he wants to do it? Get married, obviously,” he clarifies with a lewd wink. “I think screwing you in the pew would be a little over the top, even for him.”

“The church is my idea. He hasn’t planned anything as far as I know.” I pause. “Are you really okay with this? I know it’s terrible timing.”

“I think the timing is perfect.” His face is still drawn and strained, but there’s a faint light in his eyes I haven’t seen since the day of the explosion. “These past few days since they stopped Lars’s sedation, it feels like I’m either feeling guilty at the villa or useless at the hospital. And the worst of it is that I know Lars would hate it.”

He gives me a rueful look. “As appallingly callous as it sounds right now, wedding planning would be a welcome distraction. Although I am going to have to insist we do most of it in the hospital waiting room.”

“Of course.” I slip my arm through his and look around. “So you think this will be okay for the ceremony?”

“It’s perfect.” Benny’s mouth quirks. “But if I were you, I’d mention all this to Darya now and get her on board before Roman comes home. Because knowing your father, he’s likely to put the shotgun into wedding whether you’re knocked up or not.”

I leave Benny wandering the streets, on a vague mission to find me the perfect dress, although I suspect he just needs some time staring at something other than hospital walls.

I find Darya sitting on the terrace, talking to Abby and the children on speakerphone. “Aleksander,” she’s saying in exasperation, “if Deda Leon says you’re too young for a crossbow, then I think you should listen.”

She pauses while Aleksander complains loudly in a mixture of Russian, English and Spanish down the line about the inadequacy of his own bow.

“Yes,” she eventually cuts in. “I understand that your bow can’t kill un jabali, but we’re not relying on your hunting skills to survive, darling. Abby,” she says in relief as her friend takes the phone. “Please tell me Dimitry’s father did not take Aleksander hunting with a crossbow.”

“Well,” Abby says cautiously, “I’m not sure it was actually intentional—”

“Oh, dear lord.” Darya puts a shaking hand to her forehead and reaches for the wineglass.

“My father and Leon went hunting. Aleksander hid in the trayback. They didn’t actually find him until they were up in the mountains.”

“Hid!” Darya shudders as I take a seat, unable to stop myself from grinning at her white face. “In the bed of the truck? What if he’d fallen out?”

“Well, he didn’t, thankfully, but he did get an up close and personal view of Leon dropping a wild boar with his crossbow. He came home covered in blood and boar intestines and hasn’t stopped practicing with his toy bow since.” I hear the unmistakable sound of Abby pouring herself an extremely large drink. “I love you, Dar, but you seriously fucking owe me after this one, my friend.”

Darya closes her eyes. I try not to laugh.

Masha wanders down in time to hear the last part of the conversation and turns to me with her eyebrows raised.

“Aleksander,” I whisper. “He sneaked into Deda Leon’s truck when they went boar hunting, and now he wants a crossbow.”

“Oh.” She accepts this with the disinterest of a girl who is long accustomed to the violent tendencies of her younger brothers. “They should just buy him one,” she says pragmatically. “Aleksander is never happy unless he’s shooting at something.”

Might as well start early, I think dryly.

Masha wrinkles up her nose as the cacophony on the other end of the phone increases. “I’m going to practice,” she announces and leaves. A moment later I hear her feet rapping out the steps on the wooden board she brought with her for training.

It’s another half hour before Darya recovers from the phone call, aided by several glasses of wine, and I finally muster up the courage to mention the wedding.