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I feign a gasp. “And here I was, thinking you married me for my insanely charming personality.”
Holly laughs. “I love you. Make sure you come home soon. In one piece.”
“I’ll be home soon. Love you.” I hang up before I find a reason not to. I’m exhausted. I need to sleep so I can go into tomorrow head-on.
* * *
I wake to the sound of slamming. Jumping out of bed, I reach for the Glock under my pillow before I hear the arguing. “Fuck you, Alexei!” Lana yells.
“You already have, this morning, but if you want another go-around, be my guest.” The Russian’s voice, although nowhere near as loud as Lana’s, carries through the villa.
Fucking hell… Why did I agree to let them stay here? I throw on a pair of sweats, tucking my sidearm into the back waistband as I walk out. “Some of us actually want to sleep, you know,” I grunt, heading straight for the coffee pot—after all, the best fucking thing about Italy is the coffee. Oh, and the food of course.
“Don’t worry, T, things are about to get real quiet around here when I kill this motherfucker.” Lana points towards the man in question, while making no move to actually do him any bodily harm, though the same can’t be said about the kitchen cabinets.
I look over at Alexei. “What’d you do?”
“Not a fucking thing,” he grunts, before lowering himself onto the bench. I actually kind of feel bad for the guy—still fucking hate him—but I’ve been on the other end of Lana’s temper. It’s not pretty.
“Not a thing? Just tried to clip my wings after I finally broke free of my gilded cage. Do you think I’m going to willingly sign up to be someone’s pet?” Lana spits out as she breaks eggs into a bowl.
I have no fucking clue what she’s talking about. I look to Alexei for an explanation. “I asked her to marry me.” He shrugs a shoulder, seemingly unfazed by his reluctant bride-to-be’sless than stellarreaction.
“Okay, L, calm your ass down. If you don’t want to marry the guy, just fucking say no. You don’t have to wake up the whole goddamn neighborhood in the process.” I lean against the counter and sip on the perfectly brewed liquid in my hands.
“Oh, but she said yes.” Alexei smirks.
“He asked me mid-orgasm. I was already calling out yes.”Huh, that’s actually a smart move.
“Still a yes, milaya.” Alexei smiles.
“No, I’m notyour sweetheart. In fact, I’m notyouranything right now, except maybe your potential killer. T, you’ll help me bury the body, right?” She turns to me.
“Fuck no, your killing days are done, woman.” I storm out of the room, the memory of my father choking to death replaying in my mind. Sometimes it’s easy to fall back into old habits. We were best friends for so long. But I can’t be Lana’s friend anymore, not after what she did. I need to get out of here. Retreating to my room, I throw on some clothes and start making arrangements for meetings today. I’m one man. I can’t fucking get this shit done alone. I’m going to need backup.
The sooner I get it sorted out, the sooner I can return to Holly.
* * *
I drive up to the gates, show the guard my face, and tell him my name. I watch as he speaks into a walkie-talkie before pressing a button and letting me through. I can spot three snipers, all with crosshairs pointed directly at me, as I pull along the tree-lined driveway. I send up a little prayer. I really fucking hope I make it out of here in one piece today. Parking off to the side, I decide to give Neo a call before I go in.
“Boss, what’s good?”
“Fucking nothing. How’s my wife?” I ask him.
“You know she has a phone, right? A nice little burner you gave her. Why don’t you ask her yourself?”
“Because I’m fucking askingyou. How’s she doing?”
“Right now, she’s out by the pool with Aunt Gloria, discussing wedding shit.”
That makes me pause. Holly’s discussing our wedding with my mother? Huh, I wonder when Ma came around to the idea of Holly beinggood enoughfor her baby boy. And if they’re talking wedding plans, that means my mother knows I wasn’t blown to pieces like everyone’s supposed to think. “How the fuck does my mother know I’m alive?”
“That, you’ll have to ask your wife.”
“Fucking hell. Okay, look, I’m heading in to meet with Donatello now.”
“What the fuck for? Alone?” I can hear his wheels turning as he tries to get one step ahead of the game.
