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“You’re right about that.” I shrug, loading up my fork with the delicious food.
“My brother murdered him.”
I place the food in my mouth and stare at Alexei’s reaction to that and as he lifts his own food to his mouth, it disguises an amused grin.
“Did that shock you?” I’m curious, and he shakes his head.
“He probably deserved it.”
That makes me laugh and then say, “You should be shocked, repelled even.”
“Why?” He shrugs. “I’m guessing it was done for a very good reason. I don’t judge things before I know the facts.”
I’m impressed, loving how easy he is to talk to, and I add.
“He ordered a hit on the entire family. He had to go.”
He leans forward and stares at me with concern.
“A hit.”
I shrug. “Your tale of the assassin on the flight wasn’t that shocking to me. My family deal with shit like that every day of their lives. There is always someone wanting to take us down and who knows the target may even have been me.”
I don’t like the sudden urgency in his eyes as he stares past me and raises his hand.
Suddenly, the easy atmosphere has been replaced, and a man appears beside us almost immediately.
“Gleb.” Alexei addresses him and waves toward me. “This is Serena. She may have been the intended target. Call Mikhail and inform him.”
Gleb turns to me and his enigmatic expression hides what he’s thinking as he says bluntly, “Serena, what is your last name?”
I can feel their eyes burning into me and know the game is up. If anything, it’s in my interests because it appears they want to help, so I say with a slight shake of my head.
“Vieri.”
I don’t miss the look they share before Gleb leaves as quickly as he came.
I almost can’t look at Alexei because that one name has blown away the easy atmosphere we created like a grenade tossed into the room.
“Serena.” His hard voice commands me to look up and I’m shocked when I see the fire burning in his eyes as he reaches for my hand.
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“What difference would it have made?” I say roughly, hating the way my life settles around me like a well-worn cloak, keeping everyone out as usual. It’s as if the chains are snapping back in place and I am a prisoner once again. The tears burn my eyes as I watch the freedom I had disappearing in the jet stream and my heart is heavy as I accept my fate.
“It makes no difference to me, to us or to this situation.”
He says softly, lifting my hand to his lips and kissing it tenderly. It surprises me as his eyes burn into mine and he whispers huskily, “It all makes sense now. I can see the whole picture and far from tainting it, it has only made it more beautiful to me.”
“Why?” I’m shocked and he smiles softly. “Because now I understand you and with knowledge comes power.”
“Over me?” His words irritate me, and he laughs out loud.
“No, Serena. It helps me make decisions that benefit you. You see, when Regina makes it to her hotel room in Sydney, she will have a visitor waiting for her. My brother Mikhail is on hand to extract the information we need. If she was ordered to carry out the hit on you, he will discover who ordered it. Then we can deal with the problem, leaving you free and safe to live another day. That is what we do. Safety always comes first, and you can sleep well knowing we have your back.”
I’m touched and whisper, “Why would you help me?”
“Because we live the same life, little one.”
