AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I sit on the bed next to Aria and rub her back. She gestures that she needs to use the bathroom, so I walk with her.
“I’m back.”
"Mikhail,” she whispers. “You can't come with me to the bathroom. I need to pee.”
I clench my jaw and gesture for her to leave the door partially open.
She gives me a strange look but does what I say, as I take the call from Kolya.
"I had coffee with Volkov himself this morning.”
"Did you? Playing good cop, bad cop again?”I cross my arms over my chest and watch for Aria as she washes her hands andbegins brushing her teeth. She gags, and I throw the door open as Kolya continues.
“I’m fine,” she whispers. “Might need cinnamon toothpaste…”
Kolya says, "There was a rumor that your mother was attacked last night. He’s starting to crack, Mikhail. He’s not in the right frame of mind. Nothing like he used to be.”
Aria sticks her head out. “You alright?” I ask her in a gentle voice, covering the phone with my hand.
She shakes her head. "The toothpaste is disgusting. God.”
Note to self: Get a different flavor toothpaste.
"How do you know? What do you mean?" I ask Kolya.
I help Aria back to bed.
"He began repeating words, over and over again, and some of the sentences he formed made no sense. He was completely incoherent at one point, and I had a difficult time following him. He repeated things that he already told me. He cannot recall some recent events or conversations that we had. I could even tell by the way he dressed himself, he has significant impairment of his cognitive and physical abilities.”
Interesting. "This would explain why he's made advances on my family despite the fact that I'm married now.”
"Precisely. We cannot assume that Volkov will obey our rules. You know that if we had passed the moratorium without you getting married, we would have been at risk. But I'm telling you, we are at risk now. And if it’s true he ordered an attack on your mother?—”
"It is true. We just interrogated the intruders. It was his men that attacked."
Kolya is quiet for a minute. "You and Aria are in grave danger."
I quickly consider my options. With a snap of my fingers, I could command Nikko to assassinate Volkov. We could even make it look as if it were an accident, but right on the heels of the attack from his men, I don't trust the blowback to not be severe and annihilate us.
We could threaten him, but the same potential threat remains.
"He was confused, Mikhail. He called me Ilya several times. He was disoriented. And he made strange accusations. He's always been irritable, but this time it’s much worse.”
"I see."
"My suggestion is that we try to impair him in ways that are not as obvious. Psychological manipulation. A threat to his assets and safety.”
"Aleks and Aria will be thrilled."
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Aria
I lie against the pillows,my belly temporarily happy after breakfast. Mikhail brought me breakfast in bed this morning after promising to massage my feet with his strong, capable hands.
He does it every day.
"Why the feet? I asked him the other morning.
