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A suffocating desperation installed deep in my bones. Ok, what now? Alexei was lying in a pool of blood and the place looked like a nightmare. I couldn’t call for help because there wasn’t anyone there to help me. And what if Katja walked in on this?
Terrified and overwhelmed, I started running, leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind me. I grabbed my car keys and drove straight to Enzo’s house. I needed him. I don’t know how I got there; it was like the car drove itself. My mind stopped working, and I froze in a bubble of numbness.
When I knocked on Enzo’s door and a woman answered, I fell on my knees and started sobbing.
Chapter 23
“Why are all of you here, again?” I looked at my parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, all gathered around the table in my dining room. “And where did this food come from?”
My mom came to me and put one arm around my waist.
“Your father wanted to come here as soon as we landed, and we asked Lou and Tina to bring the food from their restaurant.”
“And why did you come here?”
“Your father found out you closed the deal. We wanted to celebrate you.” She was making the multi-million-dollar deal we made with the Russians sound like a soccer tournament.
As soon as Popov left my office, I got on the phone with Babarin and made sure this was happening with or without Popov. We were all set and ready, and I’d informed Roman and Hugo. I guess they’ve called my father right away.
“You did good, son.” Dad put a hand on my shoulder. “This is your biggest one yet.”
“Yeah.”
I looked around the room again. Roman and Hugo were hovering over a bottle of whiskey on the couch, Salvatrice was setting the table and Romina was helping, and my aunt Catherinelle was looking over some magazines with the triplets. The triplets, by the way, looked miserable now that Hugo had them on watch twenty-four seven. And none of them were speaking to me. Great. I smiled like an idiot thinking that the next time we had a dinner like this, I’d have Ludmila by my side.
Romina came to us with a smile on her face.
“Uncle Gino, are you making Enzo the boss already?”
“Not until you’re ready to be his consigliere, princess. He needs a good lawyer.” Dad kissed Romina’s forehead and she laughed, but I knew every word he said was true. Romina would be my consigliere. A lot of motherfuckers would have a problem with her, because she was a woman, but I’d seen my cousin assemble a Kalashnikov in thirty seconds, so I wasn’t worried she wouldn’t be able to shut everyone up.
After that, dad called everyone around the table so we could eat, and he took his place next to my mother. The dinner was about to start when someone knocked on the door, and Romina went to answer.
“Looks like Lola and Vincenzo are late to the party,” I said, reaching for the garlic bread.
“They can’t come,” Catherinelle clarified. “They are out of town to visiting Lola’s mother.”
“Then who…” I was cut off by Romina’s scream, and I jumped out of my chair, bolting for the door, and so did everyone at the table. Whoever was there scared the shit out of Romina, and that didn’t happen often.
When I got to the entrance it was almost like I stepped into one of my worst nightmares. Ludmila was down on the floor, drenched in blood. I didn’t even think about my family, or what they’d think, when I want down on my knees to get to her.
“Doll, talk to me.” I grabbed her arms and shook her gently. “Tell me what happened.”
“Enzo,” she whispered.
“Are you hurt? Did Popov touch you?” This was my fault. There had only been a few hours since we had the sit down and now she was here, looking like she was hit by a car. “Ludmila, baby, can you talk?”
“I…” But she just clenched on my shirt.
“That’s it, I’m taking you to the hospital.”
“No, no, no! You can’t. No one can find out.”
“Find out what? What happened?”
“I killed him,” she finally said. “Alexei is dead. I…he was trying to…”
I felt my blood starting to run faster through my body, the killer inside waking up again. I wanted to hurt someone, make them pay for hurting Ludmila and making her go through this, but my brave Russian queen already took care of it.
