"No. And until I have all the information, she won't. She's already got enough on her plate without me adding this to it."
"If that piece of shit goes near Luna again..." He doesn't need to finish. I already know.
I check my watch—one more hour until I need to get ready for this goddamn party, where I have to make sure most of the votes swing my way.
Warsaw has been quiet. Too quiet, which means something's brewing. And whenever my dear mother cooks something up, it always ends in blood.
"You need me there tonight?" Roman asks, and I raise my eyebrows, surprised by the question.
"What, you want to hold hands when we make our grand entrance?"
He bursts out laughing.
"Don't be an idiot, I'm serious. If you need backup or support, there's nothing wrong with asking for help, Damien."
"Those therapy sessions with Luna are really working, I see," I say with a smile, catching the spark in his eyes.
Damn, do I look like that too?
"Exactly the same," he answers, as if reading my mind. "You look just as bewitched and hypnotized when you see Roxy as I do when I see Luna."
I shake my head because no matter how much I want to deny it, I can't help it. Tonight at this party, all the Council members from the States will be present, plus two members from Poland coming specifically for this event. There'll be businessmen we work with and people from other criminal organizations looking for information or just wanting to take the pulse of the current situation.
"Yeah, I'd like you there," I answer, and he just nods.
The entire drive to the party, I try to piece it together. There are two people, and one of them has an accent. More than that, the file says the door wasn't forced, so Elena knew the man. Elena is the only victim who had a single wound to the abdomen.
"What are you thinking about?" Roxanne asks.
I squeeze her hand gently. I wish I had more answers for her, but this investigation was literally buried twenty years ago. All the details were written down on paper, and what exists onlineis superficial. Even Maksim tried to find something that would give us additional information, but no luck.
"That I still don't have a name for you," I answer honestly because I already hate having to hide the truth about Marco from her.
In a second, she turns and climbs into my lap. Her black satin dress rides up, and my hands instinctively go to her thighs.
Fuck. How good my hands look on her skin.
"We'll find him, Damien," she whispers and leans down to kiss me.
I know that, but with her safety, Luna's safety, other women at stake, I feel a claw tightening in my chest. I couldn't protect my sister, and now I feel like I'm doing the same thing with them.
When the car stops, I take her hand and remind myself that I only need an hour to stroke Adamecki's ego, then I can go home and lose myself in my wife. One hour.
Vasili positions himself somewhere near the entrance and nods to signal he'll stay there. Stefan is also somewhere in the hall, looking like the entire room is full of cats and he's allergic to them.
In a corner of the hall, I see Roman with Luna, and from tygrisek?'s cheeks, I can imagine what my friend is whispering in her ear, and damn, I want to take Roxanne and get the hell out of here.
My wife pulls me by the hand toward them, and after she and Luna hug, Roman and I step slightly away from them.
"Max called me a few minutes ago. He caught the car that fled from the factory on one of the traffic cameras. It's registered under the name Antonio Caserta."
I frown at that name because it seems familiar, but I can't place it.
"But guess what?" he asks, and I already see the answer on his face.
"Antonio Caserta doesn't exist."
"Correct. Max found nothing. It's just a name and that's it."
