The twitch in Roman’s body tells me that he wants to start pacing, but he holds himself still. He asks, “And how does grabbing Alesso help with that? Why wouldn’t Paulo just let you kill him?”
Vitali rests back against his desk like he’s trying to keep things casual, but he’s way too tense for it to be convincing. “Paulo will not be able to sit things out. While Gavino is still alive, he’ll have to make someshow of loyalty. If we can use Alesso to lure Paulo into a trap, we’ll have them both.”
“And how are you planning to do that?” Roman demands, almost snapping. “And where?”
“We’re still working on the details, but we’re going to use the boxing gym,” Vitali replies. “We need a space we control, and the warehouse would be too obvious since we’ve used it with the DiMaggios before.”
“You’d expose the gym? That’s a valuable location.”
Vitali tenses, clearly not wanting to get into this part. “It’s … already been exposed.”
Roman is silent for a moment, then he says, “You mean when I went there.”
“Yeah.”
Roman’s fists clench at his sides. “And you fucking let Lucas be there?”
Oh, shit. My muscles tighten like I might need to do something, but Roman hasn’t moved. Not yet. His tone says that he might.
Vitali and Quinn have read that too. They both go on alert.
Quinn says carefully, “We had six men on guard at all times, and we never let the DiMaggios see that we’d clocked them. Lucas was always safe.”
By this time, I’ve edged around Roman enough to see his profile. His expression is complicated. There’s anger in it, certainly, but other things too. I can’tparse it all out. I need him to say something, to give some hint of what he’s thinking.
But he doesn’t.
Vitali’s eyes flick from Roman to me then back to Roman. He says, “We have an opportunity here. When they attack, we’ll eliminate them. We can end this.”
Vitali waits for some response from Roman, but he doesn’t really get one. Roman just grunts and holds out his hand for me. I take it, then Roman leads me from the office.
Silently, we return to the kitchen, where Roman turns the electric kettle back on to reheat the water. He opens the box of peppermint tea and drops a teabag into each mug. When I gather up the wrappers and take them to the trash, he makes a sound somewhere between a grunt and growl. I look up, surprised to find him scowling. As I return to his side, he catches my elbow and pulls me closer, making clear that I’m to stay beside him.
I put my hand on his lower back to tell him that I’m here, that it’s okay. He takes a deep breath and makes a visible effort to relax.
I really want to talk to him. I don’t understand what all of that meant in Vitali’s office. I want to know what Roman is thinking and why he’s so upset.
Finally, as the kettle clicks off, I ask, “Are you angry with Vitali?”
Roman exhales loudly. That seems like a yes, but he says, “No.”
Roman doesn’t lie, so I have to believe him. And yet, he’s clearly angry, so I have to ask, “Are you angry with me?”
“No.” This no is harsher, and his breathing roughens.
“Okay,” I say, putting my arm around him, trying to show that I’ll let it go.
Roman’s hand grips my side and pulls me closer. He presses his face against my head, silent and upset. Whatever it is that’s upsetting him, he’s not willing, maybe not able, to talk to me about it.
TEN
Roman
I don’t like that Lucas thought I was upset with him. When we were captive together, life was so much simpler. Feelings were simpler. It was easy enough, most of the time, to communicate without words.
But our life is getting more and more complicated, and I need more and more words to deal with it. And the more words I need, the fewer I seem to have.
But I don’t know how I could have talked to him about this. Besides, talking is what created this problem in the first place. At least, talking to Vitali.
