Aralina was standing beside Kolya.
Jeremiah King had the sense to stay away. We hadn’t discussed how coincidental his being at Ivan’s house was when someone was lying in wait for my wife’s departure. They didn’t even know she was leaving, or did they? How long had they been watching the house?
Aralina hesitantly signed, “Can I see Lucy?”
I exhaled heavily again. My chest was so weighed down it felt like it was impossible to refresh it with oxygen. Maybe I shouldbe the one on a ventilator. I glanced at Lucy. Hooked up to those machines. My gut clenched. No wonder the De Luccis hated me.
“Of course. Maybe stay with Irina and send Ivan out.”
When Aralina entered the room, I turned to Kolya. “Anything on the perps?”
“Our guy managed to get a few traffic cams, but the De Luccis are ahead.”
My molars ground together. “Let me guess? That Trevor guy?”
“He has access to government databases, and Tima is missing.”
“Fuck!” He was our tech guy and also the expert in deep fakes. I was going to have Sato follow up on him after what King told me, but apparently, everyone was plotting while I went on vacation with Lucy.
“Is there something you’re not telling me?” Kolya asked. “Why do you think Peter is behind this when we have other enemies?”
I debated what to tell Kolya. Lies could never stay buried, could they? And the person who was an expert at burying scandals was in a coma.
The ICU doors slid open. I’d been expecting him.
Moretti and his wife, Natalya were walking briskly my way.
And he was pissed.
“Start talking, Zahkarov,”Moretti growled. “Tell me why Peter called me to tell me it wasn’t them? Why would he think that?”
We were on the rooftop of the hospital. De Lucci and his uncle briefly looked in on Lucy before we obtained access to alocation where no one could overhear us. Kolya told me it was the worst place for a confession because he wasn’t sure he could stop Moretti and De Lucci from tossing me off the roof.
To which I responded, if that happened, then he wasn’t very good at his job in keeping me alive.
It was just the four of us. Dom, Luca, Kolya, and me. Although I could tell Lucy’s other relatives were rabid to get a shot at me.
They could all fucking fall in line.
I related what King had told me.
“So, you’re admitting Lucy was in the car's trunk?” De Lucci growled. “You instigated the traffic stop knowing she’d get caught in the crossfire.”
“It was acceptable collateral damage at that time. I wanted Viktor caught and ejected from my business by any means necessary.”
“So you rescued Lucy?” De Lucci asked. “Don’t tell me she married you out of gratitude. And as far as we know, you didn’t care about Lucy. In fact, you wanted her dead. If Peter is blaming you for Viktor’s death, then he should come after someone closer to you.”
It stung. When they thought Lucy didn’t matter enough. Again, my fault. “Lucy shot Viktor.”
Dead silence. Three men belonging to the mafia, who’d seen and done the most shocking things in their lives, were dumbfounded and rendered speechless. Their brows were identically furrowed, gazes narrowed as if they misheard me.
“She was the one who killed Viktor.” I rephrased just in case they needed more clarity.
“Holy fuck,” Moretti whispered.
“Viktor killed the troopers and was deciding what to do with her. She grabbed the trooper’s gun and shot Viktor.”
“That’s…” Kolya rubbed a finger over his mouth. It was what he did when something impressed him and he wanted to grin but the moment was inappropriate. “That’s impressive.”
