After ending the call, Kirill guided me to the stairs. “We need to leave.”
“That’s what I was trying to say?—”
“This discussion isn’t over.”
Chapter
Forty
Kirill
I hadplenty of things to say to my wife and I couldn’t wait to get her alone. Luckily for her, sanitizing the scene at the King mansion took precedence over everything else. Although Kolya was in charge, I left him instructions, especially since he was working with King’s own cleanup crew.
It was Maksim who called me. Apparently, King wasn’t bluffing when he said getting rid of the brothers would have a ripple across our organization.
The loud helicopter ride on our return wasn’t ideal for conversation either. Dom was eyeing his sister pensively. Lucy’s head was on my right shoulder while Aralina was on my left. My hand was holding Lucy’s, and I alternately cupped her cheek to plant a kiss on top of her head.
I couldn’t stop touching my wife. I gnashed my teeth at the stretch of time when I was unable to reach her.
As for Chloe, Trevor was taking her back to Manhattan in one of the SUVs.
We landed on top of the De Lucci Transnational building. After we disembarked from our flight, Lucy shared a moment with her brother.
It was my turn to look on pensively.
Aralina tugged at my shirt.
“I’m sorry,” she signed. “It’s my fault. Don’t be mad at Lucy.”
“What gave you the idea that I’m mad at Lucy?”
She gestured to her face.
“That’s not me being mad. That’s me giving myself dental problems.”
She laughed silently.
“Jury is out on whether it’s your fault. Did you fall for Jeremiah’s lies, or were you the one playing him?”
Aralina’s eyes widened in surprise. “He’s handsome. I didn’t know he was dangerous. But…”
Then she shrugged. Whenever my sister shrugged, she didn’t want to discuss the topic further. The default for our family was not to push her. Also, she didn’t seem to be out of sorts after being terrorized by Jeremiah. Maybe she wasn’t as shielded from bratva activities as I’d thought. She’d been truly corrupted underneath all that sweetness.
This pleased me.
Her arms tightened the coat around her. Between the attic and the helicopter ride, my sister had shed her outerwear and was only using Theo King’s coat. I didn’t know why I zeroed in on that detail and connected it with the time Aralina told me about her ideas of romance and wearing a boyfriend’s clothes.
This bothered the fuck out of me.
“Ready?” Lucy came up to us.
I tipped my chin at Dom before once again reeling Lucy to my side.
“Yes. Sato’s waiting with the car.”
It wasa teary reunion at my parents’ house. Ivan and Irina were all over Aralina. They thanked Lucy for connecting the dots and going after my sister.
I also received a text from Kolya that he was wrapping up cleanup at the King mansion.
