Amalia screams as Maksim Rastovski, cousin to the monster who killed my brother, dodges the bullet that was meant for him at the last millisecond. My hand has a slight tremor from the shoulder wound, and I curse myself for not anticipating that before I pulled the trigger.
I don’t know what the hell he’s doing here, but I know he’s part of the same family as the man who let my brother bleed out for nothing more than spare change in their world.
He’s not the man I wanted to shoot, but he’s close to that piece of human shit, and that’s enough for me.
“Silas, what is wrong with you?!” Amalia’s voice cuts through, and the alarm in her tone is what makes me stop.
“Amalia, your friend has exactly three seconds to explain to me why I shouldn’t bury him in the first cemetery I can find,” Rastovski’s voice grinds out, and I don’t miss the familiarity in it.
What is his connection to Amalia? Why is he here?
“Maksim, this is Silas Vaughn, my mathematics professor from the university in Ciudad de México,” she tells him, and the formality of that introduction irritates the hell out of me.
“I’m Silas Vaughn, Amalia’sboyfriend, and the brother of the man Aleksandr Rastovski decided to put a bullet through rather than pay a few thousand dollars for the work done.”
The silence that falls after that lands differently when I turn toward the woman I felt I was losing my mind over when she disappeared.
Months of searching. Months of functioning only on the certainty that I would inevitably find my way back to her.
“Aleksandr is dead, Silas.” Maksim’s voice is flat, and I know I can’t hide my shock.
Dead? No, that can’t be. I saw him a few months ago when he got away.
“When?” I ask, a knot forming in my throat.
I would have wanted the honor of looking into his eyes in his final moments, to make sure that nightmare was truly over. So Sebastian would know I’d gotten justice for him and for what remained of our family.
“Three months ago.”
Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t trust a word from a Rastovski. But I don’t miss the tone in Maksim’s voice. There’s no guilt in it, no accusation, just release. That’s why I exhale and simply stay still for a few moments.
“Did it hurt?” I ask.
“Yes. Until the very last second. We have footage if you want confirmation,” he answers, and in that moment something lifts off my chest.
I have so many questions. So many things that still aren’t clear. For three months I’ve simply been existing without direction, only trying to find Amalia and Aleksandr, and now my mind has gone empty.
“I think we all need to have a conversation. Amalia, go ahead with Silas. I’ll make sure this place is cleaned up and follow behind you. Sergey is outside; he’ll take you to the private plane. I’ll send the Italian crew home after I have a brief word with them. Oh, and call Julia. We don’t want that weapon of hers going off on the wrong person out of stress.”
The questions haven’t left my mind, but when I look at Amalia, how exhausted she is, how drained her eyes look, I decide to drop my head and follow.
When I step outside, I look at the sky. For a few moments, I feel Dean close by. The weight that has pressed down on my shoulders and chest for nearly ten years begins to lift. It lifts when the information that the monster who killed him is dead registers fully in my mind.
I’ll want to see that footage. But the adrenaline is starting to drain, and all I want is to hold the woman beside me close. To breathe in the scent of lilac and feel her heartbeat. Because there was a moment when I believed I would never hear it again.
And I try to tell myself that she’ll listen. That she’ll understand.
Right now, I find myself wanting to pray to those mathematicians she always has on the tip of her tongue, to ask for their help. But I don’t think the whole council of them together could make this mission possible if she doesn’t want it herself.
Inever thought I’d see him again. I never thought my heart would take off running like this just because he called mebaby. And I certainly never thought I’d forget that he’s a liar and a manipulator, but after everything that happened to Lupe, I’m more skeptical than I’ve ever been.
Silas is quiet for the entire flight. Maksim doesn’t say a word, eyes fixed on his laptop. Somehow, his silence makes my own nerves worse.
Once we land, I get into the car with Silas and ask Sergey to give us some privacy.
When he saw that I wanted to be alone with Silas, all Maksim did was study me for a few seconds before giving a small nod of approval. Silas is not a direct threat to me, only to my heart.
The entire drive to Julia and Max’s house passes in unbroken silence, until a few minutes before we arrive.
