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I shake my head. “Mama, you heard Lev. He said to stay as long as you want, and I feel the same, of course.”

“I know. But I think it’s time I got my own place. Of course, I’ll stay with you and Lev for a little while, until I’m back on my feet. But it would be nice to have somewhere of my own.”

She smiles wistfully, and I think of what that means for her. Being free of my father and his control. Getting to live the life she never had.

I nod, understanding.

We get onto the highway, and silence fills the space between us. We’ve been driving for about half an hour when the nurse reaches for the oxygen equipment and adjusts the mask.

“Time for some oxygen,” she says. “We don’t want your levels to drop. That can happen on a long journey.”

Mama nods.

I watch the nurse fit the mask over her nose and mouth. I’ve seen this happen a few times over the last few days. I always watch to make sure Mama is okay. She hates it and usually keeps her eyes on me throughout the process. But this time, she closes them. Within minutes, she’s deeply asleep.

It’s unusual.

I glance at the nurse. “Is that supposed to happen? She’s never drifted off like that before.”

The nurse reaches out, takes my hand, and gives it a gentle squeeze. “Don’t worry. It’s just a side effect.”

“Side effect of what? Oxygen?”

A sharp prick stings my wrist where she’s holding me. I’d recognize that sting anywhere. After all, I felt it the night Lev and I met. The next second, dizziness hits, and everything around me shifts. I know what she’s done.

I’ve been drugged.

“What? What did you do?” I blurt out.

The nurse simply smiles. “Consider it a diversion.”

“No.”

A loud crash erupts behind the van. It sounds like one of the cars has crashed. I turn my head to look, but everything goes black.

Chapter

Forty-Eight

Lev

Right before my eyes, two black SUVs surge out from opposite sides of the highway and cut directly across our path. They smash into each other with a deafening crunch, forming a barricade across the lanes.

Fuck. What the hell is happening?

Roman hits the brakes hard, throwing me against my seat as cars screech and swerve around us.

I’m sitting beside him in the passenger seat. My brothers are in the back. Roman tries to reverse, but we’re barricaded on all sides. Traffic piling up behind us blocks every route.

Horns blare. Glass shatters. Traffic erupts into utter chaos, but through the commotion, I see the one thing I’m worried about. The ambulance with my wife and her mother. It’s speeding away, putting more distance between me and my wife with every passing second.

Fuck, no. Did Moretti get to her?

I grab my phone and call Allegra.

No answer.

The phone rings out to her voicemail.