knows? He sure hadn’t chased after me. He either didn’t know I was gone or simply didn’t care.
As irrational as it was, that strange defensiveness toward Nico remained. Apparently, my heart didn’t realize it had been bludgeoned to oblivion. It still loved Nico, still wanted to protect him. Though my brain steadfastly maintained that while I might love him, that didn’t mean I had to like him anymore.
“If I had been in imminent danger, he would have protected me,” I stated firmly. “He is not a coward. My father knew that. Otherwise, he never would have entrusted me to him.”
Dimitri visibly vibrated with anger. “Your husband couldn’t stop Raphael Esposito from escaping, and he got shot in the shoulder for his troubles. Do you really think he’ll be able to protect you if Esposito decides to come after the Rossetti family?”
Was his reaction purely from a jealousy standpoint? Based on the crush I’d always sensed he’d harbored for me? Or was this something deeper? Because it felt deeper.
The thought of the sadistic Raphael coming after any member of the Rossetti family again, especially Nico, caused my stomach to violently churn with nausea. Those people had become very special to me. I loved them as much as—
I took a step back. “I never told you where Nico was shot, Dimitri.”
His brow furrowed. That was either confusion or anger, but I couldn’t discern which. It was almost as if he couldn’t believe he’d—said that out loud. Slipped up.
Oh…God.
“I never said anything about his shoulder,” I reiterated. “How would you know where the bullet hit him?”
It was like Halloween. Or a weird Sci-Fi movie.
Dimitri dropped all pretense in that moment, like he was shucking an elaborate costume or a mask. His shoulders slumped in relief, his face transforming completely. He bared his teeth in more of a sneer than a smile. And his eyes…they were no longer warm with familiarity but cold with ruthless aggression.
He shot a look over his shoulder at the byki. “Fucking finally, da?”
The two men snickered.
When my long-time friend finally turned back to me, I didn’t recognize a single part of him. “Yes, I think you finally seeing it for yourself will work much better for me.”
I moved back again, sensing I needed to put as much distance between us as possible. “Seeing what for myself?”
He smirked. “What Sergei was too naïve to see for years. He only recently wised up, the old fool.” He held his trunk-like arms out to the side, palms skyward. “Behold the future of Russia.”
Was this man demented? What the hell was he talking about?
Dimitri walked along the wooden bar, dragging his hand across the smooth surface, skirting right past the exact stool Nico bent me over a mere three weeks ago. It already feels like a lifetime has passed since then.
“Times have changed, Alexia. And men like your father can’t keep up. His era of leadership is falling by the wayside, and men like me have to step up in order to safeguard our country’s future.”
I slowly wound my way around a table, keeping a chair in front of me. “You’re not a politician. What do you think you’re going to be able to do?”
He laughed manically. Nothing like the sound I’d grown so accustomed to over the years. “It is Russia, kotyonok. The land where criminals literally run the country. Do you not think your father has had influence with every major political agenda in Russia since he became vor? His compound holds more secrets than the Pentagon or the Vatican.”
I never would have thought that Dimitri was capable of hurting me, but I knew I needed to get the hell out of here. Only problem was, there was no way in hell I’d reach the exit before Dimitri or one of the byki caught me.
My gun.
Was upstairs in my purse in Nico’s office.
“So, this is all about you wanting to become vor?” I asked, knowing I needed him to keep talking for as long as I could.
“Hardly. It cannot be questioned that I earned my place in the organization. Because of that, I made the Voiny what it is today, all on my own.”
He was behind the Voiny uprising?
All this time, it was Dimitri who’d been threatening my father’s life? How can this be? This man had been my…friend. My only friend for so long.
He smirked again as I reacted to that admission. “But taking your father’s seat? As vor?” He shook his head. “That’s my goddamned birthright.”