Page 66 of Ace of Shadows
“I’ve never met her but I remember her picture. Kraven’s son, Alexei, was infatuated with her. A few years ago, he sent out wedding invitations and there was a guy I was seeing who got one. He was a member of an Italian family, and he actually thought it was a threat because, if I remember correctly, he didn’t even know her. But Alexei, for some reason, wanted every Italian family in the city to know he was marrying her.”
“Hold on, you dated?” I glance away from the screen and smirk at her.
Valentina narrows her eyes. “Yes, I’m not a prude.”
“And yet you look down your nose at me.”
She glances briefly at Ivy. “I never brought my dates home.”
“Maybe you should have. Having dick on tap surely would lighten you up.”
“Ruslan!” Ivy suddenly elbows me hard in the gut, and I double over with a grunt while Valentina laughs. “Don’t be rude.”
“Ouch,” I groan softly, rubbing my abdomen. “Sorry.”
“Wow.” Valentina smirks. “Did I really just hear that word come from you?”
“Like I said, having someone close by lightens you up.”
“Mmhmm.” She rolls her eyes and sighs. “Anyway, the wedding never happened. I thought he dumped her during some drug-fueled rampage, but I don’t know the details. What I do remember is Kraven came down hard on Alexei. Sent him away for a while.”
“Prison?”
She shakes her head. “Rehab, I think. But I don’t know if that actually worked. This was years ago.”
“I can’t believe this,” Ivy says after a soft sigh. She leans back in her chair, and I move my hand from the wood to her shoulder. “She’s beautiful. I never would have thought she was my father’s type.”
“You thought your parents were in love,” I say as I sit next to her. “Something like this never would have crossed your mind.”
“She looks like she belongs in a magazine,” Ivy murmurs, turning to face me. “Do you think she did it? She hurt my mombecause she was jealous and then killed my dad because he wouldn’t leave her?”
“It’s a possibility, but…”
“But,” Valentina cuts in. “What happened to your parents speaks more to rage than jealousy. Not that the two of those aren’t linked, but your father’s death was slow. That typically suggests an attempt to draw information. Harming your mother could have been a tool to get that information until he succumbed to his injuries. Women are dangerous, but sexual violence isn’t really a tool we use.”
“Information?” Ivy’s jaw tics back and forth and she groans softly. “None of this makes any sense to me. You’re saying Mom was hurt and Dad was killed for information, but what has that got to do with me and the plane? And why are people still trying to hurt me?”
“Ivy.” Without thinking, I reach for her hand and cover her knuckles with my palm. “These are just theories. We need to look deeper, so it’s important not to get attached to any one reason.”
“Getting attached is dangerous,” Valentina remarks, and when our eyes meet, I get the distinct feeling she isn’t talking about the same thing I am.
“I’m not attached, I’m just…” Ivy pulls away from me and stands, pacing away from the table while twisting her fingers together. “I’m trying really hard not to cry or hate my dad for having an affair because it really sounds like he was getting involved in things that got him killed and Mom…” A bubble of emotion clouds her voice so Ivy falls silent, her gaze down as she paces.
I glance at the woman on the screen. She’s thin, tanned, and beautiful, with miles of long, brunette hair. Is she the key, or have we simply unearthed something unrelated that’s destroyed Ivy’s view of her father?
“So we know Camden was sleeping with this woman. We also knew a few years ago, she was engaged to Alexei, but he dumped her because he was an addict?”
“Exactly.” Valentina tucks some of her hair behind her ear. “Alexei’s always been determined to make Daddy proud so I can’t imagine Kraven letting him marry someone from a nobody family. The Russians take matrimony as seriously as a business deal. It’s never for love.”
Something starts to connect in my mind, like I’m on the cusp of grasping something like a memory just out of reach. “Kraven’s been lying to me.Again. There’s no way this is just some coincidence.”
“And yet it might be,” Valentina warns. “Camden having an affair hardly links to the drug-filled plane or the deal between the Russians and the Italians. Other than her” —she points to the laptop— “there’s nothing linking him to anyone else.”
“So maybe Kraven’s right and it’s been the Italians all along?”
Valentina shrugs. “We don’t have enough to piece this together. Think about it. Alexei lives to make his father proud, and Nico is inhellsince the cops and the media are crawling all over his airline. This deal benefited both families while bringing the war to an end, so for one of them to fuck it up? They’re taking a huge hit either way. Maybe…” She purses her lips. “Maybe we’re looking in the wrong place.”
“What are you thinking?”
