Page 28 of The Enemy of My Enemy: Pt. 2

It took me a second, but once the implications of what she’d said hit me, I thought back to how Stefano had called her Stella at the church.It also wasn’t hard to figure out the math.Estella meant star in Italian, and the word star could be found right smack dab in the middle of the name Astaroth.Nonetheless, I needed an explanation for the bomb that she had just dropped on me.

“If you’re saying what I think it is that you’re saying, why are you telling me this?”I asked plainly.

“Two reasons,” she answered.“First, it puts us on an even keel.You got down on your knees to prove your love for me, and that deserves an equal return in power.I know something about you that can ruin your life, and now you know something about me that can do the same.”

Now, while I hadn’t been expecting Aurora to say the words back, I didn’t like how she was categorizing what I’d said as a power play.I’d told her that I loved her to prove that I’d never choose any traitor over her, and that’s what my father and brother would be to me if it really was one of them behind what had happened to her at the pier.

Relaxing my jaw, I asked, “And what’s the second reason?”

“To help you understand why I don’t need you to avenge me, Viktor,” she said, and it was a good thing that I was sitting down, because the seriousness in her voice would have cut me to my knees.“To help you understand why my father and brothers allowed me to return here alone.”

I stared at her, not really knowing what to say.I knew that she wasn’t lying to me, but I could still hardly credit it.Even as lethal as she was, to be Astaroth was something entirely different.To have made the kills that were credited to her and not get caught was short of a miracle.So, it was hard not to feel like I was missing something very important here.

Then the lightbulb went off.

“How did you know about the four weaknesses on our property?”I asked, remembering that little gem of a conversation.

Aurora sat up straighter.“I paid attention when you gave me a tour of the grounds.”

“And?”I prompted, pushing for more.

My wife let out a heavy sigh before saying, “Viktor, I have a photographic memory.”

“You have a photographic memory,” I echoed.

She nodded.“It’s how I’ve managed to get away with my kills.Being able to remember everything about my target and their environment helps me plan and execute almost flawlessly.”

So, not only could my wife fight like a trained soldier, speak and understand multiple languages, run the Marchetti’s gambling empire, and shoot a gun like a marksman, but she also had a photographic memory that was a more dangerous weapon than all of her other skills combined.If Aurora truly had a photographic memory, then that meant that she could remember every place that I’d taken her, the faces of everyone that she’d been in contact with, and could assess any situation enough that she knew more about what had happened on that pier than she’d led on.

“And you think that this information makes a difference?”I finally asked her.

“I’m just explaining that I’ve got this,” she said, pissing me off a bit.“I know what I’m doing, and I don’t need you to put yourself in the line of fire for something that I can and should handle on my own.”

“Are you seriously sitting there, telling me to back off?”I bit out, the heat of rage slithering down my back and everywhere else.

Her eyes gave nothing away as she said, “Even if I believe that you weren’t behind the attack, there’s still a traitor walking around freely right now, and I’m no closer to knowing who it is than I was two weeks ago.So, I’d feel better handling this myself.”

“You can’t honestly believe that I’d ever go for something like that, Aurora,” I said, my voice biting with anger.“You can’t seriously believe that I’d ever step aside to let you fight an enemy alone.”

Aurora let out another heavy sigh.“What’s it going to take?”

“For what?’

“For you to finally believe that I can take care of myself,” she answered.“You know who my family is, you’ve seen me fight off four grown men, and you’re a witness to the men who love me the most letting me come back here to take care of this situation alone.What more do you need as proof of what I’m capable of?”

Leaning into her, I said, “I don’t give a fuck if you’re a goddamn Greek Spartan.I’ve already told you that it ismyjob to protect and avenge you.It ismyfucking job to make sure that everyone knows that you are untouchable.”

She shot me a look, and she didn’t even need to say the words to make her point.I had failed in protecting her, and I had failed to make her place in my life known.Still, be that as it may, I wasn’t about to let her rob me of the chance to avenge her.It was the only way that I was going to be able to survive failing her, and if she took that away from me, I knew that it would slowly drive me insane.

“My choice to do this on my own has nothing to do with you, Viktor,” she said, but she couldn’t be more wrong.“It’s just how I do things.”

“Not anymore,” I shot back.“That all changed the second that we said our vows.”

Aurora cocked her head as she asked, “Is it really so hard to let me protect you?”

“Protect me from what?”I snapped, the sentence enough to piss me off more.

“From whatever this is,” she answered.“By staying out of it, then you’ve got options should it come out that your family is behind all this.”