Page 5 of The Enemy of My Enemy: Pt. 2

“Your husband hasn’t stopped calling your phone, but no one has answered it,” he stated expectantly.“We imagine that it won’t be long before Aleksei becomes involved.”

“Aurora, you need to tell us everything,” my father said, and I wouldn’t expect anything less.

“Shouldn’t we wait until Stefano can join us?I mean, shouldn’t he be here?”I asked before drinking the entire cup of water.

“He’s been checking on this while Papa and I have been taking shifts with you,” he replied, surprising me.“Anything that he needs to know, I’ll relay when I see him.”

So, starting from when I left the club, I told them everything in the exact detail that I could remember, which was where my photographic memory always came in handy.Even though everything had happened so fast, my mind had still been able to register everything around me, and I could recite it all without leaving anything out.

When I was done, I said, “The fact that they were told not to rape me is what makes me think that Viktor is behind it.It makes sense that he’s the only one who would care about something like that.”

“But...?”my brother prompted.

“By all accounts, Viktor Korolev isn’t a coward,” I pointed out.“I just can’t see him leaving this to someone else.”

“Maybe he has an aversion to murdering women,” my father suggested.“It’s possible.”

“While that is certainly a possibility, there’s something else,” I replied.

“What is it?”Santino asked.

“There was a fifth man hiding in the container stacks,” I finally informed them.“Now, while I can’t say why he was there, once I’d been shot, he left, and...well, if he was part of this, that’s just sloppy work, and I can’t see Viktor hiring people that do sloppy work.If he was in the habit of doing that, he’d be in prison by now.”I shook my head, then immediately stopped when pain spiked up my neck.“I just think that Viktor’s too smart for something like this.If he really wants me dead, he could have easily staged an accident by pushing me down the stairs or something like that.These men were...were unorganized.”

“Or they could have simply underestimated you,” my father pointed out.“It’s been done before.”

I looked over at him.“Afterwhat I showed them at the reception?I can’t see Viktor not impressing upon them that their best chance at success would be to just shoot me, no delaying or messing around.I just...I’m struggling with either Korolev prince being this sloppy.”

They both dissected that a bit before Santino asked, “So, what’s your take on the fifth guy?Just a random man in the wrong place at the wrong time, or do you feel like he’s something more?”

“I honestly don’t know,” I answered tiredly.“If he has nothing to do with this, then why wouldn’t he help me?Yeah, he could have been scared, but...but why watch?Why not run away as soon as he realized what was happening?”

“Can you sketch him and then get with Leah to clear up the details?”my father asked, Leah Gallo being one of his Capo’s daughters, but also a very talented artist, to which my father had several of her paintings decorating Marchetti businesses.

“I can do that,” I said.“I got a good enough look at him that I’ll never forget his face.”

“You never forget anyone’s face,” Santino grinned.

Even though it hurt my face, I grinned back.“This is true.”

“So, what do you want us to do about Korolev?”my father asked.“Santino is right about Aleksei not getting involved, especially if his son really did blotch this.”

“I need to think about that a bit more,” I admitted.“While I have no problem exacting a revenge that’s well deserved, I don’t want to go to war without absolute certainty.”

“While I respect how you’re trying to do what’s best for the family, I cannot simply ignore that they failed to keep you safe,Alba,”my father said, and it was hard not to blame him.“Innocent or not, I placed you with them with the expectation that they would keep you safe, and within a couple of weeks, you’ve been attacked, stabbed, and shot.You can’t really expect me to just...just dismiss that.”

“I think it’s grounds for an annulment,” Santino said before I could reply to my father’s concerns.“Surely, Aleksei Korolev would understand, considering his position in all this.”

Looking between them, I said, “Why does that feel too much like running?”

“Because you’re crazy?”Santino huffed.“Because you have complete disregard for your life?Because you’re bored unless your life is at stake?I mean, there’s a whole laundry list of reasons why you’d see it as retreating versus making them pay for not keeping you safe.”

“I’d rather kill him,” I stated seriously.

Instead of replying to that, my father said, “I think we need to let you rest.While you might be feeling better, you don’t look it, and Dr.Baruch was very clear about your body needing to heal.”

“Okay, but...do me a favor,” I said.

“What is it?”my father automatically asked.