Page 7 of The Enemy of My Enemy: Pt. 2

Just then, my phone rang, and while I normally wouldn’t answer it when ‘working’, I couldn’t afford to miss any important phone calls right now.We were working day and night to find out what happened to my wife, and so I wasn’t going to dismissanyonewanting to speak to me, save for those who were obviously calling for other unrelated business.

However, when I saw the words ‘Mafia Princess’ flash across my screen, I immediately stepped back, automatically wiping my hands on my pants.“It’s Aurora,” I said.“Take care of this piece of shit.”

Leaving Kasimir to finish the job, I exited the warehouse that we had at the end of Dumont Street, then answered her call, praying that it was her and not her father or one of her brothers with news that I wouldn’t be able to handle.Even though she’d sounded fine when she’d told me not to send amateurs after her, she’d hung up immediately afterwards, not really giving me any indication of her state of being.

“Baby,” I said as soon as I answered the phone.

“I’m calling because I want to make something very clear, Korolev,” she said, and her voice sounded strong enough to almost drop me to my knees in relief.

“What’s that?”

“The minute your father calls mine, then this will be something beyond either of our control,” she said, and I should have expected as much.“So, my advice is for you to make sure that you have your father and brother at ease, or else us getting married was for nothing.”

“It wasn’t for nothing,” I automatically bit out.“Every second that I spent with you was not for fucking nothing.”

“You also need to quit calling me,” she said, ignoring that.“You’re not in charge here, Korolev.”

“Then let me see you,” I said, offering up any bargain that I could think of.“Let me see that you’re really okay.”

“Why?”

“What?”

“Why do you want to see me?”she asked.“Or are you just looking for a way to finish the job?”

“Baby, c’mon...”I said, her words piercing my chest in a way that she’d never understand.“You can’t really believe that I did this.I refuse to believe that you really think that.”

Then, after a few seconds, she said, “You come alone.You come alone, and you will be searched at the gate.You either walk into my father’s house completely unarmed, or else you don’t come here at all, and those are youronlytwo choices, Korolev.”

“Fine,” I agreed, though I wasn’t even sure how that would work.I couldn’t remember the last time that I’d ever left the house unarmed, but she was leaving me little choice.“But how do I know that I’ll even get there?How do I know that you won’t handle things as soon as I cross into your territory?”

“I give you my word,” she said, and it was crazy how I believed her.

“When?”I asked, not caring how desperate I sounded.

“Tomorrow afternoon works for me,” she answered, her voice even, like she was making an appointment with a plumber.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I assured her.

Aurora hung up before I could say anything more, but that was okay.As long as I got to see that she was fine with my own two eyes, that’s all I cared about.Nevertheless, I wasn’t so completely far gone that I didn’t recognize the risk that I was taking.

So, after hanging up with my wife, I immediately called my father, and as soon as he answered, I said, “I’m meeting Aurora tomorrow.”

“Where?”he asked, the disapproval clear in that one word.

“At Roman’s,” I told him.

“Net,”he said, forbidding me, though that’s what I’d been expecting.“I will not have it.”

“She’s not setting me up to kill me,” I assured him.

“And how can you be so certain of that?”he spat.

“Because, while I can’t speak for Roman, Santino, or Stefano, Aurora Machetti isn’t the type to kill a man with an unfair advantage,” I explained.“She’ll get no satisfaction out of killing me if it’s a case where I’m just walking into the lion’s den.”

“You cannot know that,” he replied angrily.“She has every reason to want you dead, and you know this as well as I do.”

“I didn’t call you to ask for permission,” I told him pointedly.“I called you to tell you that I’m going to go see my wife tomorrow.Should I not make it back, my affairs are already all in line.”