“You guys alright?”
I look at Blair and Niko where they’re curled up in the backseat. His face is buried in her neck as he cries, and she still isn’t looking at me. My heart lurches in my chest, and for a moment I’m not sure I can breathe.
“Physically, sure. Not sure about the rest of the people outside the museum.”
Honestly, I can’t remember if there was blood or bodies around us. I wasn’t worried about anyone else.
Just my family.
“Fuck. Any clue who’s responsible?” Alexei asks.
I change lanes as I shift through traffic, keeping an eye on the rearview mirror. I don’t see a trail, but I’m not going to take the risk of assuming we don’t have one.
“I can take a fucking guess,” I bite out, cringing when I look at Blair. Niko’s too upset to hear a word I’m saying, but I’ll still have to make sure to apologize later. “You’re my first call.”
Hopefully he recognizes the significance of that. If Maksim’s in the wrong mood, he might view that alone as treason.
I hesitate, weighing my next words carefully. I can’t trust Maksim to handle this. Anything he’d do would probably just lead to further violence, and I refuse to let that touch my family. I only have the vague outline of a plan, but it’s more than enough to get me killed if the wrong person were to find out.
Even though our friendship—if you can call it that—is fraught at times, I trust Alexei more than most. Still, I’m not sure I want to put my life in his hands.
I risk another glance at Niko and Blair.
Regardless of the personal risk, I have to make sure they’re safe, and if someone’s coming after me, they aren’t.
I don’t have a choice.
“Do you have a number for Marcell Renzuto?”
If I want to keep my family safe, I need to cut a deal with The Outfit. And I don’t have time to go through the whole fucking chain of command.
Marcell is only the puppet the actual boss uses to draw heat, but he still holds power. As far as The Outfit’s soldiers—as far as thefedsare concerned, Marcell Renzuto runs the show. He can give me what I need, and he’s under too much scrutiny to kill me as soon as I walk into the room.
Hopefully.
Alexei’s answering silence is deafening. Niko’s sobs have settled into hiccups, muffled against his mother’s chest. I tap my thumb against the steering wheel as I take a last-minute exit, cradling my phone against my shoulder.
“Why do you need that?” Alexei eventually asks. I don’t answer right away, trying to keep the growing dread in my chest at bay. He sighs. “Why do you need to talk to Renzuto, Andrei?”
His concern isn’t misplaced.
I shouldn’t have any reason to talk to anyone from The Outfit, especially not after today. I certainly have no damn reason to talk to their front boss. But it feels presumptuous to ask for a meeting with theiractualboss.
I’m not looking to dodge more bullets today.
And if they really are behind the shooting, I need to do something to get them off my back.
I’ve just managed to scrape this family together. I’m not going to give them up without a fight.
“Do you really want to know?” I swallow thickly. I’ve already got a slew of fights set up in front of me. If I have to add Alexei to the list, he might end up being the thing that brings my whole plan crashing down around me.
“No. No, I guess I don’t.”
“Wonderful. In that case, I’ll be at your place in five and you can give me his number in person.”
“Are you fucking kidding me, Andrei?” he snarls, but I hang up before he can work himself into a frenzy. If I’m going to do this, I can’t worry about Blair’s safety right now. As mad as he might be, Alexi will look after them until I come back.
“You’re going to be okay,” I say, but I’m not sure if I’m trying to convince Blair or myself. Shewillbe okay. I’ll move heaven and earth if I have to. I’ll break everything I’ve ever worked for and let it burn to the ground. As long as Blair and Niko are safe, nothing else matters.
