Page 117 of Capuleto

“Of course, boss, I’ll deliver them myself. I’ll accompany the electrician and then go inform Ivan.”

“What the hell are you? A damn tour guide? I doubt the electrician can’t manage on his own, right?” Yuri insisted. His gaze heated the top of my cap.

“Yes, sir, a house is a house,” I asserted.

“Good. And you...” he commented in a warning tone, addressing his man.

“Going to get Ivan.”

“That’s right.”

Kulkov hurried down while a cold sweat ran down my back as I climbed the last steps and passed by my boss’s brother.

Would he recognize me? A hand gripped my forearm tightly, and I clenched my teeth, thinking he had discovered me.

"Hurry up, if you finish in ten minutes, there will be a nice tip waiting for you downstairs."

"Don’t worry, sir, I’m good at my job."

"Then prove it."

He let me go and left the way he had come, giving me a clue about where his quarters were. If I could, I would take advantage of his absence to find some information now that I had free rein on the upper floor.

Time was ticking, and it never played in your favor. I had to hurry.

47

It can't be

Itook my wife to the same hospital where Aleksa was, so I could keep an eye on both of them.

My men had already been discharged from the hospital. We were on such a streak that instead of mobsters, we seemed like something out of The Good Doctor.

They took Nikita to an examination room and asked me the usual questions about how she got the wound and why we hadn't come in earlier. I told them I had been traveling and that I found her like this when I got home. I wasn’t sure if they believed me. They were used to seeing all kinds of wounds, and a bullet wound, even a grazing one, was very distinctive.

“Is she your wife?” asked the nurse.

“I already told you, yes.”

“Could she be pregnant?”

“No!” I exclaimed, horrified. “Why are you asking that?”

“Well, depending on her condition, the medication should be different.”

“She takes the pill, so she can’t be.”

“When was her last period?” But what the hell was wrong with this woman?

“Um... I don’t know... I’ve had too much on my mind.” Maybe she had it the week she was kidnapped. “And she was away for a few days…”

“Then she could be,” she insisted.

“I already told you she takes the pill.”

“That’s not a definitive answer. All contraceptive methods have a failure rate, and sometimes there are human errors. If there’s a possibility, we need to test for it along with her blood work. Some medications can affect fetuses, especially in the early stages.”

“Fetuses? What fetuses? I told you it’s impossible!”