Page 92 of Capuleto
“R and I had to stop; we ran out of fuel.”
“How fortunate!” he commented, moving closer to hug me and resting his chin on my head. “I can’t wait for all this to be over and for us to get the life we deserve. You’ve always been my favorite sister, so much like me, so beautiful, so cold and lethal.” He pulled back and caressed my face.
His reflection stirred childhood memories, those where the world revolved around us, the perfect duo. Yuri had been everything to me, and now... Now I wasn’t sure. What is lost in the fire never returns from the ashes. I had lost the brother of my soul, and I wasn’t sure who had come back.
“Have you found the person behind the Mentium resale?” We had agreed that he would handle finding out.
“I have a very good hacker tracking who’s behind it. It’s a matter of time; the person who created the app isn’t an idiot, they’ve made sure to create a labyrinth around it. However, I’m not worried; sooner or later, I’ll find them.”
“As soon as you find out…”
“I’ll tell you.” He rolled his eyes. “For God's sake, Kalinka, I know what I have to do. I’ll serve the culprit to you on a silver platter and let you squeeze his balls.”
“Alright,” I couldn’t say anything else. Yuri took my chin and pinched it gently.
“Call me when R tells you the plan against the Chinese. With last night’s incident, he’s probably climbing the walls and blaming them. I’m eager to fuck those Italian bastards over and gift you their empire to run as you please. Would you like that?” I nodded. “Of course you would, my Russian pearl. That will be my gift to make you forgive me.” He pressed his lips to my forehead. “I’m off; as soon as I can solve any of your doubts, I’ll get in touch with you. And remember, I appreciate your sacrifice very much; you’re the best sister in the world. Take care,” he said, adjusting his cap before leaving.
Once I was alone, I drank two more bottles from the minibar. I needed an alibi for my outing, so I decided to call Andrea and ask her about the place.
I got lucky. She told me she had an appointment with the real estate agent to see a place in forty minutes. The woman couldn’t attend to her until that day, so she hadn’t mentioned it to me.
I offered to visit it with her and grab a coffee beforehand. She was delighted with my suggestion, so I didn’t waste any more time and asked for the address.
Once out of the hotel, I got into a taxi. I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching me. Maybe it was just my paranoia and the nervousness from meeting with Yuri behind everyone’s back, not to mention still not knowing who had attacked us.
I mulled over his responses. I couldn’t rule anything out, whether it was his doing and he was lying, or whether some of the people he mentioned were playing with fire. The world was full of crazies and assholes.
I called Andrey, the only person I trusted completely. I asked him to investigate the guy whose balls R blew off, the gypsy, and to do the same with Irene. I couldn’t rule her out; after all, she left before everything exploded. Maybe she did because she knew what was going to happen, though I didn’t see her as cold-blooded enough to kill the men of the guy she wanted. It wouldn't hurt to know more about that bitch.
After finishing my orders, I wanted to check in on my man.
"Is everything okay with Aleksa? You didn’t come home last night."
"We had a lot to talk about," he replied tersely.
"Sure," I commented playfully, imagining the type of conversation they had. "I’m meeting with Arasagasti’s wife for coffee." Andrey was aware of my business proposal to have Andrea on my side.
"Do you want me to send some of our men to escort you?" I hadn’t told him that I had already left the house.
"No, I’m fine, I took a taxi. Thanks for your concern."
"You shouldn’t go alone."
"I’m old enough to make my own decisions. Handle what I’ve assigned to you and let me do things my way."
"I didn’t mean to bother you."
"I know."
"Did you read the newspaper this morning?"
"No, why?"
"An article came out that I don’t think you’ll like."
"Who wrote it?"
"Jonás Sánchez."