Page 34 of Killer Love

“And there he goes…” Gio slurs loudly. “Sofia, shut that damn kid up!”

I dig my nails into my palms under the table.

Sofia pulls Lucian out of his chair and holds him against her as she makes fast strides toward the hallway. I watch her leave, once again admiring the very essence of her as she carries him away.

Mother and child. My child and his mother.

I turn back to find Rosalie staring at me with a judgmental brow raised high.

Yuri slaps my shoulder and slides out of his chair. “I have to take a piss.”

I roll my eyes, though I can’t be surprised. I’ve never once described my big brother as classy.

“Walk with me, Luka,” Gio says, making a grand gesture at me.

I force myself out of my chair to follow him outside into the hall, wishing my brother had chosen a better time to go relieve himself.

“Talk to me,” he says, downing the last of his glass down his throat. “Tell me about what’s going on with security over in Moscow. A lot of my work is moving papers and handholding. It’s not nearly as exciting as your job.”

“There’s not much to tell,” I say, being vague.

“But what do you do? Luka Lutrova wakes up on Monday morning and what does he do? Where does he go?”

I bite my inner cheek. “I accompany my family in public and investigate threats made against them.”

Gio’s brow rises. “What kind of threats?”

“All kinds.”

He sighs as we round the corner. “Like…?”

I look back to see if Yuri is on his way yet. Knowing my brother and his drinking habits, he’s probably not just pissing in there. I think hard, trying to come up with something to throw at Gio. I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind.

“There’s the kobra.”

He laughs. “The kobra? What’s that?”

“I wish I knew.” I pause, wondering how much detail I should give, but Gio is drunk as hell right now. He probably won’t remember this conversation even happened at all. “There’s been some murders in Europe over the last few years. I think they’re connected, but I can’t prove it.”

“Why do you think that?”

“The victims. They are found with bullets through their eyes. There’s no connection other than that, so it’s hard to say. There hasn’t been anything like it in Moscow for three decades, but they’ve come back recently. We call them the kobra because my grandfather caught one years ago, and he had a cobra tattoo on his chest…”

Gio pauses outside of his study and bites his lip. “Hmm…”

“What?”

He raises his hand, pointing his finger upward as he furrows his brow. “I might be able to help you.”

I blink. “Really?”

“I want to say…” he lets out a quiet belch, “I want to say that I read of similar murders in Venice last month. Let me look into it for you.”

I fight the urge to take a long step back as his hand lands on my shoulder. “No, Gio. That won’t be necessary.”

He scoffs and lays his free palm over his chest. “It’s no trouble. I want to help. Really. Let me help you, Luka. I insist.”

“Fine.” I sigh, banking on the idea of him never remembering this. “Thank you.”

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