Page 63 of Ivory Ashes

I shake my head. “Leave it, Raoul. Fabio is someone I’d rather keep an eye on. This has nothing to do with?—”

“Your feelings for her.”

“I said to fucking leave it.”

“And I will.” Raoul pushes his empty glass to the center of the table and crosses his arms. “Once I do my job.”

“Since when is your job to poke around in my personal life?”

“Since your personal life might interfere with what we’ve been working towards for the last six years.”

“Viviana isn’t going to interfere with anything.”

“I know. Because you won’t even let her take a phone call with Fabio to set up accounts. Why not?” he presses. “Is it that you don’t trust her? Do you think she’s a spy? Because if so, I’m not sure marrying her was the right call.”

“Which is why I make the decisions and you do whatever the fuck I ask you to do,” I snarl.

Raoul’s eyes flare for a second, but he sits back.

I’ve always viewed Raoul as a friend. As a partner. But it’s an uncomfortable truth that he was gifted to me by his family. That they intended for him to be a slave.

Occasionally, in moments like this one, it’s impossible to forget.

“I wouldn’t do anything to put our plans at risk,” I add, a touch more softly. “We’ve all worked too hard at this to throw it away now. Viviana won’t be a problem.”

He doesn’t look convinced. “She hates you. If she could get you sent to prison, she would.”

“We’re… planning on being civil now. For Dante’s sake.”

Civil. It feels like the wrong word for what happened last night. The way she and I sat with Dante… like a family.

I crumple the word and toss it away. I don’t know what we are, but it isn’t that. Not in any way that matters.

“According to Anatoly, you’re taking her out tonight,” he muses. “Sounds like a lot more than being ‘civil’ to me.”

“Then that means it’s working.”

He frowns. “What’s working?”

“My plan. We found out Trofim was murdered and Viviana showed up in my life on the same day. That doesn’t strike you as strange?”

“We have no reason to think they’re connected.”

We don’t. And they probably aren’t. And yet…

“Just like we poked around for information today, I figured it would be smart to get Viviana alone and do a little digging. I’ll soften her up and make sure she isn’t hiding anything.”

“That’s why you asked her out?” He dips his chin, skeptical.

That was the last thing on my mind when I told Viviana we had plans last night. I wasn’t even sure where I was taking her; I just wanted to be with her.

But this makes sense. This is a good plan.

“We should look into every possibility. Trofim was Viviana’s ex-fiancé. If someone was out for him, they could be out for her, too. Or Dante.”

“Viviana was in Chicago at the time. We found a woman’s hair clip tangled in his sheets. It was probably an escort he hired and refused to pay.”

“Probably,” I agree. “But I’ll find out more tonight. Whatever I find out, it won’t change any of my plans.”

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