Page 80 of Koroleva

"They're trying to pin the dead guy on us..."

"On you?"

"Yeah. My boss married the owner of that pharmaceutical company." Segarra let out a whistle.

"Not good. I warn you, I don't want to get splattered..."

"Don't worry, you won't. We're after the bastard who's messing with the formula, someone's playing a risky game with Nikita Koroleva."

Andrey reappeared in front of us. The first thing he did was charge at me like a bull and land a punch in my abdomen that knocked the wind out of me, all the while ranting in Russian.

"What the hell?!" I tried to restrain him, but he was unhinged. My shoe soles skidded on the concrete like a damn figure skater.

Segarra tried to intervene to get the mastodon off me and got headbutted in the nose. The cop let go immediately.

It gave me the seconds I needed to get on the defensive.

"What the hell is wrong with you, you damn Russian piece of shit?!"

"You're a son of a bitch!" he roared, lunging at me again. "You nearly got her killed because of you!" He lunged at my abdomen again.

This time I was ready to surprise him with a sweep that made him fall backwards onto the ground, with a dull thud that made me grimace. I didn't wait to see if his head cracked like a melon. I threw myself onto his body to pin him down, to make sure he didn't move and gave me answers.

"What are you talking about?!" I roared, trying to understand his rage.

"What do you think? Your damn mother?!" he exclaimed, struggling.

Segarra came over and helped me restrain him, his nose bleeding.

"Stay calm!" he shouted. "This place is swarming with cops; you can't go crazy unless you want to end up in jail."

"Was it Romeo? His father? Or one of those snakes they make me share a nest with?" Andrey kept asking questions I didn't understand.

"Do you want to explain?"

"They shot at Nikita!" I felt the blood drain from my face and my fingers stiffen.

"How?!"

"You heard me. Thanks to you spilling the beans, one of your team tried to kill her. I just need to know who, because I swear they won't try again."

"That's impossible."

"Tell that to Bugatti. Koroleva says she's been followed since she left the estate. She was alone, and the only one who saw her leave the house was your boss. They shot at her several times."

"I'm telling you it's impossible! It wasn't us. Romeo doesn't want her dead! He just wants to prove to her that he's not behind the Mentium thing, nothing more."

"By shooting her?!"

"Do you want to listen to me, your stubborn bastard? I've already told you no, it wasn't him."

"Then it must have been Massimo." The thought of Romeo's father shooting at his daughter-in-law made me grit my teeth. I didn't know who it could have been, but what I was sure of was that my boss was going to crush whoever tried to off his wife.

"Where's your boss?" I asked nervously. Romeo would go through the roof if I didn't inform him of something like this.

"What's it to you? I've sent my guys to protect her."

"Tell me!"

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