Page 30 of Vows in Violence

We’ve arrived at a townhouse that is a part of several row houses, a series of houses that look exactly the same. The brick was once a bright red, but the exhaust of the city’s transportation system has turned it to a dull brown. The flower boxes are empty at the windows, and there are stains on the concrete steps leading up to the front door.

I know this house. It is a Valachi safehouse. My shock increases when the door swings open at Nikolai’s coded knock, revealing Eduardo.

“Eduardo! I thought you were dead!” The proclamation escapes my lips with a small cry, and I leap forward into his tight hug.

Eduardo was sent to the hospital after a gunfight and never came home. Everyone spoke of him like he was dead. He was dead.

How many times am I going to fall for this?

I shake my head a little, one hand lifting to my temple.

No, I know what I saw. I know what I heard later about Eduardo’s condition. There was no way he survived that.

But his embrace is the same one I remember from childhood. Being hugged by someone so familiar, especially after all of the losses of the day, almost breaks me. I just want to sob into his shoulder like I did when I was a girl.

But I don’t get the chance. Over his shoulder, I see Damon Papparado sitting at a kitchen table. He looks just as dark and handsome as I recall. I remember my girlhood crush on him, the unrealistic kind where I used to write “Papparado” at the end of my name in old composition books, where I dreamed about honeymoons on beaches that didn’t really exist.

The feelings that Ivan inspires are so different from those pale, shadowy things. So…visceral. So real, even if they’re confusing, ugly, and terrifying half the time.

And there’s that sob, welling up again.

No. Nonono—

I’m not ready. I may not ever be ready.

“D-Damon—”

“Hey, there, kiddo.” Damon’s voice is soft as he eases himself out of his seat and wraps me in a hug. He holds me at arm’s length, looking me over. “Not such a kid anymore, are you, though?” Despite my best efforts, a tear finds a path down my cheek. I swipe it away and look around the small room. “Is Lulu here?”

Damon looks at Nikolai. “You’ll see her soon. I wanted to read the situation before planning that reunion.”

Translation: he didn’t know —doesn’t know?—if he can trust Nikolai.

Behind me, Eduardo makes a sound. “They’ve stationed themselves outside of the house.”

I don’t need to ask who they are. Azrael is always watching.

“Have you been in touch with him?” Damon asks, directing his question at Nikolai.

Nikolai shakes his head, the gesture brief. “He’s tried to contact me, but…” He trails away, hesitating briefly and glancing over at me. “The situation is dire. They went after him directly, and they will do so again. Soon. Anyone in the line of fire…”

I bite my tongue to quell the words rushing up. Ivan is alive.

Alive!

But they don’t want to take me to him. Damon, I understand. Nikolai’s motives are murkier. He can act like he wants to protect me all he likes, but there’s more to it.

Nikolai is still talking, his expression earnest. I keep my mouth shut. I listen.

“You know as well as I do, the Five Families existed in relative peace for many years. I don’t believe Ivan is capable of restoring that peace.”

Damon hums, the sound neutral.

“I can keep the cash flow for the Romanovs going while the family makes a decision regarding leadership.” He waves a hand, far too dismissive for my taste. “But, as far as they know, Ivan is out.”

Nikolai’s motivation crystallizes. I’m not here because Nikolai is protecting me. I’m leverage. He’s using this as an opportunity for a power grab.

Rage, unlike anything I’ve felt before, surges inside me, making me curl my hands into fists and grit my teeth.

---