Page 174 of Rise of the Queen

“That would imply he had one to begin with,” Dario said thoughtfully. While he was not trying to be funny when he said it, it did make all of us laugh. We unwittingly made him nervous by laughing at him, until we assured him none of it was a joke.

“Dario, there are things happening that are not easily explained and Sal and Ricardo are at the center of them. There is a network of people around the world trying to take them down. Not just us,” Adrik said.

Dario thought for a few minutes, then looked at Adrik. “I can get information. I don’t know what else I can do, but I can at least do that. If what you’ve said is true, then he must be stopped. His entire family must be stopped. His children take after him in every way. Even the girls. Anthony was not an anomaly.”

Adrik looked at Ivan, the two of them clearly having a silent conversation that the rest of us weren’t privy to. I didn’t get anything but honesty from Dario, nor did Andrei. He passed Misha’s tests as well. We really could use all the help we could get at this point. If he was able to get information directly from Sal, it would make our lives much easier. Battista didn’t even know about Sal’s deal yet. We definitely needed some more help.

Adrik sighed. “I have no issue with you talking to Sal on the phone, but anything past that is not going to be safe for you. I’m not worried about betrayal. That would mean you’re dead with the rest of them. I’m worried about your life being in jeopardy if they know where you are.”

Dario looked surprised at Adrik’s statement. Like he wasn’t expecting Adrik to be worried for his safety. He thought for a few moments, then said, “Sal knows how paranoid I am. He also knows how secretive I can be. If I tell him I’m in hiding, he likely won’t ask anything past that, as he knows he won’t get an answer. He knows what happened to Massimo?”

“We’re not sure. He had already fled to Italy when Massimo was killed,” Adrik said.

“Eh. Then I tell him what happened to Massimo. I tell him I escaped and made it somewhere safe, but they’re looking for me. I want to know what he’s going to do to make it safe for me to return to the city. Then maybe I offer my area and Massimo’s area for helping me. He won’t be able to turn that down. He’s too fucking greedy,” Dario said.

“It could work,” Ivan said, in Russian, after thinking about it for a few minutes. “We need information on Sal. Anything helps, at this point.”

Viktor agreed with Ivan, adding, “Just on the off chance that Sal can trace his call, we can make it look like he’s anywhere in the world but here. Sal won’t be able to tell the difference.”

Adrik looked to Misha, who was checking on outcomes. He finally returned to the present, saying, “He’ll be useful. There’s multiple ways this plays out, though.”

“We can discuss that later. The important issue is whether to let him talk to Sal and whether that benefits us or hurts us,” Adrik said.

“It will benefit us in each scenario,” Misha said.

Adrik looked back to Dario, asking him in English, “You’re sure you want to help us get information from Sal? You can say no. It changes nothing about our deal. You still go free at the end.”

“I want to help. I’m tired of ignoring the evil he’s done. If I can help hurry along his comeuppance, I’ll gladly do it,” Dario said.

Adrik simply nodded once. The conversation ended shortly after, and Dario was taken back to his room. Once Viktor came back, we moved upstairs to the penthouse since that was the only spot we really felt comfortable discussing anything these days.

“What were you two discussing?” I asked, looking between Adrik and Ivan.

Ivan’s mischievous grin spread across his face. “I thought the whole point of being able to communicate telepathically was that no one else would notice when it happened?”

“No one else but her,” Adrik said, pulling me to him. He turned me toward him, his palm resting on my cheek. “Much like what you witnessed in Battista’s associate’s head, I don’t think you need the details of that conversation, solnishko.”

He didn’t need to say anymore. I knew it was not something I was going to enjoy knowing, so I happily let it drop.

“It’s so weird when she doesn’t argue,” Ivan said, trying to sound serious.

Adrik put the back of his hand on my forehead, like he was checking my temperature. “She doesn’t feel like she’s got a fever, but that doesn’t mean she’s not coming down with something.”

I playfully punched him in the ribs as I turned and walked toward the bedroom to take my contacts out. He caught me as I got halfway down the hallway, wrapping his arms around me as he walked us both back to the bedroom. I could feel his happiness at having me in his arms. I knew he could feel mine as well.

He waited patiently while I took my contacts out, then spun me around to face him. His lips immediately found mine, kissing me deeply. He broke the kiss, leaning back far enough that he could see my eyes. The sweet look of satisfaction on his face told me they were deep blue. He caught me smirking at him. “What’sthat look for?” he asked as he traded places with me to take his contacts out.

“You get a look of satisfaction on your face when my eyes turn blue. And only when my eyes turn blue. It’s the only color I’m 100 percent positive on each time it happens, just by the look on your face,” I said. I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my head in between his shoulder blades while I waited for him to take his contacts out.

“That’s because it’s my absolute favorite,” he said as he turned around to face me.

“You’re my absolute favorite,” I said, standing on my toes to kiss him again. He groaned softly as he pulled me against him completely. His lips were still on mine as he slowly walked us out of the bathroom, toward the bedroom door again. I could feel his reluctance to let go of me as we made it to the bedroom door. It made me giggle.

“You’re not the only one who’s feeling extra needy lately, apparently,” he said, finally coming up for air.

“What is wrong with us,” I said wistfully, as I pulled his arms around me tighter as we walked back to the kitchen.

I started on dinner as we discussed our conversation with Dario, as well as the conversation with Trino from the night before.

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