Page 59 of Chasing Danger

We watched the chaos in the distance for a moment as our little boat bobbed in the waves. After a few minutes, Gavriil finished with the glider and sat next to us.

“Do you think Aslanov survived?”

“Probably,” I shrugged. “A sinking ship wouldn’t kill that woman. Unless one of Alex’s people got lucky with a bullet, we’ll be seeing her again. However, a display of power like this from Alex will at least make the Russian’s think twice about starting a war. They’ll probably even respect him more now.”

Gavriil grunted. “Pity. I was hoping Aslanov would go down with the ship. We could have used one less bitch in the world.”

I raised an eyebrow at his unexpectedly crude language, but when I felt Oliver shivering against me, I couldn’t help but agree. That woman had dragged Oliver through hell. She deserved to die.

Although, I’d also had a hand in what happened to him. I’d been the one to approach him in the first place, despite knowinghow dangerous it was for anyone to associate with me. I wasn’t blameless in this situation.

Maybe that meant I deserved to die, too.

In all the years of my life, it wasn’t the first time I’d asked myself that question. It was, however, the first time I didn’t have a definite answer.

I was a killer with too much blood on my hands. Life had handed me an olive branch of innocence, and I couldn’t help but feel like the universe was testing me.

What would I do?

If I was a decent person, I would let the olive branch go to avoid staining it with my sin.

Against me, Oliver shivered as a cool breeze blew past.

I held him tighter.

I never claimed to be a decent man.

CHAPTER 24

Oliver

It had beentwo weeks since the shootout on the ship, and I spent most of it sitting at home watching movies and playing video games with my brother. I hadn’t returned to the coffee shop or Erodance. There was no telling how safe it was for anyone from my family to be out while things between the Italian and Russian Mafia were being settled.

Even my mother had spent the time home from work. Explaining everything to her had been odd. She’d been aware of my father’s involvement in the Italian Mafia, but not that he had stolen from them, or Nana’s identity as a Russian sleeper agent.

Even just thinking about it two weeks later felt strange. Like the thought was too big to fit inside my brain and I could only examine pieces of it at a time.

After the two-week mark came and went, D’Angelo sent me a request to meet with him, shortly followed by a car to pick me up.

Gavriil was driving.

Maybe meeting with D’Angelo again after everything that happened was foolish, but I wanted closure. Even now that I had all the answers, things still didn’t feel “finished”. I’d been walking around in an almost trance-like state for the last two weeks, going through the motions of living without really feeling it.

Hopefully, speaking with D’Angelo would change that.

The penthouse was almost exactly the same as when I’d been there last, just emptier. Bare shelves no longer held a collection of books, there were no jackets hanging from the coat hooks, and overall, the place felt a little too tidy to be lived in.

“You’re leaving,” I said almost as soon as I stepped through the door.

D’Angelo looked up from his phone, sitting on the couch in the front room and obviously waiting for me.

“Yes. My time in Baltimore was only temporary to manage this deal with the Russians. Things are hashed out, mostly, so I need to move on to business elsewhere.”

“Oh.” I twisted my fingers around each other as I fought the urge to scratch at my scars. Not sure what to do with myself, I sat on the chair opposite him. Although only a few feet remained between us, it somehow felt very lonely sitting by myself when not that long ago I would have eagerly joined him on the couch.

I knew it was only temporary. I’d said it multiple times and never made any promises about the future.

So, why was I so blindsided to hear that he was leaving now?

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