“Her brother is here, somewhere. In the very least, we have to keep her away from him.”
Yura tenses. “Fuck. Okay, I’ll make sure to keep her hidden.”
We head back to Sierra, and I wrap and arm around her shoulders once more.
“Sorry about that. Apparently somebody back home couldn’t find his own asshole.” I press a kiss to Sierra’s forehead. “Why don’t you and Yura go get some food and drink, so I can have a real conversation with Don Marino?”
She nods, stepping out of my arms and closer to Yura. “It was nice to meet you,” she tells them, and she smiles at Lucia. “Just text Konstantin when you want to go shopping. Something tells me you can find his number pretty easily.”
Lucia chuckles, but she doesn’t correct Sierra.
Yura’s arm slides around Sierra’s waist, pulling her close, and I can only imagine how annoyed she is at being passed from one of us to the next.
“For fuck’s sake,” I hear her say as Yura starts to lead her away. “I can walk, you know.”
I shake my head, hoping I appear amused. “Women.” After a beat, I add, “No offense.”
“None taken,” Lucia says, her voice mild. “She seems sweet.”
I wish I could see her expression beneath the mask. The rumors I’ve heard about Lucia Bellini have been almost fantastical in nature. I don’t believe most of them are true—but I do believe that Victor Corvi loves her, or at least considers her his. No matter how I handle this evening, I don’t intend to piss him off.
“Sierrochka is very sweet,” I agree. “But I’m sure we aren’t here to discuss our lovers.”
Victor’s attention is on me now. I can feel the calculating gaze, even if I can’t see it properly. “Hmm. Lucia, love, I think you and Angelo should go entertain yourselves.”
Lucia smiles at him. “Of course, darling. Maybe we’ll avail ourselves of the entertainment.” Her head turns as she glances at Angelo, and he offers his arm to her before they disappear into the crowd.
Don Marino stares after Lucia as she departs. “That is a damn fine piece of ass, Victor. If you ever get bored of her…”
“Unlikely,” Victor says mildly. There’s no indication that he’s bothered at all by the comment, but he did shut it down quickly.
I wouldn’t be able to keep that calm if somebody talked about Sierra like that.
“All right, all right.” Don Marino waves his hand dismissively. “Now that the bitches are gone. What did you want to discuss, Victor?”
“Nothing in particular. But it seemed likeyouwanted to say something, Don Marino,” Victor says.
Don Marino hesitates, then nods. “Yeah. Maybe not here, though. I’m curious about a few things, Voronkov. And since you said you’re sticking around… I’ve got a little private rum tasting session after the party ends, if you want to join me and Victor.”
I internally bristle. That must be the afterparty Yura told me about.
This feels too easy.
This could be another part of the trap, although I don’t know how Corvi plays into it.
Refusing would be insulting, though. I’ll just have to stay on alert, and make sure I’ve got a clear exit plan.
“Sounds good. As long as your rum tastes better than the American vodka,” I answer.
Don Marino laughs. “You’re a walking stereotype, you know that?” He closes the distance between us and claps me on the shoulder. “I’ll see you later, then. And now it’s my turn to go have some fun with the entertainment.
I watch him leave, then look back to Victor. The mask reveals nothing.
“I look forward to chatting with you,” Victor says. “You probably want to inform your friends where you’ll be. Just in case.”
I grimace, but he’s right.
Time to find Nikolai. Hopefully Yura and Sierra will be done with everything before things go down.