Page 93 of Lethal Alliance

“Okay.” She squeezes my hand, resting her head briefly against my shoulder. “Then we’re done here.”

I stride out of the stale air and gulp the fresh day gratefully. Darya’s presence at my side is both strength and comfort. Dimitry is standing by the limo, eyes scanning the street.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” I growl as we approach him. “I never want to see this goddamn place again.”

“Then it’s fortunate I made it in time.”

The voice coming from behind us jerks me to a halt faster than a bullet to the head.

My breath chokes in my throat, my heartbeat slowing to a dull, sick thud.

It can’t be.

Dimitry stiffens, reaching for his gun. I’m trying to find my voice, but it’s gone.

In the sudden strange fog that surrounds me, I’m dimly aware that bullets are about to disrupt the peaceful Zurich morning.

Thankfully, Darya finds her voice when I can’t. “Wait, Dimitry.”

He must hear the urgency in her voice, because he actually does as she says.

Darya turns around, and I follow her hand like it’s a lodestone, both hoping and dreading what I’m going to see.

“Roman.”

The woman standing in front of us is smaller than I remember, but then I was only eight the last time I saw her. Her black hair has been dyed blond, a short bob in place of the smooth chignon I remember. Large dark sunglasses hide her eyes. But even after more than twenty years, her face is as familiar to me as if I saw it yesterday.

“We can’t talk here.” Some long-standing instinct kicks into place inside me, cutting through the mental shock. “It isn’t safe.” I wrench open the limo door, and Darya, taking one look at my face, hurries inside without any argument.

I nod at the woman on the pavement, her face unreadable behind the glasses. “Get in.” I close the door behind her.

Dimitry’s hand is still on his gun, but he’s watching me, eyes narrow. “Friend of yours?”

“Something like that.” I meet his eyes, my heart suddenly racing in my chest. “She’s my mother, Rosa.”

“Roman.”

It’s the second time Rosa has said my name since we met on the street, but my ability to answer her hasn’t improved. Nor can I think of her asMama.I find it hard to look at her. She’s sitting beside Darya, and I’m on the seat opposite. I stare blankly at a point on the black leather seat between them, taking in my mother’s figure in my peripheral vision.

Rosa may well be smaller than my child’s eyes remembered, but she matches Darya’s five foot ten. She’s wearing brown low-heeled boots and dark suede pants with a cream knit sweater and subtle diamond studs in her ears. Carrying a suede Hermès bag and with an elegant French manicure, she looks like any upper-middle-class wife out for a day’s shopping in downtown Zurich.

“I’ve been staying in a room just off Oberdorfstrasse for weeks, hoping you would come.” Rosa’s voice is low and slightly unsteady. “My contact called when you collected the key to the safety deposit box. I came straight away.”

“That’s a risk.” I still can’t look at her, but in a weird instinct, my logical brain continues to run with detached efficiency. “Are you certain you weren’t seen?”

Darya’s foot slides between mine, both warning and reassurance. I know my voice sounds hard, but it’s an effort to speak at all, let alone to moderate my tone.

“I’ve managed to evade sight for over twenty years, Roman. No, I wasn’t followed.” There’s no boast in her words, only quiet resignation. “I don’t believe there is anyone watching the bank. Or at least there wasn’t, before today.”

“Why would that change today?” I seize on her final comment.

“You’re in a limousine, Roman. Traveling in your own plane, I imagine, since we are en route to the private airport. These things are easy to track.”

When I don’t immediately answer, she shifts in her seat, turning sideways. “You must be Darya.” I hear the slight catch in her voice, note the effort she takes to breathe in and steady herself. “I am so very happy to finally meet you.”

“And you are Rosa Borovsky.” Darya takes the proffered hand, smiling.

My mother’s mouth twists at the corners. “It’s been a long time since anyone called me that.”

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