Page 18 of Brutal Vows

When I don’t say anything, Vanya glances over at me from behind her wine glass.

“I take it I wasn’t the only one who didn’t have a whole lot of friends.” She takes a sip of her wine.

I huff a mirthless laugh. “The only friends I was allowed to have were one my father handpicked from Italian high society.”

Vanya holds out her glass in solidarity. “Cheers to being out from under that shit.”

Smiling, I hold my own glass out and clink it to hers.

Ping.

Our heads turn toward Vitali’s computer.

The darkened screen flickers to life, casting a pale blue glow in the darkened area. Several windows begin stacking one on top of another before a faint electronic chime pings again along with an apparent error dialogue box.

“What’s that for?” I ask curiously.

Vanya’s fingers nervously trace the rim of her wine glass as she avoids eye contact with me. The silence hangs heavy between us, but I can sense something weighing on her mind. Finally, she takes a deep breath and meets my gaze.

“I don’t know if I should tell you.” She hesitates. I can’t blame her. It’s not like one glass of wine and a shared charcuterie board is a trust builder.

“Listen,” I tell her, setting aside my glass and leaning forward as much as my handcuff allows. “Whatever he was working on looks important. He’s trying to find whoever attempted to kidnap Evaline. I’m good with computers.”

She’s skeptical, and I don’t blame her.

“Very good,” I assure her.

Biting her lower lip, she takes a moment to think it over before nodding her head. I shoot her a smile. Vanya stands up, walks around the coffee table, and kneels next to my chair. Before I can ask what she is doing, she gives me a sly smile and pulls out a handcuff key.

“With how many times I’ve ended up in handcuffs, I find it smart to carry one with me.”

A snort falls past my lips. “I don’t want to know.” Vanya laughs and shoots me a wink. Rubbing my wrist, I let out a small groan. “That feels so much better.”

Standing, I make my way to the computer.

“What was he doing?” Vanya asks as I bring the laptop over to the sofa. It takes me a few moments to sift through the information on the screen to figure out what Vitali was trying to do.

“He seems to be trying to piece together parts of the footage that is missing from the CCTV footage at the wedding venue.” My fingers fly across the keyboard as I begin writing my own algorithm for the missing pieces. “Vitali’s algorithm is good, but it doesn’t utilize the variations in blank spaces which will help fill everything in faster and with more accuracy.”

“Damn,” Vanya whispers in awe. “Where did you learn to do this?”

Giving a nonchalant shrug, I apply the algorithm to the application and start running everything through.

“One of my governesses went to MIT.” I chuckle at the confusion on Vanya’s face. “I know, weird right? She had been traveling through Italy and needed a temporary job.”

“And she taught you how to code?” Vanya asks in disbelief.

“Yes,” I say, waiting for the laptop to finish running the algorithm. “I think she saw I was lonely. That I needed something to fix my mind on. Out of all the governesses my father hired, she was the only one who bothered to care about anything other than a paycheck.”

My breath escapes my lungs in a slow, drawn-out exhale that feels as if it carries the weight of my past. The tension in my body drains away like water circling a drain. For a moment, I feel lighter, as if some of the weariness has dissipated along with the long exhalation.

Vanya nods her head, the sadness in her eyes mirroring my own.

“She was…”

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” A roaring voice startles the two of us. My gaze shifts to the raging bull that is Vitali De Luca. He’s charging toward us, pissed.

“Your computer pinged,” I scream at him, my body trembling with anger. Vitali’s chest rumbles with a low growl as he snatches the laptop from my grasp.

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