Page 96 of Mafia and Scars

I drag a hand down my face. “Don’t say another word,” I snap.

They don’t listen. They never do…

“She turned our arms shipment data into a Care Bear acid trip.” Nikolai scowls. “Weapons aren’t supposed to be cheerful and cute!”

“Yeah,” Matvey whines, gesturing wildly. “These color codes don’t even make sense. Red should meandanger, notextra cuteor whatever her coding means?—”

I slam my fist on the table so hard that their words cut off in an instant. “Listen to me very carefully,” I growl, my voice low and lethal. “You donotcomplain about her spreadsheets. Not here. Not ever. And if either of you so much as breathes the words ‘dumb colors’ or ‘shitty sparkles’ within her hearing…” I lean forward, letting my glare settle on them. “I’ll cut your balls off and feed them to Queenie.”

Matvey gulps audibly. Nikolai actually crosses his legs like he’s physically protecting himself.

“But Viktor,” Matvey dares to utter, “my head really does hurt.”

“Mine too,” Nikolai adds with pure misery in his voice. “It’s like staring into a rainbow made of knives.”

“Then suck it up!” I snarl. “Take some fucking aspirin. Wear goddamn sunglasses. I don’t care what you have to do to get through it. If these colors make her smile like that—like a fucking beaming sun—then you two will sit here andworshipthe damn sparkle emojis.”

They shut up after that, sulking like scolded children.

As for me, that big, bright smile of hers flashes through my mind. Warm, golden, and blinding.

It’s pure sunshine.

And I’ll burn the whole world down if it means keeping that smile right where it belongs.

The first time I notice, it’s by accident.

I’m heading out to do my evening work, and Avelina says she’sgoing to put the kids to bed, Babulya following her with a knowing smile.

I come back earlier than usual, and as I pass her room, something doesn’t feel right.

At first, I think it’s leftover tension from dinner. From pretending I wasn’t watching her the entire time. From trying to figure out the best time to ask her on this date. And from pretending she wasn’t the brightest damn thing in that room.

When I go downstairs, I hear Matvey say something to the soldiers. Something along the lines of, “Avelina is out. Now’s a good time to run the monthly security checks in her room. But the children are asleep, so you’ll have to leave their room until tomorrow.”

“What?” The word leaves me before I can stop it.

Matvey doesn’t look up from where he’s tapping away on his laptop at the large table in the rec room. “She drove off a while ago. She’s usually gone for a couple of hours, so the men can include her room as they run the monthly checks in the west wing of the house.”

I freeze. “What do you mean she’s usually gone for a couple of hours?”

Matvey finally tears his gaze away from his laptop. “You know, she’s on one of those outings. She goes out in the evening. Drives off. Comes back a little later.”

“And you all just let her?”The harshness in my voice shocks even me.

“She’s not a prisoner, Viktor.”

“But she could be in danger.” Or she could be targeted by Geliy’s enemies. And things could spiral out of control. My gut twists, and I rub at my chest as subtly as I can.

He shrugs. “She comes back just fine.”

I pivot on my boot and head straight to the security room. With one glare, the men manning the cameras scurry out. The door slams, and I sink into the chair. My fingers fly across the keyboard as I pull up the security footage. Avelina lingers by the kids’ room for a moment before she lifts a small duffle bag over her shoulder and heads down the stairs. Before she leaves the house, she checks in with Babulya who’s obviously going to keep an eye on the children for her.

I watch her leave three times, on various nights, before I finally storm out of the room and back to the rec room. Matvey glances up at me, blinking slowly. “You want to know where she goes?”

I don’t even have to ask the question, but I nod.

“Some ice rink,” he tells me.