Page 25

The steady conversations and smooth jazz continued around the room as they had since we arrived. While it wasn’t my ideal way to spend the night, it had been going well, all things considered.

Despite feeling uneasy about everything that happened during the interrogation earlier and not knowing if I could trust Aria as wholeheartedly as I wanted to, I still let myself participate. I did my best to unwind regardless of the worries nagging in the back of my head.

After sampling the new Levov booze, I found myself caught up in further conversation with the guys, along with a few investors and associates. It all felt fine until a small realization dawned on me.

Glancing around, I noticed that the wives chatted together, mingling and passing the time as always, but I didn’t see Aria with them. Taking a moment, I tried to think about when I last saw her, and how much time had passed since then. While I couldn’t pinpoint an exact number, it felt like a while in my mind.

I snuck a quick look at my phone and didn’t see any calls or texts from her. There was nothing.

As a vague yet negative feeling slowly filled my chest, I looked around more, easily able to see over most of the people there. When I still couldn’t find her, I frowned at myself without meaning to.

I didn’t know why my mind immediately jumped to the worst thought, but something didn’t feel right…it ate away at me piece by piece, gnawing at my resolve.

While I had kept her close for most of the evening up until I went to the bar, I decided to give her some space, along with myself. As much as I felt the need to keep an eye on her, I didn’t want to smother her. And I needed the chance to catch my breath—to put enough distance between us so I could fix some of those walls around me again.

No part of me wanted to move backward with her. I didn’t want to be guarded again, but with everything seeming so uncertain, it felt like the best course of action. Plus, it hurt to see the slight confusion in her features, silently wondering why I was being more withdrawn from her.

All around, it seemed like the best choice, and yet I was second-guessing it, wondering if I chose wrong.

The longer I went without seeing her face in the crowd, the more uneasy I became.

Where the hell did she go?

After excusing myself from the group, I eased my way through the crowd and kept my eyes peeled. As the minutes ticked by, my heart ached more.

For a moment, I wondered if she happened to leave without telling me. Maybe she felt tired and wanted to go home…maybe she didn’t feel well and just wanted to leave. But there was no way. She wouldn’t have left without telling me first.

At least, I assumed she wouldn’t.

With Aria’s intel…

Growing more impatient and worried, I found Alex standing in a quieter corner with his arm draped over Lara’s shoulders. He was grinning like a lovestruck fool as usual while he whispered something in her ear, but his eyes met mine once I approached. His brows furrowed at the sight of my tense expression.

“Daniil…you feeling okay?”

I had to will myself to breathe. To pull myself together without sounding too irritated or concerned. “I’m fine.” I dropped my gaze to Lara. “Have you seen Aria?”

She considered my question for a moment before shaking her head, frowning slightly. “Not since she excused herself to freshen up, but that had to be at least thirty minutes ago by now.”

Something in me twisted. “She would’ve come back by now.”

“You sure she didn’t go get some air? These things can be a bit stifling,” Alex murmured, hoping to provide some sort of explanation for me.

“She could’ve, I suppose…” I murmured, almost trying to convince myself that was it. That the reality was simpler than my mind wanted to assume. Even so, it didn’t do much to ease my concern.

Even though it was a perfectly viable explanation, it didn’t feel right. Nothing about the situation felt that banal.

When I didn’t say anything else, Alex’s brows furrowed again in question. “You think something happened, don’t you?”

I bristled slightly at his words—not in irritation at him, but because it was so obvious. I couldn’t even hide my suspicions.

I wanted to dismiss him, but I couldn’t. He was exactly right, and I nodded.

“Are you saying she disappeared on purpose?” Lara asked, seemingly not believing the idea herself.

I wanted to not believe it. I wanted to have complete faith in my wife, but in that moment, I struggled to.

It was all so confusing, I didn’t know what to think.

“I don’t know, I mean…it’s possible. She could’ve slipped out to…”

At that moment, I couldn’t help but picture her orchestrating an entire scheme. Setting things up behind the scenes to make her way back to her cousins and empire. To undermine our pact and pull one over on me.

Her intel.

For all I knew, she could’ve been playing the long con by feeding her cousins information she became privy to. Playing me just to escape our marriage.

Maybe the event was the perfect time to. Maybe she found her out, after all.

I didn’t even need to finish my sentence before Alex’s suspicion deepened even further. “Is this about what happened earlier at work? What the hostage said about those plans?”

“I…I don’t know…”

My brother sighed. “Look, maybe you’re just overthinking this.”

“No. Something’s definitely wrong,” I muttered, losing myself in a new wave of frustration. “He implied she was involved…”

I couldn’t read Alex’s expression. I couldn’t tell if he believed me or thought I was going insane, but either way, he huffed out a breath.

I didn’t want to believe she’d betray me. I wanted to know more than anything that she was still on my side…still with me. But I couldn’t shake that uncertainty.

Before I could say anything, my phone buzzed. With impatience, I pulled it out of my pocket and immediately glanced down at the screen.

My brows furrowed at the message—and it certainly wasn’t from Aria.

“The restaurant…” Alex muttered, breaking me from my momentary trance.

Glancing up, I realized he had gotten the same text from our men and already read it. The message moved through my brain, hitting hard immediately.

Something happened with Alex’s venture—his newest pride and joy. It was being sabotaged.

“Fucking bastards,” Alex uttered, trying to keep his voice down despite the fury in his eyes while he ran a hand over his mouth to try and keep calm. “It’s burning.”

My blood felt like ice in my veins then, and I couldn’t shake how everything seemed to line up so perfectly…so obviously.

But there was no way…surely she didn’t have anything to do with it. Surely she wouldn’t target the business.

My head felt like it was racing too fast for me to comprehend the full scope of what that meant, but I could understand enough to know that we had to act.

I didn’t know if it was a coincidence or sabotage, be it by Aria or someone else, but either way, things were getting out of hand.

With a firm, decided tone, Alex looked at me, gaze hard with anger. “We need to go. Now.”

Nodding, the ground beneath me felt uneven and shaky, but even so, I followed his lead.

After saying a quick goodbye to Lara who looked incredibly worried, we hurried out of there, grabbing Damien along the way.

With his fury roiling beneath his skin, Alex drove with a lead foot, eventually able to follow the smoke as it moved through the city.

Before long, we reached the restaurant, only to find it completely engulfed in flames. Fire crews were already there working to contain it, but from the look of things, the building would need to be completely knocked down and built from the ground up all over again.

Alex didn’t hold back his obvious anger while he stormed out of the car, moving to demand answers from the first responders.

Slowly, almost numbly, I got out of the passenger seat and stood there, leaning against the open door.

While the flames climbed ever higher, lighting up the dark sky above, I could hear the hostage’s voice in the back of my mind.

With Aria’s intel, they’re making big moves…

Earlier in the day, I assumed he had just said whatever he thought he could to try and get out of his inevitable death. I assumed he had been bullshitting me by mentioning Esidor.

But at that moment, seeing the fire for myself, that nagging doubt seemed to double in size.

It clicked into place, and I couldn’t ignore it anymore. I had to face the obvious facts in front of me.

The Pesci forces weren’t just sitting around idly and following our orders—they were making moves like the man said they would. They had bigger plans.

Something in the back of my mind felt increasingly uneasy at the thought of Esidor being alive. I didn’t want to entertain the idea, but at the same time, everything was so surreal that even the very notion of him somehow surviving that gunshot didn’t seem impossible anymore.

Maybe he really did survive…maybe he was a piece in something much bigger.

To make matters worse, another possibility lingered in front of me, almost like a taunt.

Aria could’ve been lying to me all along…biding her time before she got enough information to leak to her cousins she seemed to trust wholeheartedly. Her men could’ve been causing problems due to suppressing their hatred for too long while the gears moved behind the scenes.

She could’ve faked it all just to save her skin and best us like her father and brother failed to. All while disarming me and gaining my trust.

Even thinking about her deceiving me was enough to make me clench my fists while that rage burned within me.

As smoke lingered in the air and those sparks shot into the sky, I stood there like a barely contained spring ready to burst.

I had every reason to believe my wife betrayed me after all, and I hated every moment of it.