Chapter 8

Eight

Romeo

I sigh as I take in my wife sitting at the other end of the room, gently running her finger along the rim of her glass, her cheek on her fist, looking bored out of her mind. Not once since we arrived has she looked my way, but I can’t fucking blame her. I’ve had Liliya hanging off my fucking arm since I arrived, shoving my wife to the side.

“Liliya, will you get yourself together and stop fawning over your sister’s husband!” Anastasia snaps. I raise a brow at my mother-in-law, and she shakes her head. “Don’t look at me that way, Romeo. The way she’s acting is an embarrassment to the Russo name. She practically knocked her own sister out of the way to throw herself at her brother-in-law. It’s pathetic, just like her ensuring a seat wasn’t available next to you for her own damn sister.”

I clear my throat to stop my chuckle, especially when I’m the one who ensured my wife didn’t have a seat next to me.

Liliya sneers, “I’m sitting right here, Mama, and he was supposed to be mine first!”

Anastasia raises her perfectly manicured brow as she lifts her wine and reminds her daughter, “Yes, he was, but you decided to be two hours late for a meeting with him, then proceeded to screw the barista, but just so you know, doch …” Liliya flinches at the way her mother calls her daughter in Russian with disdain, “Elena walked into the café after you, and he only had eyes for her. Yes, he was promised you, but you were never his choice, and right now, we all know his arm around you protectively is to save you from a bullet so he doesn’t lose his wife if you die.”

Liliya’s face reddens, and I roll my eyes, looking toward my wife, only to see her talking to Agy, Anatasia’s sister, who’s the biggest bitch in the room. Her husband turned out to be a traitor and sold Mikhail's warehouse information to local gangs. Mikhail tortured him, and the woman has been shunned, making her bitter.

Rumor has it that she was involved, but Anastasia begged Mikhail to spare her.

That’s the problem when you love your wife. They make you weak, but they also make you strong. His sparing Agy was a weak moment.

Liliya growls, making me look her way as she sneers, “Since when did you stand by Elena, Mama? Last time I checked, you spent years whipping her with a belt.”

Fury fills me as Liliya freezes, instantly regretting her words, and Anastasia looks at my wife in pain.

Mikhail finally steps forward and snaps at his daughter, “How long did you know about your sisters’ beatings, Liliya?”

Anastasia flinches, and I open my mouth, ready to tell Liliya to handle her problems from now on, ready to move on with my wife, when a loud crash echoes around us, a bullet hitting the table in front of us. Screams fill the room as I dive myself over a screaming Liliya, knocking us both to the ground as another bullet whizzes past us, and she screams louder.

“Find the fucking shooter!” Mikhail shouts over the screams, and I look around, keeping my body over a wailing Liliya.

I see an arm come round the doorway to the kitchen, a black pistol in hand, and I growl, grabbing my piece.

I aim my gun and wait. As soon as the masked person leans around the door, I take aim and shoot, hitting the fucker in the head, and I shout, “One shooter down!”

I look around again, all the obvious hiding spots where the shooters will be, when I notice another, but he soon falls, blood dripping down his neck.

“How many more shooters?” Maxim shouts, everyone quieting except Liliya, who’s screaming in my fucking ear, making it difficult to concentrate.

I snap, “Shut up, Liliya,” causing her to suck in a breath, and everything goes quiet, and my eyes take in the carnage, before looking at Maxim, and I state, “I think it’s clear.”

He nods, his glare going to his cousin underneath me, knowing this is her doing, both our wives caught in the crossfire.

Liliya starts to wail again, making me roll my eyes, so I get off her, then help her up, and go to move to the back of the room to make sure El is alright.

I had Maxim sit at the back of the room on purpose when Miguel informed us of his wife hired mercenaries. He wasn’t sure how many she hired this time, only that they were striking today.

It’s why we had to fucking be here for this shit show.

Who in the fuck wants to celebrate their birthday a month fucking early, and then fucking brags about it to everyone?

Before my eyes can find my wife, Liliya is suddenly in my arms, her lips on mine, making me freeze momentarily in fucking shock.

When she moans and tries to push her tongue through my lips, I snap out of it, and shove her away, causing her to fall on her ass.

I sneer, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

She smirks, not at all concerned about sitting in glass. Her makeup is smeared down her face, but she looks fucking pleased with herself as she says, “Thanking my savior.”

My nostrils flare in anger as I grip my pistol, really fucking tempted to use it, when Anastasia grips her daughter’s arm and pulls her up, growling, “Seriously, Liliya? He only jumped on you because the man was here to kill you . If you’d kept your legs shut and not screwed the cartel boss, then his wife wouldn’t want you dead. For God’s sake, we sold your sister to him to pay her off, only for you to go back there again.” She looks my way, seeing my gun tightly in my hand, and she winces. “I’m so sorry, Romeo. You’ve fulfilled your end of the contract. Liliya is no longer your problem. I’m just sorry I put the stipulations in place to begin with.”

I give her a nod in thanks as Liliya stamps her foot like a toddler, her face bright red despite all the makeup that’s smeared down it. Before she can throw her tantrum, Mikhail storms over, his phone to his ear. We make eye contact, and he nods to the kitchen. I follow him; the room is empty when we enter, which is no fucking surprise.

He puts his phone on loudspeaker.

“Miguel, your wife has just caused a fucking war. It wasn’t just my oldest here, my wife was under attack, my youngest daughter, my nephew, and his wife, my whole fucking family,” Mikhail growls, and I stand straight, my nostrils flaring.

Miguel curses to someone, then rasps, “I don’t want a war, Mikhail. I’m not stupid. You have the Greeks and the Italians at your back. It’ll be a fucking bloodbath.”

I cut in, pissed off he thinks a war is the problem when it’s his crazy wife who put mine in danger, “Your wife hired mercenaries who shot up a restaurant with my wife in it, Miguel.”

He curses again. “Romeo, I swear I’ve dealt with it.”

I scoff, “And how exactly have you done that, Miguel? You fucked my sister-in-law, starting this whole fuck up. My wife could have been hurt, and we both know if she was, then this phone call wouldn’t even be fucking happening.”

He sighs. “I know, and fuck, I don’t even remember fucking Liliya either time. The messages she’s been sending my wife, the pictures, I don’t fucking remember them. Every time I went out, it was after an argument with Renata. I’d snort some coke and drink myself silly.”

“How did you even fucking meet my daughter?” Mikhail asks, and I roll my eyes.

Does it fucking matter? The bitch is a whore.

“She came into one of my bars. I think it was around the time she had her breast enlargement surgery.” Miguel says, and Mikhail's face reddens.

I sigh. “Surely you knew, Mikhail. Anyone can fucking see it.”

He glares my way. “I don’t fucking look at my daughter’s tits, Romeo.” I chuckle, and he shakes his head before stating, “What’s being done with your wife, Miguel?”

I tilt my head while he’s quiet for a beat, then he admits, “I may have tied her to the bed.”

Mikhail smirks. “And you think that’s punishment enough for going after my family?”

I sigh. “Mikhail, Liliya caused all this shit because she’s hoping to piss you off for not allowing her to take over after you, and for allowing my marriage to El. She is the one who put everyone in danger, which means she’s the one you need to deal with right now.”

Miguel continues, “Renata hates being tied up. I promise I won’t allow her to come after your family, and I know, once she realizes Elena was there, she’ll feel guilty. We all know how much she loves that woman.”

Yeah, that’s definitely true.

They’ve only met twice, the first time at my wedding, but my wife enthralled her; she has a way of pulling people in, I should know.

“Miguel, if it happens again, it will be war, even if my daughter is a bitch,” Mikhail states, and I snort along with Miguel.

They make plans to speak again in two days, before Mikhail hangs up, and I sigh.

“I need to go find my wife. Pretty sure she saw Liliya’s fucking play after the shooting.”

He sighs. “Yeah. I’m just glad she didn’t fight the seating arrangement.”

I nod as I walk to the door, and as I go through it, I say, "She didn’t even want to come, Mikhail. She wants nothing to do with your family.”

Mikhail growls, following me out, hating that it’s true, but before he can say anything, Liliya is on us. She grips my arm and asks, “Where have you been? I’ve been worried.”

I sneer and shove her away, and look around the room. Nearly everyone has left, and Maxim is already doing damage control with the Feds, who, thankfully, are on my payroll.

My eyes scan the area as Liliya tries to grab my attention and whines, “Romeo, why are you ignoring me?”

I continue to ignore her as my pulse races, noticing one person missing from this room.

“Romeo!” Liliya snaps, and I glare down at her, making her flinch, and I state, “My obligation toward you is done. Next time you fuck up, it’ll be on your head.”

She gasps as I shove past her, my eyes going to where my wife was sitting but everything in me goes cold at the sight of blood on the floor.

I rush over.

Fuck no, please no….

I skid, noticing the puddle of blood next to my wife’s bag, and pick it up, looking around the room before my eyes follow the smeared blood, leading right out the door.

“Romeo?” Mikhail questions, but I ignore him and call Marco.

“Boss, she’s at Memorial,” he answers after one ring.

Fury fills me, and I snap, “Why in the fuck didn’t you call me?”

“I did, boss, several times, but you didn’t answer. I called Antonio, and he’s with her.” He says as Mikhail looks at the blood, his face paling. Anastasia instantly screams when she sees it.

“Boss…. I saw her crawl out the main door of the restaurant as I tackled a masked man with a gun. He was trying to follow his accomplice. Aldo is currently getting rid of his body. A passerby grabbed her and took her to the hospital, but because I am not family, they won’t tell me anything. She’s been here for forty minutes.”

I hang up on him as sweat starts to form on my forehead. “Elena was hurt; it’s her blood.”

Anastasia starts to sob while Liliya has a smirk on her face, and my anger takes over. I grab her by the throat, making her gasp, and I growl, “You think this is funny, huh? All this is your fucking fault because you’re a whore who can’t keep her legs shut.” I get in her face. “If my wife is seriously injured, never mind my going after Miguel and Renata, I’m going to kill you .”

She goes white as a sheet, and I shove her away, making her fall. I rush out of the restaurant, Mikhail on my tail, commanding his reluctant wife to take Liliya home before I kill her.

Panic builds when I see the blood on the street, and I run to my car, hoping and fucking praying she’s alright.