Chapter 15 - Maxim

Chiara and I arrive at Kiril’s home for the party he is hosting, specifically inviting all of our allies and deliberately organized so that Chiara and I can start the process of finding out what Stefano has been up to.

Chiara walks up the stairs towards the front door, and I watch the way her hips sway in the long, soft, white high-waisted pants she is wearing. The matching white top leaves a sliver of skin exposed at her waist, and I can’t stop looking at her. Her hair is pinned up in a gorgeous twisted bun with small diamonds pinned into it. I recognize them from our wedding, and I reflect back on the night we got married.

Then my mind drifts back to the night we first met, when I found her standing alone in the garden, after her father had announced our engagement to everyone.

It was a night that changed my life in ways I could never have imagined. I didn’t expect to fall for that girl, the feisty, temperamental girl I found in the garden.

I grin, following behind her and placing my hand on her lower back as we step inside.

The party is already in full swing, with waiters carrying silver trays of champagne between the guests and appetizers flowing from the kitchen.

Music is drifting through the house and out into the garden. Fairy lights are strung across the ceiling and outside beams. The place looks great. The vibe is amazing.

But my stomach is knotted as we weave through the people.

I hand Chiara a glass of champagne and lean down to kiss her gently. She smiles at me. “You and me,” she whispers. I nod.

“You and me, beautiful girl.”

Angelo comes waltzing across the garden towards us. “Oh, the love birds have arrived. Wonderful. How are you two doing?”

“Angelo, hi, we’re good. Just exhausted. It’s been a really long and difficult week.”

His mouth turns down at the corners. “I was so sad to hear about the incident at your warehouse. All those workers. All those lives lost. It is so senseless and brutal. My sympathy goes out to their families.”

“Thank you, we appreciate that. We have been doing everything we can to make things easier for their families, but nothing can bring back the people they lost.”

I pull Chiara closer to my side, holding her tightly, never wanting to lose her.

“And of course, I know it comes second, but the impact it must have had on your business must be something heavy to deal with as well,” Angelo sympathizes.

Stefano arrives, standing alongside Angelo, eyeing me up and down with a sour look on his face.

“The business took a hit, but nothing we can’t handle.” I nod toward Stefano. “Hello.”

“Hello.”

The stiffness of his greeting does not go unnoticed. Angelo elbows him in the side. “We were just talking about the incident at their warehouse. Isn’t it terrible?”

“Yes, terrible.” Stefano’s attention drifts around the room, his eyes wandering lazily over the crowd. “I am going to go and find something to eat,” he remarks, bored with our conversation before bothering to try and join it.

Angelo shoots him an angry glare, his eyes narrow and piercing.

Stefano stares back, unfazed by his own rudeness.

When he walks away, Angelo sighs. “I don’t know what his problem is.”

“It’s alright. There is no need for you to make apologies on someone else’s behalf.”

“What have you been up to, Dad?” Chiara asks.

“Oh, a little of this and a little of that. With Stefano handling most of the business, I find I have some free time. I might get back into golfing. Hell, I might even try fishing,” he chuckles.

As a waiter walks past, he hands them his empty glass.

“Let me get you another drink,” Chiara smiles at her father.

“Thank you, sweetheart.”

I continue to chat with Angelo, who asks how we are managing to get the warehouse back together and how much stock we actually lost, but my eye is on Chiara. I can’t help but keep track of her, always wanting to know she”s alright.

She stands at the bar, ordering her father’s drink.

Stefano arrives next to her, leaning on the counter, and speaking to her with that same sour look on his face that he always wears.

She shakes her head, no, and he nods.

He seems to become upset, and she sighs. He reaches out to grip her arm, and she pulls it back. But then she follows him to the side of the patio, away from everyone else.

I hate the fact that she is cornered by him like that.

I excuse myself from Angelo, telling him I just need to chat to someone I’ve been waiting to see, and then walk toward Chiara. I stop just short of interrupting them and stand with my back against the wall, looking down at my phone. I can hear their conversation and see that it is getting heated.

“It was the Dubrovs,” Stefano hisses in an angry whisper.

“How can you say that? Their warehouse was just attacked.”

“So was mine. One of my shipments was stolen, and I know it was them. They probably blew up their own warehouse to take attention off what they are really doing behind the scenes.”

“You are so full of shit, Stefano. What happened to your shipment? Why do you say it was stolen?”

“Because it was stolen. How stupid can you be? It was taken by those brothers. Don’t you get it? They are doing everything they can to take our family down. They probably only arranged this marriage to try and get into our business. They are orchestrating something big, building up to it one attack at a time. I”m getting sick and tired of having to be polite to these dickheads.”

Stefano is leaning toward Chiara with his fists clenched. His aggressive posture is setting me on edge. And the way he is talking to my wife has me edging closer, ready to smack my fist into his face.

I grit my teeth and do my best not to interfere. Chiara needs to interact with him to gather information. I can’t go barging in there and interrupting things.

I just want her as far away from that asshole as she can be. It grinds my gears to think that I”ve agreed to let her help gather evidence against Stefano. I want her out of it. Completely.

I take a deep breath, then another one, slower, more focused. I need to keep my cool.

I need to stay in control.

“Why are you always so focused on the Dubrov family, Stefano? Why are you so full of hate? They didn’t do anything to you,” Chiara whispers harshly. I can hear the defensive tone of her voice as she stands up for my family.

“It’s none of your business who I like and dislike.”

“You don’t like anyone,” she replies.

“No, I don’t like them. In fact, I hate them. They are murderous fuckers who deserve to die a slow painful death, every single one of them,” Stefano spits in anger.

“What the fuck is going on with you, Stefano? That”s my husband’s family you”re talking about—my family. You can’t go around saying things like that.”

Stefano huffs loudly and pushes his fingers through his hair. He looks agitated beyond even his norm.

“They killed my father, Chiara. Okay? Now you know.”

She stares at him in disbelief, her eyes wide with shock.

“No, that can’t be right.”

“It is. They killed my father, and I suspect they killed my mother, too. I will never forgive them. I will never stop hating them for that.”

Chiara reaches her hand out and gently touches Stefano’s arm. “Stefano,” she says softly.

He pushes her away aggressively, and I step closer, ready to snap his neck. But then he turns and storms off into the crowd, and Chiara glances toward me with wide, bright eyes when she sees me coming over.

“Did you hear that?” she whispers.

“I”ll find out if it”s true. I don’t even know who his father is.”

Once the guests have filtered away and the only people left at Kiril’s house are family, I find a chance to question him.

“Chiara had a conversation with Stefano this evening. Stefano believes that a Dubrov murdered his parents. Or possibly just his father. Do you know anything about this? Could it be true?”

Kiril scrunches his forehead and takes a sip of his whiskey as he sits on the patio, looking over the garden and the remnants of the party.

“His father. I never knew his father, but I did know of him. Our uncle, Baranov Dubrov, had an affair with Stefano’s mother. This was long before she met Angelo, while she was still married to Stefano’s father. I know that it caused a huge tear in the family, and his father wanted to divorce his mother. It can’t have been a pleasant situation, but as far as murder goes, there”s no evidence that leads me to believe Baranov killed Stefano’s dad.”

“Our uncle slept with his mother while she was married?” I ask, shocked.

“Yes, it was a long time ago.”

“I guess I can understand why he would make the assumption that Baranov was responsible for his father’s death, but even the affair alone, Baranov being the reason that his parents were divorced, would have affected him negatively.”

“True—that”s if he even knows about the affair. But honestly, I don’t think our family had anything to do with his death. Baranov was not a man who overreacted or behaved aggressively. He was more like you.”

I chuckle. “More like me, you say?”

“A lover, not a fighter,” Kiril laughs.

We sit outside in the cool evening air, finishing our drinks, my mind swimming with this new information. Could it be that our uncle killed his father? I can’t make sense of it. I”m shocked enough by the affair. I wonder if Stefano knows about that.

I feel Chiara’s hands running across my shoulders as she comes up behind me. “Max, I’m really tired, can we go home?”

“Of course, my love. I’m ready as well. Kiril, my brother, thank you for hosting a successful party.”

On the drive home I am quietly lost in thought. Chiara reaches out to twine her fingers through mine. I smile, but I am not sure how to tell her what I found out tonight.

“What”s on your mind? You’ve been so quiet since we left the party,” Chiara says as we climb into bed later. I pull her close to me as I lie on my back, and she rests her head on my chest. Her bright eyes look up toward me, the light shining in the dark chocolate pools of her irises.

“I found something out, and it’s important, I guess, to this situation.”

“Well, tell me.” She props herself onto her elbow so she can see my face more clearly.

“Stefano’s mother, while she was still married to his father, had an affair with my uncle.”

I pause, waiting for her to process it.

“His mother cheated on his dad. And your uncle was the man she slept with,” she whispers, horrified. “Did your uncle kill his father?”

“No, Kiril tells me there”s no evidence to suggest that. I don’t think so, either. My uncle wasn”t that type of man.”

“This is crazy. I can’t believe it. Does Stefano know about all of that?”

“I don’t know. But if he doesn’t, and he finds out, then it would be all hell breaking loose, I”m sure. And if he does know, well, that would be motive to come after my family.”

“Why does everything have to be so complicated?” she whispers sadly.

“We are going to figure this all out, my love. It won’t be like this forever.”

She snuggles back against me and I hold her tightly, trying to comfort her, but then I realize that she”s the one who is giving me comfort. Just by having her here with me, my thoughts are calming, and my mind is not so frantic.

I kiss the top of her head, my heart feeling content.

We drift off to sleep like that, wrapped in each other’s embrace.