Mafia Princess by Kennedy Slope

Chapter Fourteen

Sasha had been in surgery for six hours. She’d been hit by two bullets, and one had grazed her kidney. The doctor had spent what had felt like an eternity explaining her injuries to me.

Now, I was sitting in Sasha’s room waiting to hear if she would pull through.

“Where’s my daughter!” a loud screeching voice called out. “If someone does not tell me right now, I swear that I will get every single one of you fired.”

I sighed getting up from the chair I had been sitting in for the last five hours. I’d only moved to take a call from my brother.

As I walked out, I spotted Katarina Petrov screaming at a nurse. Her blonde hair, which was so much like Sasha’s was sleek, and she was dressed in her usual designer clothing. For some reason, I found it odd that she was so put together considering that her daughter was in surgery fighting for her life.

“I’m sorry ma’am, but we can’t give that information out,” the nurse said. Her tone was cordial, as if she had seen worse.

Unfortunately for her, Katarina Petrov was a mafia wife who was used to getting what she wanted, and right now, she looked like she wanted to scratch the nurses’ eyes out.

“Katarina,” I barked out.

Katarina’s blonde head snapped towards me, and I immediately knew that I was going to be the next receiver of her anger.

“You!” she yelled. She was pointing a finger at me and storming down the hallway. Her heels were tapping against the floor as she walked quickly towards me. I tried not to roll my eyes. “This is all your fault.”

I looked up and down the hallway. “Come inside the room,” I ordered. We didn’t need people overhearing whatever she was about to accuse me of doing. It had been challenging enough to deal with the cops without causing any of them suspicion.

“Where is my daughter?” she asked. She looked all around, but as I watched her, I noticed that her eyes were just as dead as they always seemed. Katarina Petrov was well-known for being cold and heartless, and something about her screaming felt like the performance of an upset mother instead of something legitimate.

“She’s in surgery,” I told her. “Come inside.”

“In surgery?”

I nodded as I ushered her into the room before shutting the door. The nurses were looking at us, and I knew they would probably have their ears pressed to the door. People were already asking questions about how someone like Sasha ended up shot and bleeding out.

“She was shot,” I said, “which I told you on the phone.”

I had called the Petrov’s after I dealt with the cops. That had been nearly five hours ago.

“How did that happen?” Katarina asked.

“Where have you been?” I asked. “She’s been in surgery for hours.”

Katarina immediately dropped the concerned mother act, and she became the ice Queen I suspected she really was. “I was at the spa,” she said. “I didn’t get the message right away.”

Her excuse wasn’t cutting it for me.

“Where’s your husband?” I asked. “I called him too.” I wanted some assurance that the Petrov’s had nothing to do with what had happened. I couldn’t help the guilt that was eating away at me.

Had Petrov been trying to gun me down because of how I had backed him into a corner? I was pretty positive that Lorenzo wouldn’t have allowed a Petrov to slip their way into his daughter’s wedding. The shooter had been inside of the party, which is why I suspected that the hit was specific to Sasha.

“He’s in a meeting,” Katarina said. “I didn’t want to disturb him.”

I snorted. “Your daughter might die, but I’m sure his meetings take precedent.”

I was starting to learn more about Sasha. She hadn’t just been sheltered, it seemed that she was also ignored.

“You are responsible for Sasha’s well-being,” Katarina sneered. “This would never have happened if you weren’t so incompetent.”

“Or it wouldn’t have happened if your husband hadn’t ordered a hit on me.” I watched Katarina closely to see how she would react to my words. She didn’t even flinch at my words. I don’t know if I expected her to. Katarina had been the daughter of the last Pakhan, and rumor had it that she was even more vicious than her husband.

“Isaac would never put Sasha in any sort of danger,” she said. There was a note of irritation in her voice. It was the first real emotion that I had seen from her, and I found it particularly interesting. “You should know that by now. Isn’t that what you used to sneak territory out from under him.”

“I took what I was owed,” I said.

“You Italians simply take and take,” Katarina sneered. “You better watch yourself before someone takes something that you love.”

I opened my mouth ready to call Katarina on her bullshit. Her family had taken plenty from me, but just as I was about to remind her of that, the doctor walked into the room.

“Is now a good time?” he asked, looking between me and Sasha’s mother.

“It’s fine,” I said, ignoring my mother-in-law. “How is Sasha?”

“Your wife is going to pull through,” he said.

I immediately felt a sense of relief. Not just because Sasha’s death would have started a war with her family, but also, because the thought of losing another person, even one I wasn’t particularly close to, was too much.

“Thank God,” Katarina said. She had slipped back into her concerned mother persona, which I found incredibly unconvincing.

The doctor blinked, obviously trying to figure out who this woman was. “This is Sasha’s mother,” I said.

He nodded. “One of the bullets got Sasha’s kidney, but we were able to repair the damage. She’s going to have several months of recovery.”

“Well we will be there to give her whatever she needs,” Katarina said.

I highly doubted that. Katarina wasn’t going to be in my house, and I got the sense that she wasn’t going to be with Sasha more than she had to.

The doctor nodded.

“When is she going to be back in the room?” I asked.

“We will monitor her for about an hour, and then, you’ll be able to see her.”

“Thank you,” I said, reaching out to shake his hand. I was still covered in blood. I hadn’t had an opportunity to change out of my suit, and I was impressed that the doctor didn’t flinch at my appearance.

“I’ll have the nurse come and speak to you two,” he said.

Katarina and I nodded pretending to be a normal concerned family as he walked out the door.

“Since you are here I am going to head home,” I told her.

“What?”

“I have business to get to,” I told her. “And now that you are here, Sasha has all the support that she needs.”

“You are her husband,” she said.

“And you are her mother,” I said. I grabbed my suit jacket off of the back of the chair I had spent the past five hours in. “I’m sure that she would rather see you than me when she wakes up.”

I wasn’t sure if that was true, but I had business to take care of, so Sasha’s mother would have to do it while I hunted who had harmed her.

* * *

“Took you long enough,” Marco said, as I walked into the warehouse.

After leaving the warehouse, I returned home for a quick shower and change.

“Katarina Petrov came to the hospital,” I said. “I was trying to figure out if they had anything to do with it.”

“I thought that you were sure they hadn’t,” Marco said. He led me towards the back of the warehouse. This was one of our father’s first properties, and we didn’t run anything through it. My father had used it for interrogation, and I’d continued the trend.

“I am,” I said. “I’m even more convinced now. Katarina made it clear that Isaac would never allow harm to come to Sasha. She was adamant about it,”

Marco nodded.

“Lorenzo here?” I asked.

Marco nodded. “He’s been here for hours. He’s pretty pissed.”

I pulled back the plastic covering from the doorway and walked through. Lorenzo was sitting in a chair looking so smug that I wanted to punch him in the face. I was sure that he had something to do with what happened to Sasha, and I’d get him to admit to it even if I had to break every single bone in his body.

“Nice of you to show up,” Lorenzo said. “You left quite a mess for everyone to deal with.”

I grabbed one of the metal chairs that was strewn across the room. “How did a gunman get into your daughter’s wedding?”

Lorenzo released a snort. “Do you truly think that I had something to do with this? I would never put Francesca in any sort of danger.”

Normally, I would believe that, but Francesca and her new husband hadn’t been anywhere during the cocktail hour. They’d been removed from the entire situation.

“Sasha is going to make it, in case you were wondering. She’ll recover.”

I watched Lorenzo closely, and I had to give it up to the old man. He didn’t bat an eye. His face was even more neutral than it had been when I walked in. I’d spent years training to be a lawyer, and part of that was learning how to spot a liar.

“That’s good to hear,” Lorenzo said. “Wouldn’t want a war with the Petrovs.”

“You want a war with them. As I recall, you were very against my marriage to Sasha. You were more than happy for us all to continue the bloodshed.”

Lorenzo had been staunchly against my marriage, and he had been vocal about it. He was clear that he would never see the Petrov’s as anything more than the enemy. According to Marco, he was also the one who had been adamant that Sasha come to Francesca’s wedding.

“I wasn’t pleased with your marriage,” Lorenzo admitted. “I’ve been fighting the Petrov’s longer than you’ve been alive. The Blanchi family has lost many members to the Petrovs. They deserved to be avenged.”

“What better way than to take Sasha Petrov’s life. It would leave Isaac without any children, and it would thrust us back into killing each other.”

Lorenzo shrugged. “I’m not going to apologize for thinking that your marriage to Sasha would bring us nothing but disaster, but I’m not going to admit to something I played no part in. We lost men today. I would never put the family in that position. I would never use Francesca like that.”

The conviction in his voice was starting to make me think that Lorenzo was telling the truth. He might want to Petrovs to pay, but he wouldn't spill Blanchi blood to do it. That still begged the question of who was trying to target my wife.

“Isaac has made a lot of enemies over the years,” Lorenzo said. “There are those who even think that his wife should be the one leading the Bratva.”

“A Petrov wouldn't target Sasha.”

Lorenzo shook his head. “You are naive,” he told me. “You barely know your enemy, and that ignorance makes you vulnerable.”

Lorenzo’s words pissed me the fuck off. I wanted to put a bullet between his eyes and be done with this old hat. But I couldn’t ignore the nagging feeling that Lorenzo was right. Sasha had seen something before the bullets had started flying, and I was beginning to wonder if it was a member of her family.

“You still failed me,” I said, getting up from my chair. It was challenging to keep my emotions in check. My mind was racing with all the fucking possibilities of who could be hunting down Sasha, and potentially me.

I gestured to Marco who was at my side in just a few short strides. “You might not have had anything to do with, but Sasha was harmed on your watch, and that kind of shit can’t go unpunished.”

I heard the blade of Marco’ knife whistle through the air as he unsheathed it. For the first time, Lorenzo looked terrified. I couldn’t blame him too much. He was old, and Marco’ work with that knife was legendary.

“I told you that I had nothing to do with what happened. I’m a victim just as much as anyone.”

The white hot anger I felt was unlike anything I had experienced before in my life. My mind flashed back and I could feel Sasha’s blood coating my hands. She was only eighteen. She’d barely had a chance to live, and her life was almost ended. But I needed to get myself together. My role meant that I needed a level head.

“Make sure that Lorenzo here remembers the price of failure,” I said to Marco. “My wife is going to carry a scar from tonight. It’s only fitting that you do the same.”

I turned around and began walking out of the warehouse. “You're making a mistake!” Lorenzo screamed behind me.

I said nothing. Though I had known Lorenzo my entire life, I couldn’t allow that connection to cloud my judgement. My father would have demanded retribution. As Don, it might be right. And as much as I liked to pretend to be above some of the more illegal aspects of the mafia, I couldn’t stop the way that Lorenzo’s screams made me feel. I had been weaned on blood and violence and hearing Lorenzo scream out in pain eased the tension inside of me.

I might not know who had ordered the hit, but at least, someone was paying for the damage that had been done to Sasha.

Now, I just needed to figure out where else to direct my wrath. Because someone was going to pay for harming my wife, and they were going to pay dearly.