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“Hm. Fair enough.” I graze the back of my hand across her cheek. “You are quite something, Laila Adamov.”
She leans onto her tiptoes to whisper in my ear. “Meet me in the ladies’ room in two minutes.”
She gives my crotch another squeeze before she strides away from me and makes for the restroom. I manage to wait an astounding sixty seconds before I’m tearing after her.
It’s been too long. Forty-five minutes spent fucking my wife relentlessly in the bathroom went by in the blink of an eye. But after I straightened myself up, I gave her the room to do the same for herself while I stood guard outside to make sure no one intruded.
But now, it’s been too long. Seven minutes and counting, by my watch.
I frown, check both ways to make sure no Italians or wait staff have ventured back here, then shoulder back into the bathroom.
“Lai…?”
The sound of a muffled cry stops me in my tracks.
Laila is standing at the sink, her face pale and her hands shaking. “Laila, what is it? What’s wrong?”
When I touch her, her phone clatters from her grasp. I catch it in mid-air, holding her against my chest so she can’t sag to the floor, as well.
On the screen is a live feed from the security app I installed on her phone. It links to every room in the manor—and, crucially, to a permanent camera affixed on her mother’s house. That last one is what’s currently playing.
It’s dark. I can barely make out the corners of the roof, the pointed eaves, the swoop of the gutter.
But one thing is blindingly clear: the red-orange of flames, licking their way greedily up one side.
Someone set the place on fire.
55
ARSEN
“Calm down, brother!” Gedeon calls after me as I storm into my office. “We’ll handle this?—”
I flip on the light in my office and come to a screeching halt when I see Laila sitting at my desk. Her eyes are bloodshot and her complexion is pale.
I check the clock on the wall behind her. “It’s past midnight, Laila.”
“I couldn’t sleep. I have to know—” She pushes out of the chair and crosses the office on shaky legs. “What happened? Did they put out the fire? How much damage?—”
“Shh,roza.” I pull her into my arms and dismiss Gedeon with a nod of my head. He slips out silently, closing the door behind him. “How long have you been sitting here in the dark?”
“An hour. Maybe two,” she admits. “Polina is with Nina.”
I sit down and pull her onto my lap, running my hands up and down her cold arms. “The fire is out.”
She sighs in relief, her chin wobbling. “How did it start? It’s an old house. The electrical might need to be updated. Or did they leave something plugged in?” She breaks off when she sees the look on my face. “What was it?”
“Maybe we should talk about this tomorrow.”
“I want to talk about it now.” She tries to stand up, but I hold her still. She huffs in frustration and turns to me. “Tell me.”
There’s no point trying to keep it from her. If I send her to her room, she’ll scale the walls and hitchhike to the fire department herself.
As soon as I saw the security footage, I drove her home myself to make sure she made it safely inside the gates. I’m sure the only reason she didn’t break out and show up at the scene is because she wanted to stay close to Nina.
“Gedeon and I combed through every second of the security footage. The fire wasn’t an accident.”
“But who would do something like—?” I see the moment she understands. She looks up at me, her bottom lip trembling. “It was my dad, wasn’t it?”
