Page 83 of Brutal Vows

If we get outsmarted, it’s checkmate.

39

LUCA

I let go of Milana and give her elbow a squeeze. “Come down with me to the basement. There is a place where we can do some target practice.”

I wanted to teach her the basics here, but with the baby’s things everywhere, I can’t stomach it. This violence will stay as far away as possible from my wife and her—our—child.

“Okay.”

She reaches for the gun, but I stop her.

“Safety first, princess.” I take the gun and hold it out to her. “Repeat after me: treat all guns as loaded and ready to shoot. Never point at something you’re not willing to kill. Don’t put your finger on the trigger until you’re ready to shoot. And know your target and what’s behind it.”

She sighs, and it’s soul-deep. “Luca. This isn’t something I’m going to master in a few hours.”

“Best you pay attention then, because I’m not walking into a trap over there without you knowing how to shoot a 9mm at the very least.”

“Is that what it is?” She dips her chin to the gun in my hand.

“Yes. By far the best to learn with. Now let’s say those words together and drill them in deep.”

She follows my lead, repeating the most basic gun safety rules, then asks, “How are we going to fly with guns?”

“We’re not. But let’s not worry about that now.” She shudders but holds out her hand. I pass the gun to her, muzzle down. “This one has the safety mechanism here, in the trigger, so no need to worry about the safety being on or off before you need to use it. Always point it downwards, unless you’re shooting at someone.”

“Obviously. It’s so heavy,” she says, surprised. “Is it loaded?”

“No. We’ll shoot blanks for now.”

Benedict huffs a sigh, and we both glance at him, having forgotten he’s even there.

“Is this the baby bag you’re taking with you?” He points at a pale pink bag on the sofa that could only be for Zoe’s things.

“Yes.” Milana hands the gun back to me, clearly uncomfortable with it. “Just a few days’ things.”

“Good. I’ll put a tracking device in the lining and add a few extra things you might need. Nothing to trigger an airport scanner. I’ll leave you two to it. See you in the morning.” He stalks off, holding the pink bag and looking bedeviled.

Yep. We’re trying to squeeze the fruit ripe. Things are getting real now, even for him. When we leave here tomorrow, it could be the last time we see each other.

“What other things?” Milana asks me. “It’s a baby’s bag.”

“Exactly. Inconspicuous. Just some cash in every currency we might need. A burner phone. Things we could need if things go wrong.” Pills to take if we need to off ourselves. I’m not taking chances. “Come.”

We follow Benedict but get into the elevator as he continues to his apartment.

“Have you finalized the travel arrangements?” she asks.

“Yes.” I press the button to go down. “We’re flying to Italy with the jet, and from there we’ll take commercial airlines via Istanbul all the way to Saint Petersburg.”

“At least Istanbul is still an option. So many routes have been shut down, it’s almost impossible to get in and out of Russia nowadays.”

“We’re good. We have several passports with the necessary visas to pivot if we need to.”

“I should travel as myself.”

“No. I don’t want you to be pinged at the border. Ben sorted it out. Trust me, with the way he does things, your new identity will already have a travel history on their systems.”