Page 202 of The Final Cut

“I’m not marrying some stranger for leverage.”

A flicker of something passes through the doorway.

From inside the house, where Konstantin Volkov has arrived with two of his men and the kind of silence that carries its own weather.

I didn’t hear him come in. Neither did Delia.

Her head turns.

Konstantin stops just inside the terrace doors. Black suit, pale shirt, no tie. He looks less like a grieving son today and more like the man his father’s funeral revealed him to be. Controlled. Dangerous. Patient enough to be unsettling.

His gaze goes to Delia, then to the folder in front of her. Then to Marisol.

“I was told to come through the side entrance,” he says.

His accent gives the words a slow weight.

Delia’s mouth tightens. “I’m sure you were also told this was a family lunch.”

“Yes.” He looks briefly at Homer, who is now trying to murder Ever’s shoe. “I see that.”

Sonny leans toward me. “Is he part of the cartel thing, or did someone order a Bond villain?”

“Both, maybe.”

Konstantin’s eyes flick to Sonny. She smiles brightly and waggles her fingertips.

He looks back at Delia, and for one second the air between them catches the way it did in the church. Lightly. Barely…but just enough to make Delia’s spine stiffen.

“We can discuss route transfers later,” she says.

“I didn’t come for routes.”

“No?”

“I came to offer condolences.”

“I really don’t need those.”

His mouth almost curves. Delia’s eyes narrow.

I glance at Marisol, because if this is some betrothal nonsense, I need an early warning and possibly a blunt object. Marisol’s face gives nothing away, which is a mother skill I find increasingly annoying.

Konstantin inclines his head. “I’ll return later.”

“That would be best.”

He turns to leave, then pauses. “The chair suits you poorly.”

Every man on the terrace goes still.

Delia’s expression turns lethal. “Excuse me?”

“I’m glad,” Konstantin says. “If it suited you, I would worry.”

Then he leaves. The silence after him is thick, save for Delia’s sputtering.

Sonny raises one hand. “I have several questions.”