“Right there with you. And if it helps, I get why your taking Olivia.”
“You do?” I set my hands down on the table.
“Yeah. I guess she did rub off on you.”
“I guess she did. I just couldn’t let her go yet.”
“That’s not a bad thing Aiden, maybe you shouldn’t let her go.”
I chuckle lightly. “I have to old friend. I can’t keep her. She told me how her grandfather wanted to keep her family out of the Bratva life and I get it, because I do too. If not for Persephone she wouldn’t know Jude and she wouldn’t have had a taste of darkness. I guess too, if not for me then she wouldn’t know Jude either. She shouldn’t know any of us.”
Persephone’s words have continued to torment me and I thought of her hatred for Olivia and her family.
That hatred made my fate and Olivia intertwine unknown to us and out of our control like one of those unexplained phenomena that should never have been.
“I think in the end it may be wise to pick things apart and see what the best answer is. I think we’ve all had to do that.”
I nod agreeing because I already know what the answer is.
I can’t keep her.
“Have you thought more about who could have betrayed you?” he asks tentatively.
“I haven’t stopped thinking about it Dominic.”
“If you’re taking Maksim and Ilya, it’s going to be difficult to keep them in dark about Eric once we get to Brazil. Are they coming?”
“Yes, they’re both strong, as strong as me. We’ll need people like that if we’re going into the unknown. I don’t want to allow my unfounded suspicions to get the screw with me.” I draw in a breath. “I’ll brief them when we arrive.”
“Okay. There was something Persephone said that got me thinking.”
“What was it?”
“When she explained Jude’s plan there was something that flagged to me but I’m not sure what it was.”
Everything flagged to me, but maybe that was because it was me. “What made you take note of it?”
“It was just weird because it felt like he thought he could just plan to take Gabriella and your son with no repercussions, even if you did messed up with the Order. What made him think he could do that?”
I narrow my eyes and I think about what he’s saying because for the first time I’m looking at this from a different angle. So maybe what I thought happened didn’t exactly happen that way.
My theory seemed plausible but maybe it wasn’t.
So what did happen then?
* * *
At first light the next day we board the jet and take off for Brazil.
A little over thirteen hours later we arrived in Brazil air space and I find myself looking out for the religious monument.
When I see it, I think of Aleksei, and I allow myself to hope again.
Olivia’s small hand covers mine and I look at her sitting next to me. I know she’s hoping too.
This time I can’t tell her not to worry when I’m worried myself.
I can’t say shit when I feel like I’m standing at the mouth of hell with nowhere to go but straight inside.