Once the two of them were safely behind the altar, Maxim pulled his favorite revolver from his shoulder holster. Sofia widened her eyes.
“You brought a gun to our wedding?” Sofia asked.
His new bride didn’t sound all that surprised, merely intrigued. Outraged almost.
“I never leave home without a gun,” Maxim said. “Stay down. My men will take care of this.”
Maxim risked a look and saw two gunmen fleeing the church. Lev started after them. His brother didn’t seem to notice someone had shot him.
A red stain blossomed on his left shoulder. Maxim was about to call out to Lev to leave them, but Lev disappeared out the church doors. Cursing, Maxim got to his feet.
“Dimitri and Roman, back Lev up,” Maxim yelled.
The two men hastened to obey his commands. Maxim finally gave the church a sweeping glance.
Several bodies lay on the ground. What a mess. Survivors who had taken cover under church seats and columns started making their way out of their hiding places.
Maxim’s gaze lingered on his new father-in-law. He thought for a second the gunman had gotten to Lorenzo, that maybe he’d been the actual target after all. Lorenzo’s body lay on the ground. Another corpse was on top of him. The rise and fall of the old man’s chest told Maxim that Lorenzo was miraculously alive.
Two bodyguards pulled off the dead body that was currently suffocating Lorenzo. Aldo helped the old Don to his feet.
Maxim checked back on his wife and found her consoling the priest. It appeared he had also taken refuge behind the altar when the shooting started.
“I’m very sorry about all this, Father Michael,” Sofia was saying.
She looked up when Maxim walked up to her. He held out a hand to her. She hesitantly took it, and Maxim helped her back to her feet.
Just to make sure no harm had come to her, Maxim looked her up and down.
She noticed the intensity of his stare. A slight blush appeared on her cheeks. Endearing.
“I’m not hurt. My father—” she began.
“Is probably bruised but unharmed,” Maxim said. “I believe one of his bodyguards shielded him in time.”
Sofia turned pale as she surveyed the church, her gaze lingering on the bodies scattered on the floor. She put her gloved hand over her mouth, trembling.
Guests had started to leave, but Maxim’s men and some of Lorenzo’s men blocked the exits. Every guest needed to be interviewed and questioned. Maxim needed to know if anyone of them had been partially or entirely responsible for helping those shooters get into the church.
Security had been airtight. Maxim had even gotten a city permit to close the entire street.
Lorenzo didn’t scrimp on security either. The two of them had men posted inside and outside the church.
Another stray thought suddenly occurred to Maxim, one that triggered silent rage inside him.
If there had been no problem with the security, then this could have been an inside job. There could be a traitor in Lorenzo’s organization or his.
Maxim immediately thought of Peter Lebedev.
No.Maxim would think about this later once he had a moment to himself. He had a more pressing matter to attend to. Sofia looked like she would break down at any moment. Maxim could not have that, especially not now.
They needed to present a unified front, to show their enemies that this shooting meant nothing.
Maxim slid one possessive arm over his wife’s shoulders and pulled her close. Sofia felt incredibly warm and soft.
“The damage isn’t too bad,” Maxim remarked and instantly knew he said the wrong words.
Sofia looked at Maxim, dark eyes blazing. “How can you say that? There are casualties. People died.”