“Ivy isn’t your wife yet,” Dom reminded me. “She’s not protected by the code.”
I ran a hand through my hair in frustration. Ivy and I needed to marry as soon as possible. If we didn’t, things were going to get worse. Still, the Russians ordering a hit on Ivy made little sense. She was their key to getting to me. “Why would they kill her?” I asked. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“I’ve heard that Maksim is an eye for an eye type.”
“Where’d you hear that from?” I was guessing Sasha.
Dom gave a quick glance to Sasha. I knew immediately that he didn’t want to talk in front of her, and I wondered if it was because some part of him worried that she was still a Petrov at heart.
Sasha picked up on Dom’s reluctance to talk. She threw up her hands in frustration. “I’m going back to bed. Can I trust you two not to kill each other?”
I smiled. “I can’t make any promises.”
She rolled her eyes and turned back towards their bedroom. “Well, if you do kill him, you are responsible for my pregnant ass, so you might want to reconsider.”
This time Dom laughed.
Sasha had broken the ice between us. We were back on the same side. For now at least. There was a lot between us that needed to be sorted, but one thing that we could always agree on was that the Russians were the enemy, and we needed to stay off the cops’ radar.
“You told me that the cops said that they found a body.”
I nodded. It had been the first thing I told Dom when I saw him in the afternoon. His guy fucking sucked, and Adrian’s body managed to float to the surface of the Hudson. That meant that both the cops and the Russians knew that Adrien was dead.
“That means that Maksim knows,” Dom said.
“But he had no proof that I did it.”
“Which is why you weren’t the target.”
I was starting to put together what Dom was saying. Maksim didn’t have proof, so he couldn’t kill me. To do so would start the war between our families anew. But he wasn’t going to just let the death of his nephew stand. He couldn’t. He was the new Pakhan, and if he didn’t act, it would make him appear weak. Ivy was the best way to get to me.
“Fuck,” I muttered. In an effort to keep my own ass safe, I’d put Ivy in more danger than I’d intended.
Dom’s lips thinned. I knew that he was pissed about this situation. No, Ivy wasn’t my wife, yet, but she was under the protection of the Blanchi family, and by coming after her, the Russian’s made it clear they couldn’t be trusted.
“You need to marry her,” Dom said. “It’s the only way you’ll be able to keep her safe.”
Dom was right. I’d thought Ivy and I might have some time. Time to get to know one another. Time for me to get her to trust me. But tonight showed that we had more enemies than I could keep up with. Ivy and I were going to get married, and we were going to have to do it soon. If not, I couldn’t guarantee her safety.
And not protecting Ivy was not an option.
“Tell Sasha that we need her tomorrow,” I said. “You’re hosting a wedding.”