“Since I got a fucking bullet in me because of you!” she yells, using my guilt like a blade, twisting it deep.
“That’s a low blow.”
“Maybe. But it’s still the truth. It’s obvious I’m not safe here. That my presence in this house is unwanted.”
“Iwantyou here!” I snap, grabbing her arms again. “Me. I want you!” She lowers her head, still refusing to look at me. “Please,milaya…. don’t go.”
She slips free of my hands and takes two large steps back.
“You’ve found your niece, Kill. You should focus on her. Not me,” she says, as if putting a final period on whatever we are. “I’m going upstairs to pack. Frankie and Elena went into town for her doctor’s appointment, but they should be back at any minute. Once they arrive, we’ll say our goodbyes and that will be the end of it.”
“End of what, precisely?”
She doesn’t answer. She just turns her back on me and starts up the stairs.
However, before she can take another step, her hand curling around the railing, I whisper, “You’re running. That’s what you’re doing. I got too close and now… now you’re running home pretending none of it meant shit to you. ThatIdon’t mean anything to you.”
Stella freezes, still not facing me, and I hear the breath she pulls in, bracing herself. “I don’t run from anything. Least of all you.”
“Liar. That’s exactly what you’re doing. And here I thought you were one of the bravest women I’ve ever met.”
Stella’s knuckles go white as she tightens her grip on the rail. “Think whatever you want. As usual, I’m the one in the right here. Not you.”
“More lies.”
Her shoulders sink before she finally turns her head just enough to look at me over her shoulder.
“I have exams when I get back. And you have a new strip club to open. We’ll both be busy for the next few months,” she says quietly.
“Yeah, I get it, Stella. I get it. You won’t have time for me anymore,” I reply, matching her tone. “Fine. Run. Do what you have to. You know where to find me.”
With that, it’s my turn to walk away, so I leave before giving her the chance of hammering another nail into my already battered heart.
After watching Stella board her plane, the car ride back from the airport is a sullen one. My brothers are also unusually quiet, though I’m pretty sure that has more to do with Kira deciding to head back to Chicago with her boyfriend than with my own personal disaster.
It’s been a hell of a shitty day. Even after Stella told me to stay clear of her once she got home, we still fought the entire drive to the airport. With Lucky and Kira in the backseat with us, a lot of what we were pissed about remained unspoken, but the tension was loud enough to make our point.
I held onto hope like a fool, right up until the last minute. Hope that she would change her mind. Hope that she wouldn’t board her father’s fucking plane.
However, I forgot the one thing that would always force her hand. The caveat that would always make every decision for her—Stella would never intentionally disappoint her father. Not while he still holds the keys to her future. Pissing off theCapo dei Capiwhile she’s trying to prove she’s worthy of induction into the Outfit would only sabotage her chances.
At least that’s the lie I feed myself to survive the hollow ache in my chest, the pain of her choosing something other than me.
When the car pulls up to the compound gates, I’m already imagining how I’ll spend the rest of the holidays—drunk off myass, trying to forget the way Stella’s body melts into mine when I’m kissing her.
However, Misha has other plans for all of us. “Meet me in the library. I’ll be there shortly,” he says as he slips out of the car.
“And where are you going?” Kostya shouts after him.
“To talk with my wife.”
“Great. Love having to wait for your ass while you have a quickie,” Kostya mumbles under his breath, smacking his head back against the leather seat before he drags himself out of the car. He glances back at me when he sees I make no move to follow him. “You coming?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Do any of us?” he groans.
“Enough, both of you,” Sasha snaps, his expression carved from steel. “If thePakhanwants to speak with us, we’ll wait as long as needed.”
