“Why can’t Alek and Dimitri just make a deal? I’m sure Luca would agree to it.”
She tilts her head to the side. With her soft brown hair and sightly honey skin, she has an effortless glow about her. “You really think he would? You’ve only been married for a few days now, from what I know. Do you really know your husband that much?”
“I know he wants to help me be the wife he wants me to be.”
“I thought I knew my husband but many things surprised me. Just keep that in mind. You don’t fully know him yet and what he’s capable of.”
“Is this supposed to help me?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “No. Just some advice from a married woman to a mafia man. It’s not always easy but it can be worth it in the end. But this life will always have hard times in it.”
Don’t I know it. My own sister is making my life a living hell.
It makes me miss Luca, the husband I barely know. How can I miss someone that is still a stranger to me in so many ways?
That’s when I hear a loud bang from the front door. Sofiya runs out of the room without locking the door behind her and I follow, only to stop in the entrance way when I see Luca standing in the open doorway. Dimitri runs into the foyer.
Luca’s eyes land right onto me before turning to Dimitri. The pure rage in his gaze makes me shiver. What can it mean? “You thought you had the right to kidnap my wife?”
Katya runs forward. “Luca, I am trying to get Dimitri and Alek to make a deal. Please don’t mess this up. We can all have peace together.”
“Peace,” he scoffs. “Not when he took my wife.” And right before everyone, he withdraws his gun and fires it at Dimitri. The bullet lands in Dimitri’s leg, knocking him to the ground.
I scream. My husband is full of pure rage right now. Sofiya was right: there’s more to my husband than I ever knew possible.
Sofiya runs to her husband and throws herself on top of his body. “Don’t kill him!”
“Please, don’t,” Katya adds, rushing to her brother’s side.
Luca doesn’t spare them a glance as he storms over to me and grabs my hand, pulling me from the house. I’m in such a state of shock that I don’t even think about it. All I can do is follow him.
Luca is quietly fuming on the drive back to our house. I don’t dare speak to him. Who knows what he might do to me in this state?
It’s not until we walk through the front door that he speaks again. “You left.”
“Just to see my mom.”
“And then what happened?”
“Dimitri showed up. He… took me. But you didn’t have to shoot him.”
He gives me an incredulous look that locks me in place. “I didn’t have to shoot him? He kidnapped you.”
“Yes. But… he’s Katya’s brother. And Katya and I have become friends. And you just started an even bigger war! Dimitri will be coming back for you after this. You’ve put me in more danger from him.”
“I saved you. He took my wife. It was my right to get you back.”
“But not like that!”
“I told you I have killed before.”
“Yes. Out of necessity. Not passion. Not anger. Only logic. That’s what you told me. You said you wanted me to be better than my sister and yet, you just shot a man without even thinking! You’re a hypocrite, Luca.”
“I did shoot him because he took you and I will always protect you. You are mine, Nina.” He grabs my arms, holding me firmly. “You are mine.”
I shiver. His words are terrifying. All consuming. And at the same time, completely and utterly exhilarating. “For a moment, I missed you. At Dimitri’s house. But I can see I was wrong. I can’t miss a man who just shoots people without talking it out first. I don’t want to ever be put in danger again but that’s what you did today. How can I trust you? How do you expect me to follow you? To listen to you?”
“You are my wife and I am your husband.”
