Suddenly, I wanted it to be real. Whatever I felt was more than I let myself believe. More than a good time, or a means to an end. If that were the case, I would have used her to crush the Petrovs by now. When Luigi thought up schemes to sell her to a mutual enemy as a distraction, it wasn’t just pure loathing of the thought of another man touching her that made me go ballistic. It was also because it was a good idea. One that could work.
Just not in my lifetime.
I had been letting my feelings get in the way of solid leadership and my ultimate goals. Because of that, I was barely keeping the wolves at bay, shoving aside everything I believed in. Ruthlessly acquiring power.
I reached for her hand, but she stepped back, sinking into the wet sand. Her face took on a determined look as she gathered up her courage. “I know you’re planning something against my family.”
I almost laughed. For once, I wasn’t. I was actively trying to keep Luigi and his crew from doing something along those lines. She hurried to continue her speech before I could speak.
“I know I can’t fight you,” she said. “I know I can’t run away.” Why did this feel like a fist breaking through my ribcage to squeeze my heart? “All I can do is ask you to stop it,” she finished, blinking away tears as she forced herself not to look away.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and let out a long sigh. I couldn’t just tease this away. Nor could I brush it off and deny that it wasn’t happening. Luigi might have been working againstme, but he was still my responsibility. She was far too sensitive and intelligent to believe nothing was in the works.
My hopes that I could somehow amass enough power to orchestrate a takeover that would leave minimal damage and keep Lilia from wanting to see me dead were dwindling. If I wanted to keep her—and that meant happy and smiling and throwing her arms around me—I had to make a true promise. One that could never be broken, no matter what the cost.
I stepped forward and took her hands, holding on tight. “No one will harm your family.”
It was the best I could do, and one hundred percent honest. I could make that happen and still come out on top. But did she believe me?
She stared into my eyes for a long moment, and I kept her gaze, unwavering. A small smile tried to come to life at the edge of her lips, and she stepped forward. Her kiss was all the answer I needed. I pulled her close, holding on so tight she gasped against my mouth.
The question I had been asking myself since day one popped into my head as she wrapped her arms around my neck and dragged her body against mine.
Was Lilia worth everything I had been putting myself through?
She whispered my name, her breath warm on my cheek. I had the answer at last.
Yes. Yes, she was.
Chapter 31 - Lilia
I wanted to believe what Gavril promised about not harming my family was true. I could almost believe it was what he really wanted. I let myself fall into the warmth of his embrace, the excitement of his kisses, and let myself believe.
But the phone calls increased. He never took them in front of me, but always stalked away quickly, with an intense scowl on his face. I’d hear him angrily bark at whoever was on the other end, then he’d make sure he was far enough away that I couldn’t hear anything else.
Maybe it was just a problem that had nothing to do with my family. I wanted to believe it.
But what I knew for certain to be true didn’t match anything that he said. It was a fact that I had been kidnapped by the Collective, his own organization. He had been pissed off about it, maybe even caught unawares, but it had still happened. That meant he had rogues to contend with, men he couldn’t trust to do what he said.
No wonder he was so angry if that was the case. And maybe that was all it was. A case of dealing with an attempted power grab. Maybe none of it had anything to do with my family or me. It didn’t seem like he was lying when he made that promise that let me shed some of my suspicion. But not all of it fell away easily.
All my life, it had been drilled into me to trust no one. Was wanting a fairy tale ending getting in the way of my common sense? Masha would surely think so, but even she had fallen in love with a seemingly impossible man.
Not that I was falling in love with Gavril. Not at all. I only wanted to stop worrying all the time. And I wanted him to stop giving me reasons to worry.
“Why can’t I go?” I asked for the tenth time.
Gavril paused in picking out a shirt in the huge walk-in closet to roll his eyes at me.
“I don’t even want to go,” he said, just as he said the other nine times.
One of the Morozovs had invited both of us to a party at a swanky nightclub they owned. While they knew Gavril had arrived in Miami with someone, they had no idea that it was me, or the invitation to stay in the house would never have been offered. They weren’t stupid, not by a long shot, and didn’t want any trouble with a major family they’d never had any issues with in the past.
I understood that, and didn’t even especially want to go to some loud, packed nightclub where I’d only feel out of place, but I didn’t want him to go, either. Even though he’d been disappearing to the other side of the vast mansion for long stretches of time to take his calls, he hadn’t left the place without me yet.
Was he really only going to a party? Or was he having a meeting I shouldn’t know anything about? I didn’t really believe the Morozovs would ally with the Collective against my family, but I never thought I’d be married to Gavril, now did I? Anything was possible.
“Don’t go, then,” I said, sidling up to him and pressing against his back.
