"I'll get straight to the point," Max says. "This is about Grace. You took her from a human auction, and you’re keeping her captive. Did you really think you would get away with it?”
"Are my sisters here?" Grace whispers from beside me.
Max's eyes soften when he looks at her. "No, sweetheart. But they're also in Paris. You’ll be reunited with them soon.”
Grace looks up at me. I genuinely don't know what she's going to do.
“Dante didn't take me captive," she says, looking straight at me. "He saved me from my mother. The two of us are together, and I choose to be with him."
Nico Monte finally speaks up.
“See?” he exclaims. “I told you they were in love. And who are we to get in the way of true love?”
"Nico, sit down," Max says. "This man has clearly brainwashed her and made her believe that she wants to be with him."
"No offense, but I don't think he's capable of all that," Nico says. "Look at his eyes. He’s a lover boy.”
"They literally call him the Reaper," Damian says. "He's capable of more than you think."
"Nah," Nico says. "He's soft. A literal teddy bear. He loves her."
The words land inside me like a grenade.
It's true.
I love her.
I turn to look at Grace. She keeps her eyes averted.
"Aw, and would you look at that? She's fond of him, too," Nico says. "Case dismissed. He can keep her."
Damian pinches the bridge of his nose. "Why are you even here, Nico?"
I feel a movement behind me.
I turn around to look at the man who’s blocking the way out.
He's dressed like a member of the security team, but I recognize his face. Dimitri Drakonov, thePakhanof the Drakonov Bratva. Married to Grace’s middle sister, he’salsoGrace's brother-in-law.
Spectacular.
It's a fucking family reunion.
This is what I get for venturing outside my comfort zone and trying to do things differently. I asked people for help only to be fucking ambushed.
"My pregnant wife has been stressed out because of you," Dimitri growls, his Russian accent thick. “Grace doesn’t belong to you. Not anymore.”
“I would beg to differ,” I grit out.
“You’re outnumbered right now,” Dimitri says. “Leave before we do something that can’t be undone.”
“Are you fucking threatening me right now?” I’m filled with blind, unadulterated rage at the very thought of someone separating Grace from me.
Dimitri steps toward me. We're face-to-face, both of us ready to strike.
"Oh my God, calm your tits," Nico says. “How about all of us take a deep breath and hear him out first? I can’t believe I'm the peacemaker among you guys. I'm so proud of myself."
I don’t take my eyes off the Russian man.
