"I can't just walk away.” I rest my forehead against hers. "Knowing what he is, what he'll do to you…"
She hugs me tight. "You have to. For all of us."
But the thought of Maksim touching her, claiming what's mine, ignites something primal and dangerous within me.
The soldier in me calculates how easily I could end this problem.
One bullet, one knife, one well-executed plan.
I've killed men before. What's one more?
"Don't," she says, reading my thoughts. "Whatever you're planning… don't."
That's my Valentina. Fierce and protective. The same fire that drew me to her now burns in her eyes as she makes me promise not to sacrifice myself.
But how can I honor that promise when every instinct screams to protect what's mine?
Alessandro's inaction infuriates me.
He calls himself the Don, yet he sells his sister to that fucker Maksim to avoid conflict.
Where's the honor in that? Where's the strength?
If he won't protect his family, someone has to.
My mind turns to Luca, the only Dante with balls enough to stand up to Maksim.
He's in Chicago now, building a new life.
Would he let his sister walk this path if he knew the truth?
Contacting him will be risky.
Alessandro would see it as a betrayal, a power play.
But Luca might be our only hope and Alessandro has already forsaken us both.
I pull Valentina close one last time, breathing her in.
I'll leave New York as ordered, but I won't abandon her to this fate.
There has to be another way. And I intend to find it.
It takes every bit of strength I have to leave Valentina.
The belief that I need to live to find a way to save her is all that keeps me following Alessandro’s orders.
I return to my tiny apartment, packing what little I have and tossing it in my old Pontiac, not sure it will be able to make the trip.
Flying is faster, but I can’t take my weapons on a flight.
So driving it is.
As I head out of Great Neck, I decide to take a detour, driving to the edge of Maksim’s property, an arsenal by my side.
One clean shot. That's all it would take.
Even if I succeeded in putting a bullet in Maksim's skull before his men filled me with lead, what then?
