I’m going stir crazy in this room, ruminating about my life. I can’t do it anymore. I have to get out.
I text my friends and then change quickly, heading down to see Alessandro.
“I’m going out with my friends,” I announce, barging into Alessandro's office without knocking. "I'm spending the day with Sophia, Giana, and Teresa at a spa in Manhattan."
My brother barely glances up from his paperwork. "Fine. I'll have Carlos ready the car."
"Carlos can drive, but I want Cristian as my bodyguard."
Alessandro's pen stops moving. His gray eyes lift to meet my gaze. “That’s not possible.”
Dread fills me. “Why?”
“Carlos—”
“Why, Alessandro? Tell me!” I’m panicked now. Did he hand Cristian over to Maksim as some peace offering after what happened in the garden? “I swear to God, Alessandro, if you’ve given in to Maksim again, I’ll send for Luca?—”
“Watch yourself, little sister.” He rises, I’m sure to intimidate me, which he does. I don’t think Alessandro would ever kill me for mouthing off, but then again, I’ve never tested that theory.
“Cristian is the only one I trust. The only one you can trust to protect me,” I say, trying to sound reasonable.
“And I’m telling you that’s not possible.”
Tears spring to my eyes as I figure out what he’s saying. “Why, Alessandro? Why would you kill him? He was the most loyal?—”
“He’s not dead.”
Relief floods me.
“He’s on perimeter duty indefinitely. He can protect you from there."
Now I’m mad again. "Why? Because he protected me when your precious perverted ally put his hands on me?"
"Because he pulled a gun on the Pakhan of the Russian Bratva," Alessandro replies. "Do you understand what could have happened if Maksim had been in a different mood that day?"
I fold my arms across my chest. "What's the point of giving me a bodyguard if he can't actually guard my body from the very person I need protection from?"
"Valentina—"
"No." My voice cuts through the room. "I'm marrying a terrible man for you, Alessandro. I'm giving up my life, my body, my future for this family. The least you can do is let me choose who protects me during the little freedom I have left."
Something flickers across his face. Guilt, I hope, though I've rarely seen it. “I can’t trust him not to make things worse.”
“So he should have let Maksim fuck me?—”
“Jesus, Valentina?—”
“What? That’s all Maksim thinks about when it comes to me. That and breaking me. If you can’t handle it?—"
"Fine. Take Cristian.” He waves his hand through the air like he wants me to stop talking about this topic.
“Thank you.” I turn and leave before he can change his mind.
Thirty minutes later, I slide into the back seat of the black sedan while Cristian holds the door.
He's silent as he joins me, his broad shoulders tense.
I’m worried that he blames me for being demoted.
