ONE
Katya
The closer weget to our destination, the harder it is for me to control my trembling hands. This was never going to be easy to pull off. Knowing I concealed the truth to get here isn't helping my nerves.
Though I've spent my life around dangerous men, I fear Gabriele Volante might be more than I can handle. A ruthless reputation precedes him and I know what he does to people who cross him.
Pressing my palms against my thighs, I breathe in deeply to steady myself. Rome flashes by outside the car window. It's my first time in the Eternal City but I'm wound too tight to enjoy the scenery. I need to focus on keeping my story straight in my head.
"You can still back out," Niamh says.
I turn to her, meeting her probing gaze. In the two weeks I've known Niamh Donnelly I've learned that her angelic features and warm, friendly personality belong to a woman who misses nothing.
"No," I tell her. "I won't back out."
There's a quiver in my voice too obvious to miss.
"If you think you might back out, do it now, Katya. It would be too cruel after."
I nod, understanding exactly what she's saying. If I change my mind about marrying Gabriele after I meet him, it will look as if it's because I'm repulsed by his scars.
People have whispered about him for years, about how he's become a virtual recluse since his face was slashed with a broken bottle during a fight. I could never be so shallow as to reject him because of his looks.
His scars don't worry me in the slightest. It's the man himself I'm not sure I can cope with. Since he withdrew from the world, an air of myth has surrounded him. He's become something of a boogeyman even among dangerous men.
"I wouldn't do that," I assure her.
Niamh purses her lips. "That's what Davina O'Reilly said."
"Davina O'Reilly?" The name is familiar but I can't place it.
"She saw where you were two months ago and told me the same thing. Then she met Gabriele and ran back to daddy telling him she wouldn't marry a man whose face is a ruin. Her father needed the alliance to save his skin. He won't recover from the fallout. Neither will she."
The smile that crosses Niamh's face holds an edge of cruelty. It's a reminder that she's one of the few women in our fucked-up circles who wields truly terrifying power. She lets the silence stretch, making sure I understand exactly what’s at stake.
"That won't happen this time."
"No?" She fixes one of her intrusive stares on me. "Well, I suppose your father isn't quite as invested in your marriage as O'Reilly was in his daughter's. Tell me, Katya, does he really not mind you coming here alone?"
I smooth down my skirt.
"As I said when we first met, my father allows me complete autonomy in these matters."
Knowing she was looking for a suitable wife for Gabriele, I approached her at a party in London to ask for an introduction. She assumed my father knew what we were discussing since he was also there and I didn't correct her.
"He believes the union will be beneficial, so he's happy for me to meet with Gabriele."
Skepticism flashes across her face before her expression settles into a careful smile.
"Then you're lucky. Few pakhans would allow their daughter such freedom."
"What can I say?" I give my best spoiled princess shrug. "My father adores me."
That couldn't be further from the truth. There was a time when my father showed some affection for me but that ended the moment I refused a match with Sergei Litkov.
When I took drastic action to get myself out of it, my father shot the man I lured to my bed without stopping to consider the consequences of killing another Bratva leader's brother.
To avoid a war he can't win, he offered me to Boris Orlov. But Boris isn't the type of man to forgive his brother's killer. He'll take pleasure in breaking me and when he's done he'll slaughter the entire Kuznetov Bratva, leaving my father for last.
