“Now that you’re listening…you see what I can do with a single word.”
I nod, my throat too clogged to reply.
Alessio ticks his head, reaching to capture a curl. “I’m assuming you won’t be coming to our wedding bed a virgin. Petrov’s touched what isn’t his to take, robbing me of my right as your husband, and I could kill him for that alone.”
I smack his hand away, caring less about his reaction. He can hit me if it makes him feel like the bigger person, as long as he doesn’t call that number back and have Lev murdered.
“The deal is simple. In one week, I’ll propose marriage, and you will accept. If you refuse, I have people inside the Bratva whowillmurder everyone you care about. I’ll start with your sister, and then that ballerina out there. Your mother, of course. And then, dear ol’ Lev. I’ll save him for last because I’m getting the sense he’s the key to your obedience. Of course, all this would send your brother to war, placing his life at risk. Nero Amato’s, as well… Should I continue?”
With every name he lists, more of me melts away until the only thing left ismurder.Hismurder. Something I didn’t believe myself capable of before, but after the party, after his threats, the vision of his lifeless eyes and limp body is all too appealing to ignore.
Maybe I do have more of Ursin Volkov inside me than we all assumed. Because in this instance, I’ll strike any deal to keep Lev safe. To keep themallsafe.
A lifetime of misery in an unwanted union to save my family. It’s laughable and ironic…because it’s precisely what a mafia princess would be expected to do.
I’mnota mafia princess, because I was raised otherwise. I was raised to become my own person, without the confines of these rules.
Which is why a plan strikes me. One no one will agree with but must happen.
One that embraces the Volkov blood running through my veins.
“Deal.”
43
LEV
Where the fuck are you?I push off the wall, scanning the entrance to the female washroom for the fifth time. Since realizing she’s been gone too long, I’ve counted to a hundred twice now, and I’m seconds away from bursting into the washroom, consequences be damned.
As if she’s heard me, Serafina slips from between two other women. Her face is low and shielded, and she walks quickly.Tooquickly. Once close, she glances immediately to my left, her lip curling.
“Fi—”
She yanks my hand, propelling me deeper into the crowds now dispersing, since intermission is nearing its end. She abruptly stops in the centre of the room and throws her arms around me, pulling my mouth to hers in a fevered kiss, like she’ll never get the chance to again. Her body molds to mine, not an inch of space between us.
For all those reasons, I end it and push her away.
Emotions wash over her, overme, like a cool drench of water at the sight of a tear dripping down her cheek, which she immediately wipes away. Her face is ashen, despondent, a lookthat not only makes my blood race but drives me to locate and destroy whoever made her this way.
“What is it?”
She glances past my shoulder, scanning the room before pulling me towards the theatre’s entrance. Being stronger, I haul her to a stop and nudge her against a nearby wall, using my body to cut everyone else out.
“No, Serafina. Tell me what the fuck is going on.”
She watches over my shoulder as people enter the auditorium. “C-can we finish watching the show first?”
She’scryingand wants to finish the show? Ana’s show could fuck itself. A fist to the wall above her head keeps my voice calm, a surge of anger blasted through it rather than unleashed on her.
All that control training and prison trained me in? Gone.
“Tell. Me.”Before I break something. Before your pain breaksme.
My hand flattens on the wall, my finger tapping. There is no pattern this time, only motion, because that’s how she’s making me feel right now. Not orderly, only chaotic. My mind fills with static and buzzing while only her occasional sniffle breaks through.
“I-I will. Please, Lev. I want to see the rest of the show. I want the rest of this night to go normal.”
The rest of—?“Fina,” I whisper, dropping my head, using her scent to quell the rage. “You’re safe. We’ll finish the show, but Ihaveto know what happened. Did someone hurt you?”
