Page 153 of Tempting My Mafia Monster

The gentle drag of her nails across my scalp helped the chaos inside me go quiet. My whole body shuddered and folded into her.

“I gave him exactly what he wanted. I shouldn’t have gone. I’m so fuckin’ sorry, Raya. I’ll never leave you again—“

“Maddox.” Her voice was thick with emotion, but her hands never stopped soothing me. She leaned down, pressing a kiss to the top of my head, and whispered, “I’m okay. I’m here. I’m right here. Look at me.”

I pulled back just enough to look up at her. She sank to her knees to meet me, her fingers caressing my face as I stared into her eyes. She saw it all, every wrecked emotion and ounce of vulnerability I’d spent my entire life hiding from the world. She was the only person who made me feel safe enough to show them.

I didn’t understand how she was still alive, how she’d survived whatever McKenna had brought to her door, but I’d never fuck up and leave her again. Never. I was done chasing revenge. I was done living in the dark. She was all I needed.

She pressed her forehead against mine and closed her eyes. “You made it back. We’re alive. That’s all that matters.”

“There is no version of me that doesn’t find his way back to you.” I kissed her lips as a small sob escaped her. “I love you, Little Monster.”

Her eyes widened, unable to believe I’d spoken words I’d never uttered to a soul before. I never believed I was capable of saying them, or maybe I just couldn’t allow myself to put them out into the universe, knowing they could be taken from me. But God, I loved her. She deserved to hear it.

A dazzling smile appeared on her blood-covered face. “I love you.”

Her smile dropped, and she tensed, turning her head to look at the audience I hadn’t realised was present.

Disbelieving eyes were all staring at us from the living room. Santino was hugging his wife to his chest, holding her tightly and breathing hard. Alessio stood behind him, half-taking in the carnage of the room, but flicking his gaze back to us with deep concern. Raffaele sat on the sofa, half his face bandaged, one arm slung protectively over Liliana’s shoulders. And ringed around them all, lining the walls with weapons in hand, were Russian soldiers.

Rostov’s men. My eyes trailed to the bodies on one side of the room. A few faces from my past I recognised immediately. Irish soldiers.

At the centre of it all stood Aleksandr, immaculately dressed in a designer suit, without a single scratch on him. He had his arms folded, navy-blue eyes squinting at Raya and me, a blank expression on his face.

I turned to Raya as she swallowed, realising we had just outed our relationship to everyone, including the man she was promised to. But I didn’t give a fuck about that. No man was taking her from me.

My blood rushed with sudden rage at seeing him standing there when he was supposed to be in Belgium. Which only meant one thing… he never intended to come. He sent us there so this could happen. Whatever the fuck this was. My eyes dragged over Raya’s body, searching for the source of all the blood. She didn’t appear harmed, but that didn’t calm me down.

My lethal glare pinned on Aleksandr.

“Maddox,” Raya warned, sensing the change in me. But I was already moving.

I surged off the floor in a violent outburst and slammed into the Bratva heir like a freight train. We toppled over the sofa as I threw a punch to his jaw and grabbed the lapels of his suit, while a dozen guns appeared around my head. A second later, Alessio and Santino, along with a handful of Buccini soldiers, had their guns raised against the Russians.

“You sent us there!” I roared in Aleksandr’s face as he raised a hand to halt his men from firing. I drove my fist back into his face, once, twice, but he took each blow, refusing to fight back. “You sent us to Belgium! You knew what he’d do—she could have died! They all could have died, and you let us leave!”

“Maddox!” Soraya shouted from behind the cocked guns and the men. She fought her way through them to reach me. “Stop! You don’t understand!”

But I was already seeing red. I lifted Aleksandr off the floor and slammed his back against the wall, my forearm crushing his throat. Again, he didn’t fight back. He didn’t even raise his hands. He simply watched me with that cold, controlled expression and assessing eyes.

“Maddox!” Soraya’s voice cut through the bloodthirst. “Aleksandr was never with the Irish, not really. He led Sean into a trap. He let Sean believe they had a deal, then had his men shoot every Irish soldier in the room. He’s the only reason any of us are still breathing right now.”

The words landed one by one, yet they still made no sense. I stared at her, then back at his face, calm as a frozen lake despite the lack of oxygen.

“The mission in Belgium was real. I never lied to you,” Aleksandr choked, holding my narrowed gaze. “Sean was there, but now he’s here, in the cells beneath our feet.”

I eased my arm from his throat and forced myself to step back, even though the rage still simmered beneath my skin. I grabbed Raya around the waist and pulled her to me as the men in the room lowered their guns.

Aleksandr straightened his collar where I’d twisted it, meeting my gaze without a flicker of fear. I glared at him, daring him to say anything about Raya being his. He clicked his head to the side and rubbed the jaw I’d taken my anger out on.

“Talk,” Alessio demanded, stepping forward. “Explain what the fuck happened and where Giovanni is? Max? Olivia? Cecilia?”

Aleksandr exhaled, his gaze flicking to Raya in my arms.

“Sean shot Gio,” Raya said, her voice trembling with worry. “He’s in surgery. Olivia and Max went with him. And Mamma is fine. She’s sleeping in her room, guarded by our men. She wasn’t even aware of what happened. Aleksandr had his men stationed outside her wing, preventing any Irish from entering.”

We all looked at Aleksandr.