Page 78 of Tempting My Mafia Monster

“There’s been no word or sighting of him since France. If he isn’t dead, it would be in his best interests to pretend he was. We can’t believe any rumours. We need to see for ourselves,” Gio said.

I closed the file and pushed it aside. “I shouldn’t have stabbed him. It’s made him harder to find, hasn’t it?”

“We will find him,” Sani said seriously, resting his hand on my arm. Instinctively, I pulled away. The hurt on his face made my chest ache, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t have him touching me with the same hands he used to murder Maddox.

He swallowed and withdrew his hand. “Sorry,” he mumbled. I let out a shaky breath. Sani’s next question came out gruff and laced with anger. “Did he… were you… tortured… raped?”

I shook my head. There was a collective sigh of relief around the table. My temples began to pound. I couldn’t take any more of this. Not today. It was too much.

“I’m going to go to my room and lie down,” I mumbled, scooting my chair back from the table.

“Raya, there’s something you should know—”

“Gio, not now,” Olivia hissed, giving him her death glare. I paused.

“What is it?”

Gio sighed, running his hand through his hair. Sani looked sheepish, staring down at the table.

“She needs to know. We can’t keep this from her any longer.”

“Know what?”

“Aleksandr Rostov will be coming to the house for a meeting today.”

I stared at him. Olivia pressed her lips together. Aria looked down at her hands.

“Who?”

“The Bratva heir.”

For the second time today, my blood ran cold. The man I had to marry.

Gio leaned forward, bracing his elbows on the table. “We know this is… I don’t even know what to call this fucking thing,” he groaned. “But look, you don’t have to do this.”

I swallowed hard. I wanted to run and hide. “What’s the alternative if I refuse to marry him?”

Gio’s face softened. He didn’t need to say it.

“War?”

“We will deal with it,” Sani said, looking up at me. “Say you don’t want to marry him, and we’ll find another way.”

I shook my head. “You can’t fix everything, Sani. Some things are too broken.” His eyes glistened, and his throat worked. He looked down. I stared at Giovanni. “When we give our word in an alliance, we should stand by it, right?” His eyes narrowed in confusion, sensing a hidden meaning. “Because when the mafia go to war, only one family survives. We all know this time it won’t be us.”

I turned away from the room and headed upstairs before any of them could see my tears. What difference would marriage make to me now, anyhow? My life would never be what I wanted. No other man would ever compare to Maddox. I’d never love again. So if this heir was okay with that, and it saved my family, so be it. I couldn’t care less what happened to me.

I watched from my bedroom window as the expensive cars pulled up in the driveway. Men, all dressed formally in black suits, climbed out of the cars, and one opened the back door. Aleksandr was the last to get out.

My future husband stood on the gravel driveway. The light breeze rippled over him, but not a single dark hair fell out of place, gelled with immaculate precision away from his face. Maddox’s black hair came to mind, wild and unpredictable, just like his aura.

This man wasn’t either. He seemed ruthless but in a controlled and poised way.

I swallowed hard as Aleksandr lifted his face towards the mansion, his eyes masked behind designer sunglasses. High cheekbones and a sharp chin gave him a stunning face card. He looked as if he’d been sculpted from ice. Even from this angle, I could tell he was tall. He towered over most of his men, yet his strong, athletic build suggested controlled dominance and discipline. His navy suit was tailored to perfection. He looked exactly as I’d expected, though I didn’t remember him being at the fight. But the whole ordeal was a blur, especially their faces.

Objectively, Aleksandr Rostov was gorgeous. But I felt no desire or appreciation for his striking looks.

He wasn’t Maddox.