Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 108119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
“I’m Russian. I’m a Petrov.”
“Your father was a Petrov. Your mother was the daughter of Heraldo Emmanuel, from the house of Savoy — the last living royal family of Italy.” He tossed the ring in the air.
I didn’t make any move to catch it.
It bounced on the ground, once, twice, and then Dante reached down and picked it up, resolutely placing it in the palm of my hand.
Phoenix’s next words were damning, as they drove a knife straight into my heart. “If you don’t love her, don’t put her through this war, Andrei. The Sinacore family does not mix bloodlines.”
“I’m mixed.” But even as I said it, I knew. I knew all about the Sinacore family, I’d saved Renee from a similar fate. I had killed in order to keep her hidden here.
I’d double crossed my own family.
I didn’t acknowledge it at the time. All I knew was that I didn’t care.
“Phoenix.” I leaned against the wall, clutching the ring in my palm. “How many are coming?”
“All of them.” The words were a blow to my soul. “And they will finish the job we started. The De Langes are exorcised — and the new arm of the five families will rise up under their new leader. You.”
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Alice
I was starting to get nervous. Not that Ax wasn’t extremely distracting. He had two kids now, both of them under the age of four, one of them just started pre-school and managed to sneak out of the house in the morning and start his car.
Ax added more locks.
Same thing happened the next day.
Suffice it to say his family life sounded so normal it was almost strange. He held guns most of the day, helped torture people and then at night read Goodnight Moon to his two boys.
I stirred my straw around in my drink and yawned just as Andrei stomped toward me with so much aggression in his eyes I actually shrunk back a bit.
“Thanks, Ax.” His voice was off.
Something was wrong.
“Andrei?”
He pulled me against him, held me there so tight that it was hard to breathe, and then he leaned back just enough for his eyes to lock on mine. “I missed you.”
Why did it seem like he was saying goodbye?
Like he would miss me when I was standing right there?
“Ax.” Andrei’s piercing gaze didn’t leave mine. “No interruptions, especially the Italians, things can wait… just a while longer.”
I frowned. “What happened?”
“We got the information we needed, and I shot your brother between the eyes because he was about to attempt to say your name only after bringing Chase to the brink of mass homicide. So, I’d say it went well.” He pressed a kiss to my cheek. “Are you ready for our dinner date?”
I let the truth wash over me.
My brother was dead.
The monster had finally killed him.
And I was relieved. I was more than relived. I was grateful, thankful, and I refused to feel like a bad human being because my brother’s evil was no longer present on earth.
I sighed in relief and clung to Andrei.
He exhaled against my body and pulled away. “Dinner?” Again, he prompted, like he wanted to get out of there. He seemed fine on the outside, as normal as a man like Andrei could be, but his eyes were distant, his body language stiff, aggressive.
Afraid. He seemed afraid. Maybe that’s why I didn’t recognize it at first, because he’d never shown me that emotion before.
“Actually…” I held him close and kept him there. And in all the scenarios that had played on repeat in my head, I would have never guessed that this would be one of them I would take, the road I would take.
I was going to seduce Andrei Petrov.
I was going to take every last inch of him and breathe life into him.
I was going to give him the control he so desperately needed.
And I would give him everything.
Not because he asked me to.
But because I suddenly realized he needed me to, he needed it. His eyes were unfocused again as a few people walked by us, the Italians.
I nodded to them.
Phoenix gave Andrei a look that I couldn’t discern.
Dante stopped while the rest of them walked past and said their goodbyes, his eyes met mine and then Andrei’s.
Before I knew what was happening, Dante was leaning in and pressing a kiss to my cheek and whispering. “Make it count.”
I had no idea what it meant.
All I knew was that they knew something I didn’t.
And that Andrei’s death grip on me intensified to the point of pain.
“Let’s stay in.” I turned around abruptly. “Let’s order pizza or something?”
Andrei’s frozen face morphed into a frown. “I promised you a date.”
“A date just means we’re doing something together. Let’s do something together here… home.”
His blue eyes softened. “Home?”
“Our home.” I nodded, feeling the word in my soul as it continued to repeat in my head over and over again. Home. The monster had given me a home.