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Katerina
“Idon’t owe her money and she isn’t my business partner,” Leo muttered as he ran his hand through his hair in frustration.
“You are lying. I don’t like lies.” I said softly, hating how much this was hurting me right now.
Had he been betraying me all this time?
“I’m not lying. I just didn’t want to get you to get caught up in my problems that I need to clean up.” He said and that was his saving grace.
“Sit. Start talking.” I snapped and he sighed.
“Please don’t judge me when you hear what I have to say.” He said softly and I stiffened. What the fuck was he involved in?
“I don’t owe Tamika money, but I do owe her father money. Her father isn’t a good guy.” He said warily and I laughed bitterly.
“You are talking to someone who is quite willing to slit a man’s throat. Get to the point. Who is her father?” I asked as Alexsei sat near him.
I eyed him, seeing the casual stance for what it was. He was getting ready to grab him if he needed to.
“Vinnie Alfonzo.” He said and I had to admit, I wasn’t expecting that.
“You got yourself in debt with Vinnie the Shark? How?” Alexsei said with disbelief and that was when I realized who the men were that night at the fight near our seats.
“You fight for him,” I said and Leo nodded, a look of shame in his eyes.
“I fight. Not by choice. The debt wasn’t all mine. I took it on before my sister died.” He said and it all started to make sense.
“What did she do?” I walked over with my coffee, the gesture enough to make him relax a little like I intended. I may not have the truth yet, but he wasn’t a threat to me.
“She was friends with Tamika and that was how she met one of Vinnie’s main guys. They started dating and he got her hooked-on drugs. My sister, Felicity, and the guy… Jarrad decided one day to steal from Vinnie. They stole his entire shipment and went to undercut him.” He paused and a chill went down my spine.
“Your sister was Jarrad ‘the Catfish’ Poland’s girl? Damn. Vinnie made an example of Jarrad that echoed through all of the families.” Alexsei said softly and I saw the pain in Leo’s eyes.
“He made an example of my sister too. I found out when she was taken. I tried to bargain for her life, taking on the debt and using my gym as collateral. He found out I could fight and added that to the bargain too. It was only months later when I tried to get him to give my sister back, that I found out that she had died. He…” Leo’s voice broke and Alexsei surprised me by putting a hand on his shoulder.
“He used her. He kept her fed on the drugs she had become addicted to and used her for sport with all of his men. She died of an overdose.” He whispered and my heart broke for him.
“Leo…” I whispered before he started to cry. I hurried over and wrapped my arms around him.
“Why didn’t you tell me? I hold no judgment. How much do you owe?” I asked and he wiped his face and sighed loudly.
“Three million. My debt was taken down under the condition I fight for him. The original debt was ten million. Tamika works at the gym to report back to Vinnie. I made the mistake of sleeping with her one night when I was drunk. She uses that as ammo. If she tells Vinnie, I don’t know what he would do.” He shrugged and I sighed.
“We will sort it out. I don’t have liquid assets right now, but we will get it paid off as soon as we go back. I’ll make a call to my finance broker and start the process. Clean cut with no bloodshed.” I added as I looked at Alexsei.
He understood. We couldn’t afford any other minor turf wars right now and Vinnie was the kind of guy who would incite anyone who had beef with me to fight.
He may just be a dirty loan shark and a street gang leader, but he held enough sway to cause headaches I didn’t want to deal with right now.
“He would still expect me to fight,” Leo added and I smiled.
“Not when he finds out who you answer to now,” I said and he narrowed his eyes.
“Who I answer to?” Leo repeated and I grinned.
“Oh yes. Because Hard Knock now belongs to the Bratva, along with you, Leo. You belong to me.” I said before I gripped his face and kissed him.
“And I protect what is mine,” I whispered earning a wary smile.
