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And what of my family? I can’t see my parents anymore, even just to tell them goodbye?
I know they wouldn’t really miss me, but I don’t want our unresolved issues to be a shadow that follows Luca and me the rest of our lives. I don’t want us to always have to look over our shoulders for my father’s men.
I’ve found the one person I want to spend the rest of my life with, and I want to stay, but not like this.
Even as I lean into Luca, burrowing into his strength and drowning myself in his strong, addictive scent, I realize that I’ll have to find a way to close the door on my old life without him knowing. I’ll have to sneak out.
If only to rid myself of the shackles of my old life.
Chapter Seven
Luca
“I assume you’ve heard the news,” Matteo says, scratching his mustache as he stares up at me with a suspicious glit in his eyes. He is a short, stocky man with a large pot belly and thinning white hair, which gives people the illusion that he is harmless, but the truth is that Matteo Rossi is as ruthless as they come to anyone outside his own family.
As was his father before him and his grandfather before that.
I can’t say the same thing about the son resting on the couch near his father. Unlike Matteo, Nico is quiet and soft. He has no interest in his father’s empire, preferring to pursue his passion for cooking instead. Nico is a skilled chef with a kind heart, something Matteo has only recently come to accept.
Normally, Nico and I would be at odds given his natural position as Matteo’s heir and mine as his father’s second in command. We are about the same age, and Matteo has always treated me like a son. Fortunately, Nico has never struggled with jealousy, only too happy to see me take up his father’s mantel. It’s why everyone assumes that I will be Matteo’s heir, though he hasn’t officially named me as such.
“Luca,” comes a stern voice, and my attention shifts back to my boss.
“Yes, Ivanov’s daughter has been missing for two days now.”
“And you wouldn’t have any idea where she is?”
“No,” I say, my face blank as I lock eyes with my boss’s hard ones. He watches me silently for a long moment, and I fight the urge to tell him everything. This man has been like a father to me for over a decade. I owe everything I am and all that I have to him.
But Katya is mine!
I am not handing her over to her father or my boss. I am not about to let these men control her fate.
Isn’t that exactly what you are doing?
I ignore the little voice at the back of my head. I am nothing like these men. Fine, maybe I am just like these men when it comes to business, and it’s for that very reason that I intend to keep Katya to myself and away from them.
I know how they think.
I know that they would not hesitate to hurt her if it came to that.
No, Katya stays with me until I feel it’s safe. I vowed to protect her even if it cost my life.
“I heard she’s a redhead, a pretty one,” Nico says absently, breaking me from my thoughts, and my eyes shoot to him.
“Hm,” Matteo agrees. “I believe that is why Anton agreed to the alliance so quickly,” he says, his eyes never leaving my face.
My fists clench at my sides, an action Matteo does not fail to notice. There is something in his expression that I don’t trust.
“For her sake, I hope Anton isn’t the one who finds her, given his reputation for his treatment of women. Alliance or not, something tells me his betrothed would not escape his wrath.” Nico plays with his fingers as he speaks, seeming unaware of the storm his words are causing to burn within me.
Katya is purity and innocence in my world of violence, and I will protect that to the death!
“You know, if we find her first, we could stop the alliance and the war altogether and keep the poor girl safe,” Nico continues, halting my building rage momentarily.
“What are you talking about?” I demand. “If we find her and don’t return her to Viktor, we’ll have both the Albanians and the Russians on our asses. Anton won’t let this go any more than Viktor would. They both want this marriage alliance.”
Nico smiles, and I’m suddenly reminded that even though he may not want to take over for his father, he is still every bit Matteo’s son.
