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This girl knows just how to build me up then destroy me with simple words and soft touches.
I knew she was going to leave, that’s why I left the keycard on the living room table. I read the stubbornness in her eyes when I forbade her from going to the showcase, and I knew that she’d find one way or another to leave.
Did my naive little flower really think I wouldn’t notice her leave the bed? I am in the mob for Christ’s sake. I haven’t known a deep sleep for decades, and the slightest disturbance wakes me up. Still, I let her believe she’d gotten her way.
I slide into my joggers and a hoodie then head for my home office where I keep the spare key. I follow right after her and catch up just as she’s climbing into a taxi. I know where she’s going, so I don’t mind losing sight of the taxi as I head to the garage for my car.
The drive to the concert hall her school rented for the showcase has me on edge, and while I am not too pleased to be chasing my princess, I need to get my stubborn woman back. I park my car a few blocks away, and I figure it’ll be easier to slip in the back entrance used by the students.
And it appears I am not the only one who thought so.
I notice guards—Viktor’s men—huddled together in the alley next to the school as I sneak through the shadows, and not a single one of them notices me when I slip through the door. Once this is all settled, if Katya insists on finishing her schooling, I’m going to have to do something about this lax security. She’ll have at least two of my men assigned to guard her at all times.
Viktor has more men inside the venue, and I’m careful to keep my head down and avoid eye contact. Dressed as I am, I fit in with the college students who are warming up on their instruments and have yet to change out of their street clothes. Still, I have to be careful. I know without a doubt that any one of Viktor’s men wouldn’t hesitate to shoot me if they spotted me, witnesses be damned. But I didn’t rise through the ranks of the Rossi family without learning a few things.
And I am willing to risk my life for Katya. To get her back, and this time when I do, I’ll not let her go.
I turn down a corridor lined with doors leading to dressing rooms and soundproofed rehearsal rooms. I peek through every open doorway, looking for Katya. Knowing my princess, she has sought out a piano to practice her showcase piece and settle her nerves. Playing always calms her.
I catch loud noises as I come closer to the fourth door on the right side of the hall. It’s only slightly ajar, but enough to see that it is a rehearsal room and no one is guarding the entrance. I shake my head at Viktor’s incompetence, or perhaps he’s just confident that no one would dare try something here with so many civilians around.
I press close to the door and reach into my waistband to take out my gun, pushing the slightly open door further until Ican see Katya and her father in the reflection of the mirror on the far wall.
“. . . Papa, I’m telling the truth. I was at a friend’s house. But I’m not coming home with you. I won’t marry the Albanian, you can’t force me.”
“Do you have any idea the trouble you have caused this family, you spoiled little brat?” Ivanov’s voice booms through the room, making Katya flinch back from him.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers.
“Save your apologies,” Ivanov sneers. “I’ll have you under house arrest until your wedding day. You are coming home and you are not leaving the house until Anton comes to fetch you himself.”
“No! I won’t marry him!”
“It’s your responsibility as a daughter in this family to play your role. You are marrying the man in three days, and that is final.”
I’m about to burst through the door but pull back when I realize it’s not just the two of them in the room. There are other people I recognize as Katya’s siblings seated on a couch, watching their father’s cruelty, and not one of them steps in. I expected something like this to happen, and as much as I hate for Katya to go through it, I realize it’s the only way she’ll truly come to understand that she can never return home. Never leave me.
“Papa, please . . .”
“You two, guard the door. I don’t want anyone in or out of this room until I return for my daughter,” Viktor instructs two men standing in a corner. To Katya, he says, “I will allow you to perform your piece because your fiancée is in the audience andwants to hear it. But as soon as you’re finished, I’m taking you home where you will remain until your wedding day. After that, you’ll cease to be my problem.” With that, he turns and stomps toward the door, motioning for those seated on the couch to follow him.
I dart into the next room just as he pulls the door open. Peeking around the doorframe, I watch as Katya’s family walks down the hall. The two men Viktor left behind stand on either side of the closed door. I weigh my options. Being alone like this and in a public place, the odds are not in my favor. Still, I can’t leave my princess behind. Once Viktor has her back at his compound, she’ll be beyond my reach.
Once Katya’s family has disappeared and the hallway is empty, I pull the hood of my sweatshirt over my head and come out of my hiding spot. Affecting an air of nonchalance, I move down the hallway toward the guards. As I pass, I drop my keys in front of one of the guards and keep walking. As I’d hoped, he calls to me, and when I turn around, he bends to pick up my keys. I strike while he is in a vulnerable position, thrusting my knee into his face with such force, my knee throbs, and the sound of breaking bone as the guard’s nose shatters is unmistakable.
I don’t pause my movements long enough to watch the guard fall to the floor as I turn quickly to deal with the second man. He is stunned for a moment, but quickly recovers. His moment’s hesitation is all I need though, and I punch him square in the gut. As he doubles over, I wrap an arm around his neck and squeeze. He fights hard, but within a couple of minutes, he’s subdued. The first guard starts to get up, so I land a punch to the side of his head, knocking him unconscious as well. Moving quickly, I drag both men into the empty room next door, then search their pockets for their phones, removing thebatteries before slipping them into my own pocket. Then I leave, locking the door from the inside and pulling it closed as I go.
I know I won’t have long before one or both men regain consciousness, but it should be enough time to get my princess out of here. I slip through the door of the rehearsal room, immediately turning to close it, and my heart clenches in my chest as the sound of Katya’s sobs reaches me.
I turn around to find Katya lying face down on the couch, but her alarmed, wet eyes lift to mine. “Luca?” she whimpers.
“You left,” I accuse, stalking toward the stubborn woman I intend to spend the rest of my life with.
“I’m sorry,” she sniffs, sitting up and staring up at me with her wide eyes, but I am not exactly feeling very forgiving. She must read the danger in my gaze as she rises from the couch and runs to meet me halfway. “Luca . . . I only meant to come for a few hours, just long enough to perform my piece. I never imagined my father . . . I didn’t even realize he knew about the showcase. You were right, he’ll do anything to force me to marry the Albanian!”
She cries out when I spin her, pulling her side tight against my chest and delivering a sharp slap to her ass, a little punishment for leaving after promising she wouldn’t. While I understand why she did it, she still disobeyed me and put herself in danger.
“This is for putting your life at risk,” I growl deeply, delivering another slap, and this time, I don’t miss the way her hip tilts up to meet my hand, her body communicating just how much she’s enjoying her punishment. My palm connects with her left cheek and then the right one until she’s bucking against me.
