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I’m doing okay, just focusing on work, so that I don’t have to think about him. How did you survive the first few weeks with Roman?
Sophia
Good question. It wasn’t easy. But once we came to a kind of truce, he started to open up and I realized that I’d misjudged him.
Fat chance I’ve misjudged Dimitri. Though we do have our own truce.
Arianna
Yeah but he rescued you a few times, so you already knew there were some good parts to him. Dimitri has no such qualities. I can’t stay here with him forever. I can’t.
Sophia
I know. We’re working on it. Dimitri has Papa doing something for him, maybe after that’s done he’ll be able to negotiate with Dimitri. If not, Roman will have to step in.
As soon as she sends that text, the three dots appear, showing she’s typing some more. I wait.
Sophia
I’m not going to leave you to the same fate as Ilaria.
Ilaria. I stare at the name. It’s been ages since I thought about her.
Arianna
I know.
Ilaria grew up with us, her family was close to ours. She was an only child and the three of us were like sisters to her. In our minds we were family.
Then she turned sixteen, the same year I did, and everything changed. Her father literally sold her at auction. No matter how hard we tried, we never figured out who bought her or what happened to her after that day. She simply vanished from our lives.
But her impact remains. For years after that, I thought that being good and making my father proud would guarantee that I wasn’t sold off to a strange man. Once, I even told Sophia that it was our duty to fulfill our father’s wishes and marry whoever he chose for us. I thought Sophia’s arranged marriage into the Kozlov Bratva would pave the way for good matches for myself and Gin.
How wrong I was then.
After seeing everything Sophia went through with Roman—before she fell in love with him—I knew that I had to get out of this life. Even though father changed his mind and told us we could marry for love, I knew this world wouldn’t let us go so easily.
Here I am, caught in its clutches, paying for my father’s debt to the Kozlovs. It will never end. Not until I’m a thousand miles away, starting over with a new identity.
Sophia has sealed her fate with Roman, but at least they love each other, they’re happy together. Ginevra still has a chance to escape this life too, and I hope she’ll seize the opportunity once it presents itself. Before it’s too late.
Sophia
I’m sorry to bring up Ilaria, you were so close growing up. I know it’s been a long time.
Arianna
It’s fine. I need to get back to work. Chat later.
Sophia sends a hug emoji.
I swipe over to my to-do list and try to focus on the next task, but my mind keeps drifting to Ilaria. What has her life been like for the past five and a half years? Is she still alive? How much has she suffered?
The library door swings inward, and Dimitri’s broad form fills the opening. Abruptly, I stand up, immediately regretting the move when he stalks toward me, his eyes taking in my silk blouse and trousers. His gaze leaves a heated trail down my body.
I worry my bottom lip. I hate how one look from his intense, mossy green eyes gets me all flustered.
“How can I help you?” I curtly ask, crossing my arms, not at all noticing how his dark T-shirt stretches across his muscular chest and around his arms. Obviously, he should wear a larger size.
