"He's twenty-six. They all act like that."
"I didn't."
"You joined the mafia as a teenager. Had to grow up fast." Viktor leans against the wall. "Leo's been sheltered. Protected. He doesn't know what real consequences look like."
"Maybe it's time he learned."
We head back to the car. I'm still seething, still processing the fight, when my phone rings.
Luca.
"Yeah?"
"Axel. We need to meet tomorrow. Discuss the wedding timeline."
Right. The wedding. Where Leo marries Aurora, and I have to watch.
"Sure. Your office?"
"Mine works. Bring Leo. Aurora and I will be there."
He hangs up.
I stare at the phone, that dangerous possessiveness rising in my chest again.
Aurora.
I haven't seen her since last night. Since I took her against that wall in the garden, hand over her mouth, both of us desperate and wrong.
This can't happen again.
But I know it will. Know that the next time we're alone, I'll reach for her. And she'll let me.
Because we're both addicted now.
I try to work when we get back to the estate. Review reports, sign contracts, focus on anything except the memory of Aurora's body against mine.
It doesn't work.
Around midnight, I give up. Head to the kitchen for water.
That's when I hear Leo's voice.
He's in the sitting room, phone pressed to his ear, laughing.
"—I know, right? Aurora Luca. Can you believe it?"
I stop. Listen.
"Yeah, she's pregnant. Some other guy's kid, but whatever. Dad says it's fine, it's about the alliance." He pauses. "Oh, I'm definitely going to have fun breaking her in after the wedding."
What?
"She thinks she's so superior. Remember when she had me arrested in college? Fucking bitch." Another laugh. "But she's used goods now. Pregnant. Desperate. She'll do whatever I say once we're married."
My vision goes red.
"I'm going to make her regret ever rejecting me. Make her understand what happens when you cross a Santego." He's bragging now, voice loud and cruel. "She'll learn her place real quick."
