"If you want this to end differently, tell me why the Bratva wants you," I demand. "What does Ivan know that I don't?"
She turns her face away, shoulders trembling. "I can't."
"Wrong answer." I grab her chin, forcing her to look at me. "You're going to tell me everything, or I swear to God, Eva…"
The threat hangs between us, even as I’m not sure I could carry it out. What would I do? Cut her? Beat her? I couldn't, not really.
But one look at her makes me realize that she doesn't know that. For all she knows, I’m going to end her tonight. I can use that to my advantage.
"You think I'm still the man who loved you?" I lean in close enough to feel her panicked energy. "That man died the night you left my bed."
I wait, but she remains tight-lipped.
I don’t get it. “Do you think what you tell me will make me mad? I mean, look at me, Eva, could it really be worse than what’s happening right now?”
“I wish I could?—”
“Stop the bullshit!” I grab an empty plastic vase sitting on the table and throw it against the wall.
Eva jumps.
“Either you tell me everything or Mirabella and I leave without you. Forever."
Her eyes widen in genuine terror. "You wouldn't separate us."
"Wouldn't I? To protect that little girl, I'd do anything." I pause for effect. “Anything, Eva.” I release her face, stepping back to survey the wreckage of the woman I thought I loved.
“But I’m her mother.”
"You're a danger to her. You can't protect her like I can. You know it. You've made your choices, Eva. Now it's time to face the consequences."
I stare at Eva thinking how fucking naïve I was to fall for her. I circle her like prey, watching her body tense with each step.
“You can keep your secret. I don’t give a shit anymore. But Mirabella is mine. My brothers, my sister, my nieces and nephews, they become her family while you become a distant memory."
I stop in front of her, crossing my arms. "Or perhaps I will send you back to Alessandro. He's wanted to interrogate you properly since day one. Unlike me, he has no emotional attachment clouding his judgment."
I watch her for a moment, in some ways in awe of her ability to keep her secret, in other ways pissed off that she never trusted me enough with it.
“The choice is simple. Tell me everything now or face consequences you can't imagine."
24
EVA
I stare at Adriano, barely recognizing the man before me.
Those gray eyes that once looked at me with tenderness now gleam with fury.
It feels surreal that the man who held me gently just days ago now threatens to take everything I love.
I've always known what he is, what he does.
The enforcer.
The monster other men fear.
But never once did I fear him myself. Even when we first met, when I should have been terrified of the dangerous Dante brother, something in me recognized him as my protector rather than my enemy.
