Page 107 of Lust and Honor

I see the color drain from her face, and unease coils tight in my stomach. What is it? What is she hiding from me?

“Sorry, Ava,” she murmurs. “I need to take an important call.”

She grabs her phone and starts to rise, but I catch her hand. “Please, Emily. Tell me what’s going on. If something’s happened, I deserve to know.”

She chews on her bottom lip, hesitating, then exhales sharply. “Those idiot mobsters... Maxim’s fighting in a death match tonight.”

My eyes go wide. I have no idea what the hell a death match is, but the name alone tells me it’s nothing good.

Before I can ask, she explains, “It’s a fight to the death. Two men enter the ring, only one comes out alive.”

My throat tightens. “You mean...one of them has to kill the other?”

She nods.

Horror floods me as I leap to my feet. “Where? Where’s this happening?”

“In the casino basement.”

My body moves on instinct, every muscle ready to bolt to that damned casino. “Then I’m going there. Right now. If anyone’s going to kill that stupid bastard, it’s me, not some other asshole.”

I turn to go, but she grabs my arm. “Wait, Ava. We can’t just go. Not unless Carlo gives the order.”

I stare at her in desperation. She picks up her phone again, dials, and steps away from me, murmuring under her breath. A few minutes later, she turns back and sets the phone on speaker.

“Carlo wants to talk to you.”

His voice fills the room, calm but unyielding. “The tickets for this fight are sold, the bets are placed. There’s no backing out. Sit tight at home and wait for Maxim to win. Then you can tell him how you feel.”

I snatch the phone, disbelief flooding my voice. “What the hell does money matter when his life’s on the line?”

His tone hardens. “This isn’t about money. It’s about honor. If Maxim bails at the last second, he’ll have to pack up and leave Italy. He’d be branded a coward. And that’s not who he is. Even if I, as his Capo, ordered him to quit, he wouldn’t.”

I swallow hard against the lump in my throat. “Then let me go talk to him.”

“The rage you lit in him with your words, that’s his edge. You really want to take that away and send a lovesick fool into the ring instead of a raging beast?”

A tear slips down my cheek. “I can’t lose him.”

“You won’t. I’ve got full faith in Maxim. He’s my right hand, my brother. If I wasn’t damn sure he could win this fight, I never would’ve let him step into that ring.”

My voice cracks as I plead. “Tell your men to bring me to the casino. I swear I won’t go near him until it’s over. Just... let me be there. Please.”

A beat of silence hangs before the order comes, “Come alone. Emily stays home.”

***

It’s been over an hour since I’ve been stuck in this goddamn fancy room in the casino, waiting for someone, anyone, to end this torture of silence and uncertainty. If it weren’t for the massive guard Carlo stationed at the door, I’d have already torn this place apart and found that secret basement myself.

God, Maxim’s even dumber than I thought. How can he throw himself into danger like this without a single thought for me or Aurora? I still haven’t forgiven him for the last time he broke me, and now he’s gone and done this.

The thought of life without him claws at my chest. I keep seeing flashes, his face covered in blood, his body limp and lifeless. This man is wild, cruel, infuriating, but I can’t lose him. I can’t live without him.

Desperation drags me to my knees. I clasp my hands tight over my chest and pray to God that Maxim makes it out of this mess alive. The same God who saved me from my father, who brought Maxim into my life, who blessed me with Aurora, who pulled me out of that hellhole. I beg this great God to show me mercy one more time, to bring Maxim back to me alive.

Finally, the door swings open. The giant guard does a double-take at me on my knees but quickly pulls himself together and motions for me to follow.

I rise to my feet. “Is the fight over?”