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Dark shadows linger beneath Nero’s eyes, and I can only imagine what it’s like to have a woman like Una Ivanov carrying your child. Gio hands him a glass and he swallows the whiskey in two gulps before sitting across from me. Una takes a seat next to him, and he lays a possessive hand on her thigh. She says nothing as everyone goes backward and forward, coming to the same conclusion again and again. There is no way to break into that base. Anna is not getting out unless Nicholai willingly releases her.
I can’t take this. I’ve never felt so frustrated or helpless. I’m a man with power, but even with the help of the Italian mafia, I can’t get back the only thing I really give a fuck about. Pushing to my feet, I spit a curse and pace.
Una gets up and walks out. She feels it too. I know she does. We’re both so close to losing something we love. She was never even reunited with her sister, and she already faces losing her again after all this time without her.
I sit in Nero’s front room with a glass of whiskey in one hand and a cigar in the other. I need the liquor to calm my nerves and enable me to simply sit still. Doing nothing—it’s the hardest thing. Action, blood, violence; these are the things I understand. I’m losing control, and I’ve never felt so lost.
Someone clears their throat, and I glance up to find Samuel leaning against the door frame.
“Miguel called.” Miguel is Sam’s most trusted guy, the one left to oversee everything in our absence. “The Sinaloa just burned one of our factories to the ground and shot up Red’s.” I drag a hand through my hair, trying to muster the will to care about anything other than Anna for a second. Leaving Miguel was stupid. He’s capable, but I don’t trust him the way I do Samuel or Carlos.
“Send Carlos home.”
“I can go.”
“No, I need you,” I say quietly. I need Samuel’s logical, rational way of thinking. I need my friend because I feel like I’m teetering on the edge of oblivion right now.
“Okay. I’ll send him back.” He leaves the room without another word. And here I sit, my world tipping precariously on its axis as this rage festers away inside me. The penthouse quiets, and the darkness embraces me. The city lights spread out beyond the windows like a sea of stars, and it makes me think of Anna. Didn’t anyone ever tell you? You can’t see the stars without the dark. It’s apt really because without her, everything seems pitch black. She is the stars.
I light another cigar and inhale the smoke deep into my lungs as though its burning pain can erase this hollow ache in my chest. I hear movement behind me and glance around to see one of Nero’s Doberman’s trotting across the living room excitedly. I barely notice the shadowy figure lingering at the bottom of the stairs until the dog stops in front of her. Una watches me through narrowed eyes, her hand behind her back, no doubt reaching for a gun.
“You’re going to him,” I say. I knew she would because I would. I only have to look at her to see all of my own feelings mirrored back at me. We’re both helpless, but she has the power to do something.
“Do not try and stop me. I do what I must.”
I lean forward, allowing the cigar to hang loosely from my fingers as I prop my elbows on my thighs. “You will sacrifice yourself for her?”
“Yes.”
I should be pleased, but guilt niggles at me.
“And your child? You will sacrifice your child for her?”
Her eyes flash, her jaw ticking. “I thought you…felt something for her.”
I sigh and push to my feet, guilt and sheer fucking desperation riding me as I step in front of her. “Yes, but Anna would never wish you to sacrifice an innocent child, Angel.”
“I have a plan.”
I lift the cigar to my lips, taking a slow drag. “Ah, you and Nero and your plans.”
“This one…it doesn’t involve Nero.” So she’s turning on him for her sister, running off to Russia with his child in her belly. This will break him. I imagine Anna. What would she say to this? I know she’d never allow it. Maybe I should stop Una, but I fucking can’t because I know that without this, Anna is lost to me. Love is selfish for a man like me.
“How do you know he will release Anna?” What if he simply keeps them both?
“I don’t.” When someone as accomplished as Una looks so unsure, you know shit is bad. “I need you to do me a favor.”
I nod.
“If he doesn’t release Anna, bargain for her return. Once he has me, he doesn’t need her. Let him put her to good use elsewhere.”
