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“Then I’ll see you at the engagement party this weekend. Try not to look like you hate me,” he bit out before turning sharply on his heel and stalking away.
As he walked out the door, my friends surrounded me.
“What was that about?” Charlie asked.
“Oh my god!” Davis exclaimed. “What is that rock on your finger?”
“Did Nikolai Ivanov just…propose to you?” Isabel choked on the question, disbelieving. “You’ve barely even dated.”
My throat closed up. I didn’t know what to tell them. Everything was a tangled mess, and I couldn’t even begin to explain the horrific scene that’d just unfolded.
Max. I needed Max. Somehow, we’d find a way out of this nightmare. Together.
We still had to work through his loyalty to his criminal family, and my heart ached at the prospect of him choosing them over me. But I had to at least give him a chance. I had to give us a chance.
If we couldn’t figure out how to protect my friends, I’d be condemned to marry Nikolai Ivanov. My stomach lurched at the prospect of being forever bound to the Bratva.
“I have to go,” I mumbled, stepping away from Davis’ supportive arm around my shoulders.
“Wait, Allie,” Charlie demanded. “What just happened?”
“Talk to us,” Isabel urged.
I shook my head. They couldn’t know anything about the Bratva or my father’s corruption. It was too dangerous.
“I’ll talk to you later,” I said, blindly heading for the door.
I had to get back to Max, even if it meant returning to the scene of the gory murder that I’d witnessed this morning. For my friends, I could face the horror of it. I would do anything to protect the people I loved.
CHAPTER 13
Max
I finished bleaching my kitchen tiles and glanced around at my apartment. All traces of blood were gone, and the pieces of John’s body were in the river. I checked the door, testing the lock that Paulie had broken when they’d forced their way in. The fix seemed to be functioning okay. Everything looked just as shitty as it usually did, but there weren’t any signs of the violence that’d exploded through the cramped space only hours ago.
Paulie still had to die. Allie wouldn’t be safe until he was eliminated. I’d resolved to go to my father in the morning and ask for permission to kill my cousin. News that I’d finally completed the blackmail against Fitzgerald would likely make him more agreeable to my request. Fighting within the family was forbidden, but John and Paulie had defied his orders to leave Allie alone. Three times. Father cared about the family business more than anything, and my cousins had jeopardized that by putting us in the mayor’s crosshairs. If they’d managed to kill his daughter, all of us would be in jail or in the ground, courtesy of his Russian friends.
Surely, I would be forgiven for killing John, and I could protect Allie by finishing off Paulie. Especially considering the fact that the power of the mayor’s office now worked in our favor, not the Russians’. All because of me.
A soft knock at my door shattered my dark thoughts. My heart leapt, and I rushed to throw back the lock. Allie stood in the open doorway, her face pale and eyes glassy. I cupped her cheeks and found her skin too cool beneath my touch.
Was she really so terrified of me?
But she was here. She’d returned to me, despite everything.
“You came back,” I rasped, taking her hands in mine and leading her inside before she could change her mind.
Something hard pressed into my palm, and I shifted my grip so I could look at her left hand.
A massive diamond adorned her slender finger, glittering sharp enough to cut into my chest. For a moment, I couldn’t get any air into my lungs.
“What is this?” I finally managed to ask, fear making my insides squirm. I knew what it was: an engagement ring. And I had a terrible suspicion who’d given it to her.
“He said he would kill my friends,” she whispered brokenly. “I had to say yes.”
“Who?” I demanded, although I already knew the answer.
She shuddered, and her eyes wouldn’t quite focus on mine. “Mikhail Ivanov. He said he’d kill them if I don’t marry Niko. He said I’d betrayed my father by being with you, and now Niko’s supposed to keep me in line.”
