AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’m so angry I’m shaking.
He raises his hand again, and I call out for Dimitri.
In two seconds, he pushes the door open as Vlad moves backward, his eyes black with rage that he didn’t get to strike me again.
That fucking asshole.
“Katiya?” Dimitri stares directly at him while Maxim follows behind and takes in the situation. “Is everything alright?”
“Vlad was just leaving,” I say.
They both eye him and then me, trying to work out what’s happening here.
Unbelievably, Vlad tries to come to me with open arms. What for? A goodbye kiss?
It’s all for show. He’s so fucked in the head.
I turn my back on him.
A few moments later, I hear him move across the floor, and another set of footsteps follows. Good. Hopefully, one of them will have the good sense to throw him off the balcony.
“Katiya?” Dimitri says, coming closer. “Did he hurt you?”
I shake my head. “I don’t want to talk about this right now.” If I tell him, I know he’ll slit Vlad’s throat. I need to think about what I’m going to do.
“Why are you crying?”
I turn to him. “I’m a Russian princess, Dimki. I have no life of my own. Isn’t that something worth crying over?”
He looks at me like he has no idea what to do with me. He steels his jaw and nods once, then makes his hasty retreat. I can’t blame the guy. I’d bail out on me too.
He’s a good soldier, but even he’s not equipped to deal with the slightly off-kilter, crazy woman before him.
One thing I just learned that will forever be etched into my brain is that Vlad will never,ever,put his hands on me again.
I look down at my phone on the table in front of me. I had it on record, just in case he tried something. I’m sad to see my gut feeling was correct even though he’s never hit me before.
Pain hits me from all sides, but I won’t let him win.
I need to protect myself; this is the only way I know how.
If he tries a stunt like that again, I’ll kill him.
With my own two hands.
24
MARCO
I getthrough most of the day without a hitch.
Fortunately, everything is in place, and all the final details are arranged, including the new signage.
I can almost breathe a sigh of relief. Almost.
My brothers and I cut the ribbon to the casino's entryway in front of the press, it’s great publicity and will make the six o’clock news.
Angelo is in as good a mood as he can be, given the week he’s had. He pats me on the back as we walk past the water fountain and onto the main floor. The champagne is flowing, and hors d'oeuvres are being brought around on silver trays.
