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When he arrives, he doesn’t even look at me. His sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, his muscular, solid arms are tan, and when he pours himself a vodka, the grip on the glass could shatter it.
His back is to me when he speaks. “I’m disappointed, Katiya. You of all people closest to me know how much I do not tolerate disobedience.”
Be strong,I tell myself.
“You talk to me as if I’m a child, Uncle,” I say quietly. “But even you must realize I’m a woman now, capable of making my own decisions. They may not always be the right ones, but I’m allowed to make mistakes.”
“You’re not allowed to makethosekinds of mistakes, especially not with a man like Marco Medici.”
“I love him,” I say. I can’t hold it in anymore.
His back stiffens, yet he still doesn’t turn to face me. “You don’t know what love is. You’re confused. I understand that you’ve suffered a terrible ordeal, one that shouldn’t have happened, but make no mistake that I will not sympathize over running into a Medicis' arms and sleeping with the enemy.”
I swallow hard. “It wasn’t like that.”
He turns to one side, half facing me. “Wasn’t it, Katiya? I’ve known you since you were born. You can’t lie to me.”
“Why are you here?” I blurt out.
He finally brings his gaze to mine, his eyes blazing at my insolence. “I live here.”
“Doesn’t it always strike you as strange that you’re always coming to my aid, instead of my father?”
“He doesn’t run the Russian Bratva, I do.”
“But he’s still my father.”
He walks closer toward me, his eyes still not leaving me. He looks so angry.
“Why did you run away from the party?”
“I needed to clear my head.”
“You know you’ve put my men in a situation I don’t know they can get out of.”
“Don’t you dare do anything to Dimitri and Maxim!” I say, standing up from the couch. “They had nothing to do with this, it was all on me, and the minute they found me gone, Dimitri located me again.”
“Sit down, Katiya.”
“Tell me you won’t hurt them,” I plead.
“That isn’t your concern.”
“I’m begging you,” I cry. I throw both hands up to my face and cover my nose and mouth. The thought that the two of them would be executed because of my little stunt makes me feel sick. A sob escapes me as I try not to heave. “The punishment must be mine…”
He comes closer, grips my shoulder with one hand and sits me back down.
“Did I not teach you to be stronger than this?” he says, his voice low, but it has lost all the sting.
I nod. “Yes, but sometimes you have to remember that I’m just a girl, born into a mafia family, one I didn’t ask to be born into.”
He sits beside me, watching me as I regain my composure and brush my tears away. “Will you promise to never see him again?”
A lump forms in my throat.I’d rather die.
“If I say yes, does that mean you won’t kill them?”
“I’m not going to kill them, Katiya,” he states. “I would not punish you that way. They are good soldiers, but I do not like the fact you were able to outsmart them and get away. They are trained soldiers.”
