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“Can’t say, if you were my girl, I wouldn’t want to do the same seeing another man’s hands on you.” He softens his voice. “But I’d never hurt you.”
I swallow hard and look down at our hands intertwined together.
Slipping my hand out of his grasp, I lift my head with tears pooling in my eyes. “You’re giving me back to someone who will.”
Our eyes meet and there’s a storm behind his, powerful and intense but so beautiful. He’s so close I can smell his cologne. It’s hypnotizing, his scent and his eyes. My heart rate spikes again, and I try to calm the rising tide of my emotions by pulling away, but Ren stops me. Our eyes never breaking contact he brings his hand to my face and gently cups my cheek. He strokes my skin, moving his thumb over my cheekbone. The only sound is the soft rustle of the leaves in the gentle breeze until a loud whistle breaks the spell.
“Oi!” The blonde man behind Ren calls out. “Times running short. We gotta go.”
Just like that, it’s over.
Ren lowers his head and drops his hand. No longer able to meet my gaze and I feel the loss of comfort slam into my chest. With that action alone, I realise this entire ordeal has changed nothing.
“Time to go.” He stands, holding out his hand.
I’m exhausted, devastated, and defeated. All my energy evaporates, and there is truly nothing left inside of me. I don’t bother resisting as he guides me back to the car. Once seated back in the leather confines of the car, I let the darkness take over my soul.
4
Ren
Ishakewithfury,clenching the steering wheel, my knuckles white from the brutal grip. The rage boils up inside me, like a fiery poison. I can barely control it. The words she spoke still echo in my mind, the pain and fear in her eyes seared into my memory. But I can’t get involved. It’s not my problem. I have enough of my own, and the weight of the family on my shoulders, there’s no room for more.
Maybe she’s exaggerating, trying to convince me to let her go. That it’s not as bad as the images playing in my head. The vein in my neck throbs again, and the vision of her recklessly throwing herself out of the window comes back. A fucking moving car? Seriously?
She’s crazy, feisty, sassy, and it’s all stirring up feelings I don’t know what to do with. I’ve never met anyone like her, not even close. Only four hours ago, when she was biting my ass, I told her to stop making this so hard on me. Now she seems broken, staring out the window, and reeks of sadness and resignation. I want her back. The woman I met, the one who’s quick with her wit and has fight and spirit.
What the fuck am I talking about?
I want her back? I just met her and it’s me crushing her hope and sending her back to a cruel motherfucker. From what I know of Sergei, he’s a sick son of a bitch and I’ve refused any dealings with him, not wanting to wash my hands in the blood of trafficking women.
It’s all starting to make sense now, why Moretti can still bring in his product. He must be using Nikolov’s port to smuggle it through, since my family stopped him from using ours. It’s further away, riskier, and he doesn’t have anywhere near enough officials in his pocket to be able to guarantee safe entry. But the pieces fit. From his foray into trafficking, and recently handing Nikolov the West Coast construction deal. Moretti’s not just building new business partnerships but merging the families and giving his daughter to a madman all in the name of profit.
A shiver runs down my spine, and hypocrisy slams against my chest, because she is right. I am the one that’s taking her back to him, and that thought burns through every part of me. Fuck, even the thought of her hugging that poor son of a bitch doorman ignites fury.
Get a grip of yourself, Vitali. You don’t fuck around with the family business over one beautiful woman. I try and convince myself even though I already know this down to my core.
When I was nineteen, I was locked up, just like most in our lifestyle have been at one time or another. There was even a time I was cellmates with Lilliana’s brother. I made a vow to never marry. Never wanting to have an heir, a son, one that would suffer the same fate. To live in this world where your hands are dirty and reek of blood.
This just proves the point.
She’s born, just like me, in a world that sealed her fate. At least now as the boss, I can change the rules. My word is the law. And marriage will no longer be an expectation, but a choice. No matter how much my father pushes or insists. Not sure what’s going to happen after me, but I’d be damn if I put a gun in my son’s hands and tell him to pull the trigger.
No fucking way.
It ends with me.
We park in front of an abandoned farm with a long row of glass houses. Four of my men arrived ahead of us and prepared the large tin shed, where this meeting would go down. No other cars are here, but it won’t be long until Moretti arrives. I can’t look at her when the car stops, and I don’t glance back when I open the door and lock it behind me. If I do, I don’t trust myself to go through with it.
Instead, I walk toward my men as they jump out of the car, taking out my phone and checking the damage. The screen is shattered, and nothing works. Shaking my head, I run my fingers through my hair at the memory of her launching it and herself out of the car just from the sound of his voice.
Fuck.
That doesn’t sit well in my gut.
“What the fuck did you say to her?” Tommy laughs, a huge smile spread across his face. “Man, you’re shit with women. She fucken flew out the window. I’ve downloaded the footage from the dashcam. Wanna see?”
He pulls out his phone, but my face says it all. He’s my cousin, my family but now is not the time for jokes.
