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“I am done watching how you slowly break her. If that’s what you wanted, congrats, you’ve achieved it.”
Sal’s features shifted from disbelief to interest. He too wanted to know what Viktor was referring to if it revolved around Katia.
“I have done no such thing.”
“Then you are blind, or you’ve chosen to ignore it.” His eyes narrowed. “This is what you wanted all along, wasn’t it?”
I said, “Careful.” I moved away from my chair and stepped away from my desk.
“What could you possibly gain, Lucca?” Viktor grinned coldly. “I’ll answer that for you. Nothing but misery.”
Rage burned in coils of fury at his disrespect for intervening and believing he could influence how I handled Katia.
“Did you know she had hardly touched her food for days? That tonight she moved the casserole from one end of her plate to the other? How she was so taken by rage that she couldn’t take a bite? Have you noticed the circles under her eyes? What about the fake smiles, Lucca?” He dug deeper.
“That’senough.”
Low and cautious, I spoke, meeting him in the middle of the room. Our eyes fought, but Viktor was too far gone. Too enraged and lost by emotions.
“Did you know she’s the reason your little streetlamps shine with new bulbs?”
Huh?
“Yeah, she made sure it was scheduled the day before you took her to Montana.” Viktor’s cloudy blues locked on me as he shook his head.
“Fix. It.”
The fucker turned his back on me, and I couldn’t fault him. I was the one who’d placed him to take care of her, guard her. I just didn’t think it would be from me.
“Where is she now?”
Viktor didn’t halt his steps as he mumbled, “Downstairs, beating one of your men to a pulp.”
Arlo whistled, and I raised my hand to cut him short. “Don’t.”
“Viktor!” I yelled, and he stopped by the doorway. “You allowed her to walk downstairs and fight one of our men?”
“No,youdid by showing me how much you fucking gave a shit.”
My body launched in his direction, but I was quickly stopped by Arlo’s strength. He caged one of my arms, but I fumed in rage and lost sight of who Viktor was to me. All I could see was his disrespect.
Ravid in anger at Viktor’s retreating back, I slammed Arlo into the bookshelves, and I punched his side with my free hand to chase after the imbecile who thought talking to me in such a way was acceptable.
His hand snaked to the back of my neck, and as I fought, our foreheads connected.
“You are losing control, brother,” Arlo spoke in Italian with labored breaths. “He did what you asked. He did what he told you he would do.” His grip didn’t lighten as I continued to fight. “We don’t hurt each other in hatred. Never have.”
I looked into his hazel eyes. The same eyes I had calmed since I was fourteen, and yet for the first time, they were trying to do so for me.
“You can’t lose control,fratello. Not now.”
Not now.
I controlled my breathing, eased the demon, and closed my eyes briefly before Arlo let me go. I rolled my shoulders and pushed him off me before I walked back to my desk where I’d left my unfinished drink. The contents of the drink were drowned in one sip, and I quickly rolled my sleeves. I now had one intention: find Katia.
All she’d done today was defy me in every way. It was erratic, and I knew I wasn’t the only one lost in the madness of our lives.
“Fucking children is how you are all behaving,” Sal chided between a cough as I walked past him. “Fucking fix it, Lucca!”
