AllFreeNovel
Share Us
After I poured and drowned my first glass of brown, I refilled it and added three cubes of ice to sip through dinner and turned to the four bodies inside my study.
Arlo stood by his unclaimed corner and Viktor the chair he was accustomed to while Ilias and Davina stood near the entrance. They all wore suits, and they all looked at me, waiting.
My eyes landed on Davina.
“Leonardo and Lorenzo will both be here, as you are aware,” I stated, and I could see her struggle to not show any emotion. Sadly, it was etched across her face. “And while it’s not the first time you’d seen them,” I paused as I watched Ilias’s jaw clench and raised my brow to him before returning my attention to her, “it’s a fact Leo will push and provokeanyreaction from you. It’s imperative you don’t.” Davina’s brows curled, and her chest drew back. “You understand how it will make trigger fingers happy, so keep your guard up and continue doing what you do best. Which is keeping an eye out, learning shit you shouldn’t.”
Arlo chuckled at the end, and I cut my eyes out to him.
“Don’t. Not now.”
Arlo raised his palms with a cunning smile.
“And don’t fucking add to the tension, do you understand?”
He smirked.
I glanced down at Viktor, whose stress was clear, and bounced my eyes around every gaze inside the room.
“It’s the dinner before the wedding. It should be enough for you all to understand I do not want an issue to arouse or for Katia to worry, am I clear?”
I didn’t wait for their reply. My tone alone threatened pain to whoever went against my orders. There was no one who detested the Vitelli name more than me. If I had to entertain my temper, so could they. I stepped out of the room to Katia’s heels clicking above.
My fucking regal queen took each step down with power and grace. Her shoulders were back, and a fresh coat of lipstick adorned the lips I’d tasted just minutes ago.
No one could see the nerves through her strength. But I did because, somehow, between the dark looks, the hate I’d cultivated, the fights, and the quiet moments, I saw my enemy as a possibility.
She took her last step and placed her hand over my extended one. Her chest and cheeks still held the touch of fresh fucked pink, while her face glowed as bright as her eyes did.
Katia glanced behind me at the knocks that traveled from the front door. I caught the small tremble of her hand and trapped it between mine.
I failed to understand the power her family had over her. The captivity of dread shackled inside and the influence that trapped her mind into a sick play.
How far and deep did the damage go?
How cruel had the abuse gone?
By the small comments Katia expressed and the short tales Sal shared, I knew Katia’s younger days weren’t colorful. They were black and gray like mine. But, as I watched her breathing change and her muscles tighten with the inability to remove her sight away from what hid behind the door, I grasped the true beating she had taken for such vulnerability.
It was trauma.
Knocks bounced through the door again, but this time, I took her gaze away from them. I pinched her cheeks between my fingers and pulled her face until her eyes met mine. Long gone were the playful swirls of her irises, and I despised it.
Without a thought, I closed our distance and spread my fingers over her jaw. I slid my rough hand and thumb across her chin and onto her neck, pinning her head with my touch and bringing it to me. Our foreheads connected, and her lashes fanned while her eyes surrendered to my gaze, and I breathed in her alluring, sensual smell of cherries and sin.
“No one deserves such power,” I uttered. “Don’t let them have it.”
Katia didn’t say anything. She only stared at me, reining in any weaknesses and bathing her wicked spirit in will. Then the deviousness returned as her eyes ignited, soul burning. My cunning creature stood before me.
“Smile.”
Her lips curled with an immoral smirk.
That’s right, baby, you don’t cower.
Ignoring the gazes behind me, I pulled away and touched the base of her back and gently pushed her forward for her to walk before me. Our feet matched each step toward the entry. When we faced the iron and wooden door, I took a breath and pulled it open.
All three Vitellis stood tall in black suits with three more men behind them.
