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I clench my jaw as while she’s pretty enough, she’s not Ella.
Fuck.
My stepdaughter has done something to me. Corrupted my mind and turned me into a raving lunatic. I want to kill Alex Vishekov with my bare hands even though he’s completely within his rights to talk to Ella because I put her hand in marriage up for auction.
As the bartender returns with my drink, I run a hand across my neck. “One scotch on the rocks.” She bats her eyelashes at me. “Can I get you anything else?”
I shake my head. “No.” And then I turn around and lean against the bar, my eyes instantly drawn to Ella, who is still talking to that piece of shit.
Luca comes over to me and claps me on the shoulder. “Surprised she’s picked such a young guy, considering how she looks at you, Dad.”
I narrow my eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Ella wants you, and you want her. The two of you are fucking obvious.” He sighs. “I would have hit that if she wasn’t so hooked on you.”
I growl softly at the thought of any man going near her, my sons included.
“Why did you put her marriage contract up for auction?” Luca asks.
I shake my head. “I don’t want Ella.”
“Right. And that’s why you are staring at her and Alex like you want to rip his head off and drag Ella into a cave to have your way with her.”
“You’ve got it wrong. I merely want the right business deal for our family.”
He snorts and pats me on the shoulder. “You’ve been smitten since you set eyes on her, Dad. Don’t even try to deny it.”
“Smitten?” I growl, turning on Luca. “I’m not a fucking teenage girl, and you shouldn’t forget who you’re talking to.” I grab the lapel of his shirt and yank him an inch off the floor.
He pales as he knows he’s been overstepping the mark. “Calm down. I won’t say another word about it.”
I drop him to his feet. “Good. Now shut up and do what you are here to do. Find out which one of these sons of bitches we want to sell her marriage contract to, and look into Vishekov’s motives.”
He nods once and walks away, leaving me alone to sulk by the bar.
I turn back to Ella and notice her hand on Alex’s forearm. She’s barely spoken to anyone else since he approached us like a fucking viper waiting to strike.
He singled Ella out immediately, and I need to know why. The dark lust in his eyes when he looks at her brings me to the brink of violence. Luca is right. I want to tear his head off and feed it to the wolves just for looking at her like that. And yet all I can do is observe from the sidelines because I’m the fucking idiot that put her marriage contract up for auction.
As I stew, a voice pulls me from my internal turmoil. “Your stepdaughter is quite the enchantress, isn’t she?” Gregor Vishekov, Alex’s father, approaches with a sly grin. His remark instantly ignites my anger further. “Alex seems quite taken with her. He mentioned something about making her his wife,” he continues, his eyes glinting with satisfaction.
His words hang in the air, stoking the inferno within me. I clench my jaw, trying to maintain my composure. The thought of that man, that boy, touching Ella... It’s unbearable, sickening. But what can I do? She’s my stepdaughter, for God’s sake. Forbidden fruit. The very thought is maddening.
As much as I wish I could, I can’t have her.
“Whether he’s worthy remains to be seen.”
Gregor chuckles. “I think money talks in this game. It’s an auction. Worth doesn’t come into it.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “What exactly do you want from a marriage between our families?”
He smirks. “Power. What else?”
“There’s no room for another player in Chicago. You know that.”
His eyes narrow. “Do I?”
“The truce we’ve had between the Volkov Bratva for the last few years would be shattered if we allowed another Russian family to encroach on Chicago territory. But you already know that, so what are you playing at?”
