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“I got word an hour ago that Petrovitch is looking for someone in this city,” Maxim said clearly, never taking his eyes away from mine as fear trickled down my spine. For a few small years, I was part of his world. I thought I knew the underworld growing up. Max showed me I knew nothing. There were layers, depths of depravity and destruction that still gave me nightmares. Through it all, Max shielded me as much as he could, but I saw too much, knew too much. And now the doors of hell had opened and Satan himself was running free in the city.
Every cell in my body screamed at me to run. To get the hell out of this city and never look back. I knew it was the only way, but I couldn’t. No matter where I disappeared to, I knew that vile son of a bitch would find me. Max knew it too.
“Who?” Renaldo asked.
“My informant didn’t know. Only that Petrovitch is determined to tear apart the city to find whoever it is.”
“Shit,” Renaldo cursed.
“Sister,” Sal sighed. I knew that tone.
I knew what he wanted me to say. I couldn’t do it. If I did, I would be going back on the first order I ever gave. It would make me look weak. Everything I’ve worked for, everything I’ve done until this point, would be for nothing.
“Say the words,Moya Lyubov.”
I slowly shook my head when Maxim grabbed my arms, yanking me to him as he roared loudly, “Say the fucking words, Illyria!”
Crumbling before him, a tear rolled down my face as I whispered the words they all needed me to say. “You can stay.”
Chapter Ten
Maxim
She was never going to forgive me.
I accepted that.
I didn’t need her forgiveness to protect her. I would protect her, no matter what. Under any other circumstance, I wouldn’t have challenged her, but when I got word that Petrovitch was in the city, I had no choice. No one would ever harm a hair on her head as long as I lived. She would always have my protection. Even when she hated me.
I never wanted to fall in love.
Love didn’t have a place in my life.
Love was a distraction.
Love got men killed.
I wasn’t called the ‘Bloodletter’ for nothing. The only thing I loved more than her was my way of life. I was married to it. Wanted nothing else. I enjoyed having different women in my bed, all vying to become my queen. Too bad, I already had a Queen in my life and she wanted my balls on a silver platter. Too bad for her because they were going to stay permanently attached to my body.
Still, after everything she’d done to make my life a living hell, I still wanted her. I silently laughed at her efforts to destroy my world. I could have told her that her efforts were in vain, but I loved her fire. Her determination to eradicate me. Any other woman and I wouldn’t have thought twice before putting a bullet in her head. But Moya Lyubov wasn’t just any woman.
She was my woman.
My equal.
Twenty-Eight years younger than me, Illyria was nothing more than a child. She did childish things. Cried when things didn’t go her way. Fought to the death when she was angry. Loved like a seasoned woman with her whole heart. She was conniving, manipulative and the fucking love of my life.
She was the very fucking reason I never allowed myself to get attached. Women were a pain in the ass on a good day. Throw in some Italian blood and fuck it all to hell. A man would go fucking crazy trying to figure that woman out. I tried and failed many times. Just when I thought I knew what she wanted, she changed the rules on me, and I was back to square one.
From the moment I laid eyes on the beautiful vixen, she captivated me, aggravated me, enthralled me so much I was helpless, useless to anyone else.
More than anything else, she scared me.
Then the night of the Foundation Charity Ball happened, and everything changed. It was supposed to be a wonderful evening of drinking, dancing, and laughter. It was one of the few times that we could relax and just be us. Instead of happiness, I destroyed every vestige of joy she had all because of one fucking phone call.
A phone call that changed everything.
The news I learned that night changed the course of my life and hers. I wanted so much to gather her in my arms and whisk her away in the dead of night. Instead, I chose another path. When she arrived later that night... the devastation I caused was insurmountable. A rift quickly formed and there was nothing I could ever do to repair it.
