AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Mrs. Fedorov,” Nico smirked, shaking his head as he motioned for me to follow. When I didn’t move, Giuseppe reached for my arm.
“Touch me and it will be the last thing you do.”
“Ignore her, Gus!” Giovanni shouted. “Drag her kicking and screaming if you must!”
Storming after my brother, I yelled as I walked down the stairs into the bright sun, “Just who in the hell do you think you are?! You have no right to order me around.”
“That’s where you are wrong, sister. I have every right,” Giovanni smiled, leaning against the large blacked out SUV, parked on the tarmac with the door open, waiting for me to get in first.
That was never going to happen.
“I’m not getting in that vehicle.”
“You will either get in my vehicle or you can ride with him.” Giovanni said, looking to my right.
Slowly turning, I spotted three Black range rovers idling. Before I could ask who it was, the middle car’s back door opened and out walked my soon to be ex-husband, looking ready to flay my ass alive.
If I wasn’t scared before, I was now.
There was no way in fucking hell I was going anywhere with Maxim Fedorov.
“You don’t have a choice. Either way, you are getting into a vehicle. Choose. Your family or your husband.”
“Gio, please. I need to find Maria.”
“No,” my big brother shook his head. “Maria told us everything. I don’t know what you think you were doing, but you were putting yourself in danger. You know that. Now stop with these games and choose. Your husband or your family. This nonsense ends right now.”
“Why are you making me do this?”
“Because, sister, instead of the families looking for Petrovitch, we had to stop everything to look for you. That man needs to be eliminated and instead of doing just that, you’ve sent the entire underworld on a wild goose chase and for what? So, you can go sightseeing and protect a company that doesn’t matter? Jesus, Illyria. I don’t give a damn about the fucking company. I care about you! No company is worth your life. God, do you know what it would have done to us if that son of a bitch got his hands on you? There is nothing any of us wouldn’t have done to get you back. You are playing yourself right into his hands. He’s using the company to get to you!”
“It wasn’t like that. I was looking for something?”
“What? What were you looking for?”
Shaking my head, I refused to answer. I knew better than to lie to Giovanni. It would do me no good, and once he learned the truth, he would go ballistic. If I thought Sal was a bomb waiting to go off, Giovanni was nuclear. The fallout would not bode well for me.
“I can’t tell you.” I whispered.
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Fine. I won’t tell you. Not right now, at least.”
“Still playing silly games,” Giovanni sighed. “Illyria, your life is not a game and you are putting yourself in danger. I warned you five years ago that getting involved with Maxim wasn’t a good idea. I implored you to stay away from him. But like always, you did what you wanted. Now, you live your life straddling both families. It doesn’t work that way, sister. You may be the Valentinetti Mafia Princess, but you are also Maxim’s Bratva Queen. You can’t be both sweetheart. This madness must end. You need to choose a side.”
“I can’t,” I said, looking away from him.
I was so close. So damn close to freedom, I could almost taste it. There was no way I could choose. Not right now, at least. I wasn’t ready. If I went with my brother, he would lock me down back home in Chicago or whisk me away to the island. If I went with Max, I might as well be waving the white flag of surrender.
“Then I’m choosing for you. You are no longer responsible for Valentinetti Corp. You’re fired!” Giovanni roared.
“You can’t do that. I love that company. Papa started it. You gave it to me. It’s mine.”
“Not anymore.”
“Let’s go,Moya Lyubov,” Maxim said, standing behind me reaching for my arm.
Shaking him off, I pleaded, “Please, Gio. Don’t do this. I can’t go with him. He will lock me away. You will never see me again.”
