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“At least I’ll know you’re safe.”
“What about Mrs. Rushton? I need to call her. If she doesn’t hear from me, she’ll worry. What about Sypher? He’s innocent. I didn’t give him a choice.”
“You should have thought about her and him before your little adventure. As for Sypher, Ghost and Montana will take care of him. Maxim, take care of my sister. She’s all yours.” Giovanni said, getting in his car.
I stood motionless as I watched my brother drive away, leaving me with the one man I didn’t want to be with.
What in the hell was I going to do now?
Chapter Twenty-Three
Illyria
Sitting beside him in the back of the vehicle as it pulled away, he said nothing as he turned away from looking out the window. I knew reasoning with Maxim Fedorov was an impossible feat. Once the man made up his mind, he was unmovable. Nothing I said or did would get him to change his mind.
Stubborn Russian asshole.
What worried me the most was where he was taking me. The possibilities were endless. His house in upstate New York? His Penthouse in the city? One of his many warehouses? His strip clubs? The man had business dealings and secret rooms all over the greater New York City area. Each used frequently in his line of work.
There was something I still needed to tend to in the city, and the longer I was under Maxim’s thumb, the harder it was going to be for me to do what I needed to do. Broaching that subject with him right now wasn’t a good idea, so I kept my mouth shut. I still had a week to make him see reason, or at least find a way to call Mrs. Rushton. The sooner I could get word to her, the faster she could get Clara out of the city. She would know what to do now that everything we’d worked for was gone. I wondered how Clara was handling everything. She was so young, but I trusted no one better. I knew she would do what she had to if the time came. Technically, I prepared for every eventuality. Even this one. Just never thought everything would come to this.
Leaning my head back against the headrest, I thought about everything that had happened to me since I met Maxim.
The man who changed my life.
From all the good to the bad, he was there in one capacity or another. Over the last five years, I had somehow fallen in love with the unlovable. In his defense, he tried to warn me, but like everything in my life I didn’t listen and did what I wanted. Now, I am married to him. Married into a life I thought I knew.
Thought I could handle it.
Thought I could control it.
I was wrong.
In the end, I was exactly where my mother warned me I would be if I didn’t stop my foolishness and accept the fact that my life was never technically my own.
My brother called me a mafia princess.
So did Silver.
I never liked that term.
Within the Italian families, I knew what that term meant. A bargaining chip, an object that they could maneuver for the gain of the family. None of the men considered how we felt. Our feelings didn’t matter. My brother proved that point just mere minutes ago. I dared not think what it meant for the Bratva.
There was so much I didn’t know about the Bratva organization. Maxim kept his business close to the vest, refusing to let his life touch mine in any way. In fact, with Maxim, I had more freedom than I did with my family. Which I thought odd, considering the rumors I’d heard about the Bratva.
I guess in my own selfish way I thought I’d be able to have my cake and eat it too. I should have known that was impossible. Like dangling the Gentlemen’s Club in front of me and giving me a seat at the table.
They didn’t want me there.
They put me there so they could keep an eye on me.
To protect me.
I knew that now.
It didn’t matter what I did, where I went or who I was with. In the end, I would always be a commodity. A puzzle piece that my family and countless others could maneuver around on a chessboard for their own gain. What that gain was, I needed to learn and learn fast.
Like the rules of the game Silver mentioned, information changed and flowed freely daily. One minute I could know everything, the next, it didn’t matter. It was the one with all the knowledge who had the power and I planned on being that person.
