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“Why didn’t you ask him about Gareth Sanders?” Arian wanted to know as they made their way back toward the entrance.
“I just did.” Andrei’s expression turned enigmatic as he looked at the two men. “I thought you would’ve made the connection long ago, Arian. Sanders and Maranzano are one and the same man... and the bastard who shot me that night.”
Chapter Eighteen
Two days later, Gareth Sanders, aka Luciano Maranzano’s ski lodge, Bra?ov County, Poiana Bra?ov, Romania…
“So, is this supposed to be our honeymoon?” Vanya had silently been fuming, but she did a good job of hiding her true feelings from Luciano. It had been difficult to suppress the need to wipe the smirk that had been slanting across his face for far too long.
Even though she had expected it, she had fought against losing her phone and watch, but it was a battle she lost very quickly when Luciano threatened to turn around and pay a visit to her mother.
“Did you honestly think I don’t know she’s at that bastard’s house, my dear?”It was at that point the smirk had started to irritate the hell out of her.“I’m not an idiot, Vanya. I know your brothers can trace you, so either hand over your phone and watch or you can say goodbye to dear old Mommy.”
“It is the perfect location for a honeymoon, isn’t it?” Luciano looked around the vast space of the ski lodge out over the snow-covered mountains with pride ubiquitous in his gaze.
Fucking useless peacock! Priming his feathers as if he created nature’s beauty surrounding us.
“Unfortunately, we have some work to do before we can indulge in the pleasurable benefits of matrimony.” His gaze held hers captive through the thick haze of cigar smoke, forming a halo around his head.
“Gah! If you think I’ll help you with any of your devious plans, you’re even more demented than I realized.”
“Come now,” he laughed. “Is that a way to speak of your dearly beloved?”
Vanya clamped her lips together, refusing to add to his enjoyment by further sparring verbally with him.
“We could always bring your mother here as an incentive to make you come around.” He dragged on the cigar, his cheeks hollowing with pleasure. “Just say the word.”
“Oh please, how gullible do you think I am?” She smiled gleefully. “Or should I rather say, how stupid are you?”
“Careful, Vanya. My patience is rapidly running out.”
“You overplayed your hand, Maranzano. By now, there are so many security measures in place, not even an ant will get through to nibble on a grain of sugar at my mother’s feet.”
“Grow up, my dear. Your lover won’t involve your brothers. He’s as much after the top-dog position as I am. He won’t be that stupid to lose the only leverage he has over the Guzuns.”
“So, that’s why I’m here? You believe claiming me as your wife will give you the edge to sway other Bratva groups to support you rather than one of their own?” The tinkling of her laugh was like a slap in Maranzano’s face. “Oh, this is precious! I would’ve thought, as a Sicilian Mafia mobster, you have more common sense than that. Either that, or you are completely oblivious as to how Bratva loyalty is bred.”
“Loyalty has nothing to do with it. No one will say no to the power and money they’ll gain under my rule.”
“Hmm. Ah, well, I guess you hit the nail on the head. Gold star for you, my dear husband. You have found the winning combination to become the… what was it you’re after again?”
“Global crime supremacy.” The response sounded clipped and strained. It was evident he was struggling to contain his temper.
“Of course, how could I forget? You want to become the all-powerful Pakhan-Capo, or is it Capo-Pakhan?” This time, Vanya curled over with laughter. “I have to give it to you. You dream big.” Her mirth ended as quickly as it began. “Just a pity it will remain a dream. You might have visions of grandeur because you’re at the head of the five Sicilian Mafia families… the mightyLa Cosa Nostra, isn’t it?” She produced a perfect smirk of her own. “It won’t happen here. The Bratva will never bow to one ruler… especially a foreigner outside of our territory.”
“I’ve had enough of your ridicule.” He stabbed out the cigar stub in the ashtray. “Let me make it abundantly clear. You will do as I say because if you don’t, I will detonate the bomb at Smirnoff’s lake house.” A flash of satisfaction brightened his eyes as Vanya turned to stone. “You didn’t think I wouldn’t have a backup plan, now did you? I’ve been around too long and have planned the outcome of this project in too much detail to allow a bitch like you to thwart my plans.”
“I don’t believe you. Andrei has too much security around his property. There’s no way you would’ve been able to—”
“Who is the naive one now? Ever heard of a missile, my dear?”
“You fucking, bastard!” The thin line of control within Vanya snapped. The thought that her mother and Andrei’s lives were at stake catapulted her across the room before sanity had the chance to kick in. “I’ll fucking kill you!”
Vanya had never seen him fight, and with blind fury guiding her, she was caught off guard by his quick reaction as he sidestepped her attack to wrap his arm around her throat in a stranglehold.
“Holy fuck,” she gasped as a sharp pain seared from her side to her brain when he stabbed a short rapier-like knife into her.
“Not to worry, my dear, I won’t remove it… just yet. We don’t want you to bleed to death while I fuck you, now do we?” he taunted with a hushed voice against her ear as he forced her face down over the dining room table with her hands caught behind her back. The tight hold on her twisted arms, combined with the debilitating pain from the knife in her side, was too strong for her to fight.
