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I let out a large sigh, and then push my hand through my hair. How in the fuck am I going to keep her safe? Once my uncles and I take my father’s place the vultures will begin circling and they all know I have one major weakness.Angie.Thanks to my father bragging how he used her to get me under control, they also know using her is effective.
My father exploited it for all he was worth. For three years, I became my father’s errand boy, doing things that still makes my skin crawl. I did it all just to make sure Angie was kept safe. I did everything my father asked until my uncle Ivan stepped in to bail me out. Thank God he did because my father actually decided to dip his toe into human trafficking. He had contacted some dim-witted idiot in Phoenix with the ability to launder our money who also had easier ways to traffic narcotics because he owned an art gallery. My father threatened Angie again and I was desperate. I knew he wouldn’t hesitate to use her in ways no woman would recover from. I alone knew exactly what the bastard was capable of. Uncle Ivan saw what was happening and came to my father, telling him that he had turned his back on Micah and Viktor. He said he wanted to join forces with my father, and passed every test my father threw at him. I knew some of the shit he did was hard on Ivan. How could it not be? He stuck with it, though, telling my father that their brothers were too weak to rule the Levkin name. I don’t know how he sold that bullshit to my father, but he managed it somehow. Most people didn’t even realize his father was a brother to the others, because his father had a different mother and was much older than my uncles.
Ivan did all of this because he wanted to shut down the human trafficking business my father had begun. It was so important to him that he threw his own reputation away. People now believe my uncle is knee deep in exploiting underage women, selling their bodies and those of young boys too. When in fact, it is my own father. How that man’s blood can run through my veins is beyond me. Then again, I did just force Angie to kiss me. God, I’m just as bad as that bastard. My phone begins ringing pulling my thoughts away from my dilemma. I start to ignore it until I read the caller ID.
“Uncle Mikhail?” My greeting comes out as a question because we agreed that he wouldn’t contact me here—just in case his calls are being monitored. We use burner phones to converse, but Mikhail is high profile. He could still be under surveillance.
“One of your men inside the DeLuca organization contacted me to give you a heads up. You have some company headed your way. Be prepared.”
“Fuck. Victorio is smarter than I thought.”
“Look alive, nephew. They will be leaving in the morning.”
“Got it. I’ll check in soon.”
He hangs up and I sigh. I have two choices. Take Angie away from here or try to reason with Victorio. Since I know that my original plan with Angie is a no-go, those are the only options available to me. If we can’t handle kissing each other, there’s no way marriage is a viable option. We would both be completely miserable. Not to mention, getting kneed in the balls and having black eyes is not how I want to enjoy my time with a woman who will share my bed.
I pick up my phone, dialing the number I programmed into my contacts before completely destroying Angie’s cell. We’ll see if the asshole is willing to bury the hatchet somewhere besides in my back—or if he will decapitate me with it.
victorio
. . .
I lay back in my bed, my hair still wet from my shower. I had to take one because when I came to bed to rest, I ended up imagining my woman’s face and body and jerking off to her. God, I miss her. I’ll be getting her back tomorrow. If she's not there, I will burn down Samuil Levkin’s estate and end his miserable life in the process. There’s a burning in my chest, an ache I can’t fix because I miss my baby way too much. I’m only half a man when she’s not with me. It’s fucking painful. I rub my chest, feeling pain there that I can’t really explain. Gia is part of me.
My phone starts ringing. I frown when I see the ID shows it’s a blocked number. That in and of itself is fucking odd. Only a select amount of people know this number at all. I sure as hell don’t give it out to anyone that might land me on a robocall list. It keeps ringing and to satisfy my curiosity, I answer it.
“Hello?” I keep my voice calm and wait.
“We need to talk.”
Anger courses through me. Samuil fucking Levkin. “You son of a bitch! You have a lot of nerve calling me. When I get you in my grasp, I’m going to take so much fucking pleasure in squeezing the life out of you.”
“Okay, now that you have that out of your system, I’d like to talk to you about protecting Angie from my father.”
“Right now, I’m more worried about protecting her from you, dickweed.”
“If that’s how you’re going to be, I’ll leave tonight and take Angie with me. This time, when I go, you won’t be able to find her. If you think I can’t do that, you clearly haven’t been paying attention. Now, if you’re willing to be reasonable, I’ll stay here so that when you arrive tomorrow the two of us can work together to make sure Angie stays safe.”
I do my best to rein in my anger because I know he’s telling the truth. He’ll take Angie away before I can get to her. I’m stuck here. My heart is hurting, feeling as if it is in a vise. The pain is intense. Helplessness courses through me and my insides feel raw. One of our own is betraying us. They fucked me over and now I’m stuck. Samuil already knows I’m coming down there tomorrow. There’s only one way he could find that out. I compartmentalize that and push ahead.
“You have my attention,” I clip out, barely containing my anger.
“My uncles and I are going to war with my father very soon. Before I do that, I need to know that Angie is protected at all costs. I have to make sure that no matter what shit my father pulls, she will be safe. I can’t be controlled by them using her against me. To do that, your organization and mine need to become allies. A statement needs to be made that Angelina is being given to you with my blessing.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? You have no say in Gia’s life.”
Sam breathes into the phone, the exhalation of air sounding painful, as if it’s being pulled from him. “You’re a smart man, Victor, or do you prefer Victorio?”
“I prefer to have my woman back and never hear your voice again,” I explain.
“Tough shit. Anyway,Victor, I’m sure you have already figured it out, but in case not, I’ll explain it to you.”
“Appreciate it.”
“Years ago, when Angie was in school, my father wanted me to become his muscle. He demanded I take part in shit that I wasn’t comfortable doing. When I say that, I mean shit that gives me nightmares. Some of it involved women who weren’t of age to agree to give their bodies away but did it anyway. They were lied to, of course. They had no idea what they were getting into. When I refused to do my father’s bidding, he decided to show me his power by seeking out the one weakness I had and destroying her. This girl was special. She was everything good. She was sweet, beautiful, had a heart of gold, and she was so innocent. I wanted to protect that innocence so much that I wrote her out of my life. It almost killed me, but I just couldn’t risk it. My father decided to destroy my sister. I only had two friends in my entire life, but one of those was this beautiful, precious girl.”
“My father had her attacked in the worst ways you could imagine. He left her alive, only to use her as a pawn, forcing me to agree to get under his thumb.”
