I let out a little gasp. “Stop being ridiculous. You would never hurt me!”
Andrei and Phoenix shared a look I couldn’t decipher before Andrei stepped forward. “You have my word, you’ll be safe, we just have a few things to discuss.”
“Safe…” I gulped. “Where?”
“Besides,” he added with a casual shrug, “it will be quick. It’s just an alliance. We’ve drawn up the contracts, and once the ceremony is done, you can come back and visit. We’ll let everyone know you’re headed to Seattle for a few months to continue studying beneath Nikolai for pre-med. It’s the perfect cover…” He nodded to Phoenix, who opened up a black file and held it out to her.
“Your fiancé.”
“I don’t understand.” My hands shook as I accepted the folder. “I’m not marrying anyone!”
“You have no choice,” Phoenix said in a sad voice. “We gave you close to a year, but the minute you walked out of that club…” He eyed Breaker briefly before saying. “You leave now to make preparations.”
“But—”
“Now and then in a week, we’ll host a going away party for the Abandonato Princess,” Phoenix said in a voice that meant no arguing, and I stood there, black folder in hand, wondering how my life had spun so out of control, and so incredibly fast.
It was supposed to be that one time.
It was supposed to be okay now.
I was supposed to be safe.
Shaking, I stared down at the blurry photo, which was strange in and of itself. Why would the face be blurred out? My stomach dropped to my knees as I read the small amount of information in front of me.
Valerian Petrov.
Twenty years old.
That was it.
I knew nothing else except for the way his kiss tasted, and how rough his hands were as they pressed me into the bed.
The folder fell from my hands onto the cement.
I wanted to run, but I was paralyzed.
“What if I say no?” I whispered, staring down at the cement by my feet, a chill wracked my body. “What if I run?”
Nikolai was first to answer. “There is no running from this, Violet. For what it’s worth, I am sorry. We all are, but it’s the only way, and we need to keep the Petrovs in place; Andrei can only do so much here in Chicago. The Family is large enough that they’re constantly trying to plan a coup, even with someone like Andrei in charge.”
“Right.” I licked my lips. “So, I’m going to be the ultimate sacrifice just to keep some greedy old men happy?”
Next to me, Breaker shook, his hands dangled at his sides, his fingers trembling like he was about to ball them into fists and punch someone, or maybe he would just pass out.
The wind picked up, worsening the sickening chill in my heart, sucking out the last pieces of my soul.
Nobody answered.
Which was my answer, wasn’t it?
“We all make sacrifices,” I said in a hollow voice, “for the Family. I guess this is mine.”
“Violet—” Breaker grabbed my hand, but I gently pulled away and looked up into the eyes of the men who’d sworn to protect me, the ones now handing me over to another Family.
“Anything else? Because I’d like to have some time alone to process.” I sounded calm on the outside, but on the inside, I was twisted, a bit broken, and trying to figure out why my chest felt like it had been cracked in half and put back together backward.
“For now, just get in the SUV.” Nikolai backed away, and I had no choice but to follow, hands shaking at my sides as a pissed off Breaker got in after me.
The car ride was fast.
And then I was staring up at Nikolai’s private jet. “Why are we going now?”
“Because I can’t keep you safe anymore here in Chicago, and your family can’t know about any of this.” He said sadly, his dark brows drawing together. “It looks less suspicious if Breaker’s with you—you’ll be visiting different Universities under the guise of studying in Seattle, he’ll accompany you, and then you’ll return decision made, ready to say goodbye to everyone and everything you’ve ever known.”
My throat closed up as I reached for Breaker’s hand.
He took mine and squeezed; by the tick in his jaw, I knew he was ready to fight, but I needed him calm because if he wasn’t, I was afraid that I would snap, and if I snapped, I might not ever be able to put myself back together again.
“Fine.” I licked my dry lips and made my way up the stairs of the G6 gripping Breaker’s hand the entire way.
We were, of course, offered champagne once we were on board. I took two glasses, Breaker grabbed the bottle, and without even asking, we moved to the master bedroom.
He closed the door and locked it while I started chugging the champagne like it was water.
When I was done with both glasses, he handed me the bottle, left for a few seconds, and came back with another one of whiskey.
“Ah, starting in on the hard stuff already?” I tried teasing.
He said nothing, just stared down at the bottle in his hands. “This is my fault.”
“Breaker, it’s not—”
“—it fucking is.” He snorted. “I didn’t save you, Violet, why am I always too late? Why am I always in the wrong? You know why I’ve been different since that night?” His emerald green eyes met mine, blazing with fury. “Because I can’t fucking look at you without feeling like I failed.”
“You didn’t fail me.”
He opened the bottle and tipped it back, his throat moving making him look powerful, sensual as he drank deep and then wiped the back of his mouth with his hand.
I got up and walked over to him, then very slowly hiked up my skirt and straddled his lap. I gripped his chin with my fingertips and stared into his eyes. He looked so regal sitting there, his jaw tight, his eyes furious as he stared me down. “What do you need, Vi? What can a man like me give you that you don’t already have?” He tried to jerk away from my hold, but I wouldn’t let him, which just seemed to piss him off more. “Vi—”
I cut off his protest with a kiss.
He gripped my sides, digging his hands into my skin like he wanted to mark me as his tongue clashed with mine. He tasted like whiskey. He tasted like wicked, sweaty nights, and lazy days in bed.
“You can make me forget,” I said against his mouth. “And you can make me remember why it’s only ever been you.”
He sighed, resting his forehead against mine. “We were damned from the start.”
Panic rose in my chest. “Let’s think about now, not about a week from now.”
He picked me up and tossed me onto the bed, then hovered over me, his hair a mess, his eyes practically glowing. “You aren’t mine anymore, Vi. Don’t you get it?” He looked crazed. “You’re not mine!” He jerked away from me then and went over to the wall punching it twice before falling to his knees. “Sleep.”
“I can’t—not without you,” I whispered through the tears that slid down my cheeks. “Please?”
“I won’t sleep next to you, Vi, my heart is having trouble processing what my brain is telling it, that no matter what I’ve always told myself, you’ve never been mine. If I sleep next to you, I’ll want to hold you, I’ll want to comfort you, I’ll want to mark you, and then I’ll make my second mistake when it comes to touching you, I’ll wrong you, I’ll wrong what you have…”
“Please, Breaker… Please.” I broke out into a quiet sob.
He was at my side in an instant.
And what was supposed to be a torturous week of looking at different Seattle colleges and being photographed with Nikolai—went off like lightning.
Before we knew it.
We were landing back in Chicago.
Breaker hadn’t as much as looked at me the entire trip. He did, however, manage to plan a going away party for me that night; we had enough time to go to my house to change after the plane landed, and then we were expected back at Nixon’s.
My stomach sank.
/> This was it.
This was my life now.
It was built around lies.
Around a broken heart.
Around a broken Breaker.
Numb, my legs took me down the stairs and into the waiting SUV with Andrei waiting—and in his hands a black box as if to warn us that things could, in fact, get worse. Breaker sat next to me speechless, hard, like a complete stranger. Like he had no choice but to hate because the love was killing him from the inside out.
“I’ll pick you up in the morning.” Nikolai nodded once we were back at my house. “Pack light.”
“Why? Because your G6 is hauling weapons or something and has no space?” Andrei joked.
“Actually. Yes. As you know, ammo is quite heavy.” Nikolai examined his fingertips and then reached across the seat and grabbed the black box Andrei had brought into the car. It looked like a sleek tattoo gun.
He motioned for us all to get out of the SUV. Shaking, I did just that while he rummaged with the gun behind me.
Something clicked, making me jump as I took a step back and collided with Breaker.
“Your hand, please.” Nikolai held out his palm.
“Why?”
“Breaker, grab her hand, please, the left.” Nikolai ignored me, and of course, loyal Breaker grabbed my left hand and placed it in Nikolai’s palm. “Don’t move.”
I was right.
It was a cordless tattoo gun, small, he turned it on, and suddenly needles were diving into my pale skin.
It was over in less than a minute.
Extremely small.
Hardly noticeable.
But I knew what it was the minute I saw the black swirl.
Valerian Petrov had just marked me without even being there—with the mark of a sickle.
The brand of the Petrov’s.
I was no longer Violet Abandonato.
I was his.
“You should pack,” Breaker said in a wooden voice. “Then, you should probably tell the rest of the cousins how excited you are to be studying in Seattle.” He sneered as he paced my room, pulling out luggage and tossing shoes inside without even asking.
His steps were purposeful.
His eyes laser-focused on getting rid of me.
It stung more than I cared to admit.
That my protector, my friend, the guy I’d been half in love with for most of my life, was so easily handing me over to another.
“Breaker, can we talk?”
He breezed right past me toward my dresser. When he jerked open the drawer, he nearly knocked it over with his force. Then he started pulling out T-shirts, a few pairs of jeans.
“Breaker!”
He shoved the drawer shut, the few pictures on top of the dresser fell over and broke, including one of us together last Thanksgiving. It had been my favorite because it was the first time we’d kissed in a while, and that kiss had turned into a bit of a make out session that still made me hot.
“Wow. I take a shower and come out, and God decides to give me my Christmas present early?” He crossed his arms over his muscled chest; he had on low-slung jeans that were still unbuttoned as if he stopped the minute he saw me, and his blue shirt was open, revealing the giant Campisi tattoo on his chest with all its swirling glory. I never stared at it longer than a few seconds mainly because he always gave me shit when I did and because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to look away.
With a groan, I laid back on his bed. “I was trying to find a bed to nap in.”
“Hey, I have one of those.” He joked.
I smiled despite my need to throttle him; just two days ago, he’d had yet another girl dangling off his arm like a trinket, the jealousy had been unbelievable even though I knew it was impossible, my obsession with him.
My love for my best friend.
I felt the heat from his skin as he laid down on the mattress next to me, grabbing my hand and squeezing it.
We laid like that in silence.
It was what we did.
He let me think since, in a moment of weakness, I’d told him I think better next to him, and he was convinced that his hand holding made me smarter, so there we were.
“Where’s Cathy?”
“Cathy?”
“The blonde.”
“It’s Katy, Abandonato, then again, you knew that.” He nudged me with his elbow. “And we had a difference of opinion, so she had to go.”
“Oh?” I turned to my side. “And what was that?”
He turned to his then pulled me against his chest. “God, you’re so pretty it hurts.”
I swallowed the ball of emotion in my throat. “So? What was it this time? She didn’t like your shoes? Your muscles are too big? Hates cheese?”
He gasped. “First off, my muscles are perfect, you said so yourself that one time you were moaning in your sleep.” I smacked him. “Second, we don’t discuss footwear, and third who the hell hates cheese?”
I grinned. “Then, I’m out of ideas.”
“Sure.” He winked, and then he tilted my chin toward him. “I may have, maybe, accidentally, said your name.”
I gave him a shove. “Stop messing with me!”
“No.” He scrunched up his nose. “I swear on my life and on King’s—I called her Violet, we’re lucky I still have working equipment.”
“Yes, all those girls are just so damn lucky your dick isn’t broken.” I sighed and then punched him in the shoulder; he grabbed my hand, rolling me to my back and hovering over me. “Breaker—”
“—just one taste.” He lowered his head. “For old times’ sake…”
“It’s never just one taste with us.” I licked my lips anyway, waiting for his kiss, waiting for the moment it would start so I could already panic about when it would end.
“That’s the problem,” Breaker pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. “I want it all—your dad here yet?”
“No.” I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I came early, you know, for my nap.”
“Nap my ass,” he growled, crushing his mouth to mine as we rolled around his bed. He was so good at kissing it was almost annoying; he led with his lips, not his tongue, so every single kiss felt like a tutorial in how to get a girl to respond. I slid my tongue into his mouth; he smiled against me in triumph, as I grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him close.
He was rock hard against my thigh. I grinned and pulled away. “I see all things are in good working order.”
“Maybe we should test that theory.” He moved his body over mine, creating enough friction that my hips rose without thinking. “Mmmmm,” His hands moved my dress up. “Just a little bit of foreplay… a little of this a little of that.”
I dug my hands into his hair. “Just a little.”
“It’s not like we’re crossing a line.” But even as he said it, we both knew, one day, we would set the line on fire, and there would be no going back.
I don’t know how long we kissed, but my mouth was swollen when he finally pulled away and laid onto his back, chest heaving as he whispered, “I wish you were mine to love.”
Tears filled my eyes as I reached for his hand and then laid my head on his chest. “I wish you were mine to keep.”
“One day, I may just storm the castle, also known as Chase Abadnonato’s scary as fuck compound, and make my intentions known, do the whole rock to your window, hold up a boom box, maybe carry a rose in my mouth and declare my desire to court you.”
“One day,” I whispered. “I may just be waiting at my window for that proposal, but you better bring whiskey.”
“My lady wants whiskey?” He grinned over at me.
I rolled my eyes. “No, I meant for all the blunt head trauma the King may just give out to my suitor, but hey, the door prize for winning might be me so… worth it.”
“Vi—” he kissed the top of my head “—I would walk through any fire for you, just name the time and place so I can make sure I have my slow-motion hero walk down, deal?”
I laughed. “Deal.”
“My blood for yours,” he vowed.
“My blood for yours,” I whispered back.
“What?” Breaker roared, jolting me back to the present. He was facing away from me, the broken picture forgotten. His hands gripped the dresser until his fingertips turned white. “What do you want to talk about? Because the way I see it, you’re leaving. No arguments because Violet Abandonato doesn’t argue, she doesn’t fight, she just does as she’s told like a good little girl—”
I threw a heel at his head without warning. It barely glanced off his shoulder and dropped to the floor.
“The hell!
He spun around in time for my follow-up throw and ducked to the side, but this time I’d been aiming for his dick. It narrowly missed his thigh and landed next to its mate.
Why did I have to be the only one who had bad aim in the entire family?
“Missed.” He glared. “Unless you were trying to aim for the dresser. Then—just kidding, you missed that too.”
“Ugh!” I stomped my foot. “Why can’t you just… I don’t know, talk to me! You never talk to me anymore!”
“Because!” he roared. “I can’t even look at you right now! Is that what you want me to say? That I’m pissed, fucking heartbroken? That I’m terrified and that as much as I want to keep you here, I have no choice but to let you go? What the hell do you want me to say, Vi? That I love you? That I can’t live without you? I don’t think I’m capable of saying it, because then it’s true, then I have to believe it, and then there will be nothing fucking left of me!”
Tears slid down my cheeks. “Y-yes. I want you to say all those things, and then I want you to kiss me and tell me everything’s going to be okay when we both know it will never be the same.”
It took two large strides, and then he was pulling me into his arms, kissing my cheeks, healing my tears.
I pressed my hand against his chest. His heart was racing almost as fast as mine was, and then his mouth was moving down my neck. “I lost you before I even had you.”
“You’ll always have me, Breaker,” I vowed.
He stilled. “No, you belong to another, meaning this will never be the same between us.”
Scandalous Prince Page 7
