by Lisa Cardiff
“I want—”
He pointed his finger at me, his face contorting with rage. So much rage, my blood iced over in my veins, zapping any of my lingering resistance.
“I don’t give a flying fuck what you want. You’re lucky I don’t kick your ungrateful ass outta our lives. You betrayed the family. You shit on your father’s dying wishes. You lied to your mother and your brother. You were disloyal to your future husband. But I’m willing to overlook all of that and let that man you supposedly love live on two conditions.”
Unease closed around my chest and I could hardly take in another breath. I gawked at Gian, begging him with my eyes not to abandon me. I didn’t see any sympathy on his face, only a deep divot between his brows. He wouldn’t help me. I only had myself, and I’d be damned if I let my so-called family hurt the man I loved.
I wanted to scream at Gian. I loved him more than anyone for as long as I could remember. As kids, we could finish each other’s sentences. We slept in the same bed until we were six. I tagged along with his friends, and he beat the crap out of anyone who looked at me wrong. When our parents confronted him, he’d always say a slight against me was a slight against him. I guess he didn’t believe that anymore.
“What do you want?”
“You’ll marry Nico quickly and without protest, and that Russian’s name will never cross your lips again. You will never see him again, you will never even think of him again. I expect your unconditional loyalty to the family and your husband,” Dominick said, his voice deadly calm like he wasn’t dealing my heart another deathblow. One I’d never recover from.
“What about loyalty to me, your niece, your blood?” I growled, my throat convulsing with the urge to cry.
Dominick pointed a beefy finger at me. “Loyalty is earned, not given. You haven’t earned anything.”
Gian grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him. “Don’t be stupid, Carmela. Konstantin Trincher doesn’t love you. This is your out. They get what they want, you get your life back, and nobody gets hurt. Don’t turn your life upside down chasing a fairytale. There is no happy ending for the two of you.”
Pain. Agony. Sorrow. All of it slithered through me like poison, tainting my love for my family. Nothing stung as much as finding out my family, the people I put above everyone and everything, didn’t give a shit about what I wanted. I was a commodity to be bought and sold to the person who had the most to offer them. Nothing was ever about me. My life, my feelings, my desires were irrelevant.
“Fine. You win. I’ll sacrifice myself, but not for family. For Kon. If you go back on your word and something happens to him, you’ll regret it. I promise you.”
I jumped out of the chair, tears already blinding my vision. I needed to get away from them. My bare feet slapped over the marbled floor with every step, echoing in my ears. When I came to the stairs, I picked up my speed, taking two steps at a time.
“Carmela,” a hand clamped around my wrist, and I whirled around ready to lash out.
“Emilia?” I said, my voice shaky. I took in the shiny dark pixie cut that framed her delicate features. Her petite body was clad in all black just like when she was teenager. Gian and I always referred to her as the dark fairy when we were younger. The description still suited her.
“You’re doing the right thing,” she said, her eyes darting down the hall.
“Were you spying on us?” I snapped, my hands curled into fists.
“A little, but I already knew what was gonna happen. I overheard my father talking on the phone last night.”
“Great. I’m glad after running away you’ve decided to rejoin us and toe the family line. Isn’t that convenient? Is your daddy going to reward you for this little pep talk?”
Pain rippled across her face. “No. I’m only telling you this because I know how evil my father is. I ran. I made a new life for myself. Got married. I thought I was free until I came home after work to find my husband dead. My father killed him.”
The air whooshed out of my lungs and I swayed, feeling lightheaded. “You don’t know that.”
A brittle smile split her lips. “He promised to kill any man that dared to go against him and marry me, and he delivered on his promise. If you love that man, you will do whatever you need to do to extract him from your life and away from our homicidal family.”
I nodded, my entire body numb. Fragmented thoughts raced through my head, none of them making sense. I was living in Hell. Right when I thought I had my life and my heart back, my family ripped it out of my chest still beating and bloody.
“I have to tell him. I need to say goodbye. I need closure.”
Emilia grabbed my upper arms, squeezing them. “I’ll help you get your goodbye.”
“How?”
“Tomorrow. I’ll find you.”
“Emilia. What are you telling her?” Sal’s voice echoed down the hall. I didn’t know much about him. He was good-looking in a dark and brooding way, but a little younger than me. He’d been my father’s soldier, and now he was Gian’s, and that’s all I needed to know.
“Are you following me?” Emilia snapped. “Did you get sick of sniffing my father’s ass and you needed some fresh air?”
Sal’s lips curled over his teeth, his usually calm demeanor evaporating almost instantly. “You’re a bitch. No wonder your husband killed himself. I’d kill myself too if I were stuck with you.”
Emilia gasped and reeled back, her hand pressed to her stomach. “I can’t believe I ever trusted you, Sal. You’re a liar and a phony. You sold me out. You probably led the campaign to whack my husband.” She marched forward, her shoulder ramming into Sal. “Asshole. I hate you. I’ll always hate you.”
Sal stared at her, his face pale and his hands flexing and curling into fists over and over like he wanted to wrap his hands around her neck and drain the life out of her. I didn’t understand what that was about, and I didn’t want to know. I had enough problems of my own. Without exchanging a single word with Sal, I slipped down the hall and retreated to the safety of my bedroom.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE
Someone shook my arms, and I swatted them away. I watched every hour tick by on the clock last night until five in the morning when the bottle of wine I had consumed finally did me in.
As a general rule, I never got drunk. I hated the feeling of being out of control. That all went out the window last night when my thoughts and heart were racing, competing for my attention. The idea of leaving Kon and spending the rest of my life tied to Nico had tormented me. Every time I convinced myself to walk away from my family, Emilia’s cautionary tale of standing up to Dominick would reel me back in.
I didn’t want to worry about my family lying in wait for the right moment to mow down the man I loved. Even worse, what happened if Kon and I crashed and burned? I would have given up everything for a chance at nothing. Between Rocco and my dad, I had already lost too much.
“Get up. We need to get ready,” a woman said.
“What?” I mumbled, my voice sounding like I had swallowed a bowl of pebbles.
“Carmela, open your eyes and get out of bed. It’s past noon. The day is almost over. We have things to do.”
I unsealed my dry eyelids and blinked a few times. “Emilia? What are you still doing here?”
“I’m here to get you. We’re going shopping for your engagement dress.”
I flopped onto my back. “I don’t care what I wear. I have plenty of stuff in my closet. In fact, I think I’ll wear what I wore to my dad’s funeral. That’ll make a statement.”
“Yeah, well, do what you have to, but we’re going shopping. There’s this cute little boutique on Third. You’ll love it. It’s a great location.”
“Wait.” I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed, rubbing my eyes. “Did you say Third?”
Kon lived right off Third, and she was right. There was a cute boutique right around the corner.
A grin spread across her face, and I couldn�
��t speak for a second. I couldn’t remember a single time I’d seen Emilia look happy. “Yes. Third. It’s a hip area with lots of interesting people.”
“How’d you know?”
She shook her head. “You’re so naïve, Carmela. If you want to live in this world, you need to learn to play with the big boys. You can’t tiptoe around with your eyes and ears closed. You need information so you can be one step ahead of them.” She tapped the bottom of my chin. “Close your mouth and stop looking at me like I’m a lunatic. You need to get dressed for this to work.”
“For what to work?”
Emilia bent over and whispered in my ear. “We’re going to walk into the store, pick up a stack of dresses, then I’ll disappear into the dressing room, and you’ll slip out the side door wearing something entirely different. You’ll head out the door and off to your man’s place. I’ll cover for you for an hour and not one minute longer. Got it?”
I searched her face for duplicity. I didn’t see any. “You’d do that for me?”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t get all emotional on me. I’m doing this for me, not you. I fully intend to stick it to my father every chance I get.”
“All right. Well, thanks. I guess.”
“An hour should be ample time to tell him goodbye and get your ass back to the store.”
My head dropped against my chest, my stomach pirouetting with excitement and an overwhelming sadness. I wanted to see Kon so damn bad, but I hated that this would probably be the last time I’d see him. Maybe forever.
“Stop it.” Emilia flicked me in the forehead. “I know what you’re thinking, and you need to erase those sentimental, weepy thoughts from your brain. You’re doing the right thing. If I could go back in time, I would never have dragged my husband into this crap. It wasn’t fair. It was downright selfish.” She swallowed, and her lower lip wobbled. “Don’t make the same mistake as me.”
“You’re right. I’m fine. I can do this,” I declared, even though I wasn’t sure I believed it.
She gave a curt nod of her head and pointed to the bathroom. “Good. Go.”
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SIX
Konstantin
“Stop calling me,” I growled under my breath, declining the call from an unknown number for the third time.
I switched my phone to vibrate. I needed to focus or I’d never get caught up. Alesio had wrapped up the groundwork for the car export venture in Chicago, and I needed to get my ducks in a row for a shipment to Russia within the next week. I didn’t want to hit a snag on our first run.
On top of that, my dad was out of town, which meant his work fell on my shoulders. People were bouncing in and out of my office all week, and I couldn’t get anything done, so I decided to work from home today.
While I needed to do something about Carmela, I hadn’t figured out my next move. I’d been waiting for a signal from her. Clearly, one wasn’t coming anytime soon. My voicemails, texts, and emails went unanswered.
My phone vibrated across the desk in my home office a fifth time. I snatched it up.
“Jesus fucking Christ, what do you want?”
“Kon, it’s me.”
“Carmela.” I popped out of my chair. “Where are you? Are you okay?”
“I can’t talk now. Are you home?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll be there in two minutes.”
She disconnected the phone without saying goodbye.
I ran to the front door, flung it open, and paced, my heart nearly exploding out of my chest and my nerve endings sparking in anticipation of seeing Carmela again. I felt like a fifteen-year-old boy waiting for the popular girl to notice me, and I’d never been that boy to begin with.
The elevator pinged, and Carmela rushed out, her cheeks flushed, her hair flying like a flag, and a huge smile on her face. The second she crossed the threshold, I yanked her into my arms and kicked the door shut.
“How are you feeling?”
Her legs latched around my waist. “Later. Right now, I need you to take me to bed. I’ve missed you, and we have less than an hour.”
“We need to talk.”
“After,” she murmured, kissing my cheeks, my lips, my neck, and everywhere in between.
“You drive a hard bargain.”
Her hand slipped between our bodies, molding over my cock. It hardened with every stroke of her hand. Shit, that felt good. “No, that’s your job.”
I stalked down the hall, my hands in the wild strands of her dark hair. I crashed my lips down on hers, drinking her in and taking everything she’d give me, pushing for more.
I laid us down on the bed, groaning when my body met hers. “Fuck, Carmela, you feel so good.”
Her curves were made for me. Each dip and swell were perfectly sculpted with me in mind. The first time I touched her I did it with the intention of satisfying my need for her and moving on. Only it never worked, and every touch made me crave her more and more.
Rising to my knees, I lifted her dress up and over her head, kissing and caressing every centimeter of exposed skin, loving the bunching of her muscles under the pads of my fingers and the soft puffs of her rapid breaths.
It had been agonizing not being able to see or talk to her for a week. I even got in my car more than once intending to drive to her house and sneak into her room, but reality always talked me off the cliff. Gian and Dominick had the house buttoned up so tight, it would have been a miracle if I made it inside alive.
Fixing my eyes on her face, I looped my thumbs under the waistband of her panties. I slid the lacy scrap of material down the golden skin of her thighs, goose bumps spiraling like water down her legs.
I pressed the heel of my hand between her legs, working it back and forth, getting drunk on every twitch of her muscles and flex of her hips.
“I’m gonna miss this, Kon.”
I froze for a beat, agony rippling through me. “What?”
She threaded her fingers into my hair, and yanked my lips to her. “Make me feel good. I need this. I need you. Please.”
Yielding to her plea, I buried my unease and guided a finger inside her, teasing her clit with my thumb. Her face contorted into something that I could only describe as unbearable pleasure. Her legs fell to the side. Her body twisted and squirmed, and a moan spilled from her parted lips. Her walls pulsed against my finger accompanied by a wet sucking sound. I tore off my clothes faster than I ever had in my life, the urgency to be inside her gnawing at my gut like a living, breathing animal.
I wedged my hips between her thighs, rolling the tip of my cock along her entrance, teasing her. Teasing myself. Then I slammed into her, rocking in and out. Her hands fell away from my shoulders, curling around the sheets, her hips rolling and her eyes glazed. She looked so damn beautiful with her red cheeks, messy hair, and swollen lips. It made my chest ache.
Her pussy pulsed against me, and I thrust harder, my release burning like the fires of Hell down my spine. Her fingers dug into my ass like she couldn’t get enough. The headboard banged against the wall. Jagged breaths tangled with moans and groans. Then her muscles tensed, and she screamed out my name. I couldn’t hold on any longer.
I threw my head back, savoring the moment, pleasure tearing through me. Pushing her hair away from her face, I pressed a soft kiss to her lips, showing without words how much I loved her.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN
Carmela
Lying on my side, I traced the curve of Kon’s face, memorizing the sharp angle of his jaw, the slight bend of his nose, the decadent pout of his lower lip. My body ached with the thought of never being able to touch him, kiss him, or talk to him again.
I wanted to tell him I loved him, only I couldn’t. It would only complicate things further and nothing would come of it. I had to marry Nico. I had to protect Kon from my family.
“Kon,” I whispered, “I have to tell you something.”
Firming his hold on my hip, a smirk pulled at the corn
ers of his lips. His eyes were still shut.
“Dominick moved the engagement party to Friday night.”
His eyes blinked open. “This Friday.”
“Yeah.” I nodded, my throat dry and my chest caving in on itself. “The wedding won’t be long after. That’s what everyone has agreed.”
“You’re going to go through with it?” He sat up, his legs dangling off the side of the bed, his mouth hard. His flinty eyes harder.
“There’s nothing I can do.”
“You can refuse to walk down the aisle.” He released an exasperated growl. “What happened with Gian? You told me he supports your decision not to marry Nico.”
“He changed his mind after what happened. He thinks I need someone to protect me, and Nico can do that.”
“Dammit, Carmela. You don’t need Nico. I can keep you safe. Don’t you trust me? I won’t let anyone hurt you again.”
I swallowed with difficulty, wishing not for the first time I could choose my destiny. “I know, but my family will never let me be with you.”
He cupped my face. “My father won’t let this go, and even if he will, I sure as hell won’t. You’re mine, Carmela. This is bullshit and you know it. Why do you think I’d let you marry that fucking prick after everything that’s happened between us? I don’t get where this is coming from. I mean, last week you told me you wanted to try and make this work between us.”
“I did, more than anything, but it’s not possible, Kon. We’re from two different worlds.”
“So were Evie and your brother. They made it work.”
“We’re not them.”
“You’re right. We’re not. I’m not letting you walk away simply because your family has some fucked up notion about who they think you should marry and how you should live your life.” He dragged his tattooed hand across the back of his neck, his blue eyes shadowed and full of anguish. “Did you mean it when you said you loved me?”
