Camille
The wedding is off.
God, what a nightmare.
And now I'm being taken to Alessio Scarfoni's house.
The thought weakens me, and I feel so fragile I fear I may shatter into a million pieces.
Thank God Dad's arm is still around me. If he weren't holding me up and moving us down the corridor toward the car, I don't think I could do it myself.
The echo of my heels against the marble floor is a welcome distraction from the turbulence in my mind, but I can't stop myself from freaking out about what will happen to me. And Richard. I've never seen him look so defeated, and so powerless.
I'm desperately trying to hold it together, but I can't.
How the fuck must I? What the hell are the chances of my life being ruined by Richard's long-lost brother? And surely, he can't be serious about marrying me.
Every time I try to process it, I feel like I'm losing my mind.
But when we walk past the stunning hall decorated for the reception, my heart gives a hard squeeze. From the rose-gold tablecloths and the covered chairs with giant bows on the back to the white Calla lilies surrounding the pewter candlesticks on each table... Everything is magnificent.
This glimpse is all I'll be seeing.
I lean even more on Dad. "I can't. I just can't."
"It will be okay."
My dad always fixes things when they go wrong, but this...? Richard? Alessio? Me?
I want to believe Dad or Richard will be able to sort this out, but the tension in my gut is telling me otherwise.
Our footsteps become louder as we continue to the adjoining hall. Once there, Jayce — I think that's his name—is joined by three more guards. All are armed.
I'm quite aware of the dark underworld of danger I live in. Where all of society's rules bend and break for men with power.
When you live in a world like mine, where the Knights and the Russian mafia are God, anything can happen because they are the law. Things can change drastically from one moment to the next and leave you trying to crawl your way out of hell.
I saw the way Alessio looked at me. I saw how he undressed me with his eyes, and I noted the seductive promise lurking within them.
I don't want to go to his house.
When I get there, what will happen next?
What will Alessio do to me?
Even though there was seduction in his eyes, his entire presence and show of power were filled with vengeance.
We walk outside into the drizzling rain.
"Syuda," Jayce speaks in Russian and points to a black Ferrari parked by the entrance to the parking lot.
Once we reach the car, he opens the door and gestures for me to get in. When I think of leaving my dad and disappearing into the unknown with these men, I feel an invisible hand around my throat. It squeezes tighter and tighter, stopping the air from reaching my lungs.
Jayce clenches his jaw, instantly looking pissed off. "Get in."
"Wait, please." I'm not ready for this.
"We need to go now, Miss Galitze."
"Please, I just need to talk to my father."
"Camille, please go with th—" Dad starts, but I interrupt him by grabbing his arm.
"No. I need to know what you plan to do." I need to know something. Anything. "Surely, this Alessio doesn't seriously mean to just take me and keep me. Right?"
I can't imagine that happening. Not with so many powerful people around me who should be able to fix this. People like my father. But Dad just stares back at me.
"My love, Alessio has the marriage contract."
"But that contract was for me marrying Richard."
He releases a heavy sigh, and his expression turns as soft and caring as when Mom died. "The contract was for you to marry the eldest Scarfoni son. That's Alessio."
My heart triple beats. "But surely, you can revoke it. You made the contract. There must be some law or something that can help us."
"No, there's nothing." He rests his large hands on my shoulders. "Look, Camille... there are some things you don't understand."
Dad glances at Jayce, and a moment of understanding appears to pass between them. Then something hits my mind. It's a sort of realization I didn't sense before because I was too deep in my shock to notice anything else.
It's how Dad looks. Or rather, how he doesn't look.
Dad wasn't surprised or shocked like everyone else when he saw Alessio.
He didn't even argue when the order was issued to take me to Alessio's house. He was completely compliant.
The overprotective father I knew would never hand-deliver me to people he doesn't know. Men he doesn't know. Dangerous men with guns.
Dad wouldn't even let me go to the mall or Lorelai's house, or, fuck, the heavily guarded college campus, without a bodyguard.
Yet here he is, sending me off without any of our guards, telling me he can't help me.
It's like he knew. Knew these people, knew I'd be taken.
Jesus Christ. Did he?
My heart jumps, then gallops, and I wish I could run away with it.
I search Dad's eyes. But I find nothing to tell me I'm wrong.
"What do you mean, there are things I don't understand?" I hate that my voice shakes.
His head drops for a moment. When he returns his eyes to mine, he looks weak and drained, opposite of the man I know him to be.
"Alessio Scarfoni has certain powers not even I can work my way around."
"Oh my God. You knew this would happen today. Didn't you?"
His eyes hold mine in place, and I feel in my soul that everything he says next is going to hurt me.
"I'm sorry, my girl. My hands are tied."
Now my heart pounds like it's trying to break through my ribs. "But you're the Senior Enforcer." My voice is high and pleading and desperate. I grab his jacket, pull on the lapels.
He loosens my hands. "Camille, please calm down."
"Are you kidding me? Calm down?" I take a few steps backwards, every instinct telling me to run. Run now before I can't. Run now before it's too late.
But Jayce walks toward us, raises his gun, and cocks the hammer. He taps the silver barrel to the side of Dad's head, and everything inside me goes numb.
Jayce jerks his head toward the car. "You need to get in."
"This is wrong," I choke out, sounding like a little mouse.
He answers with a devilish smile. "Just so you know, I'm not required to keep your father alive. He's not needed for anything, but you are. Do you understand?"
I understand completely. The translated version of what he's saying is he'll kill my father right here and now if I don't do as I'm told.
The message my heart receives is that I'll lose another parent.
The memory of Mom's cold, dead eyes filters into my mind, and dark dread fills me. I nod my acquiescence, making my legs move so I can get in the car as quickly as possible.
When I slide in, Dad grabs my hand and squeezes it. That's all he gets to do, though, because Jayce pushes him away and closes the door.
He gets in next to me while the other men pile into the car. One on my other side and two in front.
The car starts up and pulls out of the driveway, taking me deeper into this nightmare, but I don't look away from my father's rigid form standing on the pavement with his shoulders sagging.
He said his hands were tied.
There's only one way to tie a man like my father down to beat him, and that's to hold something so powerful over his head that his only option is to bow.
So... Alessio must have something like that. Something big.
What is it?
Or maybe the better question is why.
If I'm right, then what did Dad do to him to cause this?
And what exactly are Alessio's plans for me?
AlessioLeif takes us to the closest meeting room, which is just as ornate as the rest of the building.I'm the last to enter and close the door. My guests don't sit. They stand together facing me, waiting for answers."Well, start talking," Richard demands."Yes, I'm eager to find out how I have another brother I never knew about," Malik says, and Zakh nods."My mother was Fryeda Polinsky," I begin. "She and our father grew up together in Moscow. He was with her before your mother." I pause, glancing at Mira, who looks more ghostly than before. Leif told me everything about the past and never shied away from the possibility that Mira was at least aware Mom existed and was involved with my father. She didn't know about me, though. No one did. "They broke up when he was promised to Mira, but he didn't know she was pregnant with me. She didn't tell him until I was twelve. However, things didn't go as expected. She didn't know that my existence as his firstborn son threatened his busines
AlessioWhen we reach the end of the corridor, I stop when my name is called. It's Uther.He rushes up to me, out of breath. His face is red, and his eyes are filled with panic."This can't work. You can't take my daughter. She's an innocent in this." He shakes his graying head, contorting his face so his scar becomes more pronounced. "There must be something else I can do."I give him a radiant smile, enjoying his trepidation the way he enjoyed mine when he tried to kill me. "Uther Galitze, you know there's nothing else you can do. You also know what will happen if you try."This motherfucker knows my threats aren't empty, nor are they something to be trifled with. I've already taken Camille and his business through the marriage contract. I will also be relieving him of his senior position in the Bratva. Meaning the fucker will lose everything. I would have loved to kick him out completely, but I didn't want to raise any red flags.He knows if I unleash all the serious dirt I have on
CamilleResting my head against the satin wall, I stare at the sea in the distance through the long casement windows. I'd think the intricate carvings in the wood were beautifully designed if I weren't trapped behind them like a bird in a cage.My mother believed patience was the most powerful of virtues.I always agreed. But there are some situations where not even the highest level of patience can help you.Mine is without a doubt one of them.Two hours ago, I arrived at the massive compound of Alessio Scarfoni's mansion on Cape Cod. The house is one of the old-style Tudor homes you'd normally find in Salem, but his is ostentatious and has a haunted vibe.The idea of being in a haunted mansion is creepy enough, but I feel like I'm trapped in one of my nightmares.When I arrived, a rude-looking woman with silver hair and an upturned nose met us on the driveway. Then, without a word, she escorted me to this huge master bedroom I knew straightaway belonged to a man. It's the décor. Dar
CamilleHe walks in, and the door swings shut, the sound of the click lingering like a reminder that I don't know who I'm dealing with.The biker jacket is gone, but he still has the same drifter look, enhanced by the expanse of muscle on his arms, which I can clearly see now, bulging against his fitted T-shirt.My eyes flick to the clothes folded in his hands. I spot a gray T-shirt and something stretchy like yoga pants. I assume those are for me, and my stomach drops.The beginning of a smile tips his full, sensual lips, revealing dimples that make his already handsome face more striking. I stare back at him, trying to figure him out, but I can't. His personality seems to have several things going on, and I'm not sure what part of him I'm going to get.From the predatory vibe emanating from him, I know to stay focused because despite everything, he's dangerous. All the Scarfonis are, but this one is the one to watch.Especially with that rune on his wrist.The only time I've ever se
Panic writhes through me as I realize how much danger I'm truly in, but I still can't think past the terror. All I want to do is get out of here and away from him."I'm not yours." I try to imbue my voice with the strength I summoned before, but it's evident I'm scared."Say whatever you want. Truth is truth. Now change out of that dress and come downstairs for something to eat."I shake my head. "No. I don't want anything from you. I want to go home.""This is your home now.""Fuck you!" I shove at his granite chest, hurting my wrists.He laughs, mocking me again. "Fuck me? Is that a request, Valkyrie?"The pet names—princess, baby girl, and Valkyrie—just enrage me."You fucking bastard. You know it's not a damn request. Let me go.""I said no, and this is the last time I'm going to tell you to take off the dress.""Fuck. You."I don't even get to entertain my next thought. Alessio shoves me hard against the wall, grabs the top of my dress, and tears it right off me like a bodice-rip
CamilleI stare back at him, feeling the weight of my world crumbling all around me. I know there’s nothing I can do to fix it, but I need to know why this is happening.I need to know what Dad did.“What power do you have over my father to do this to us?”“Enough to bury him.” He uses the same icy tone as before. A steel weight drops in my soul, pulling me under. “I have enough for the Knights’ Council to force him to his knees and execute him. And everyone in his family. Starting with you. One word from me, and that’s it—death.”My heart stops like someone switched off all the power. When it starts beating again, it’s pounding faster and faster and faster, and my brain is paralyzed with terror.Dad, what the hell did you do?Execution?For all of us?Him first? No. I can’t lose my father.I can’t.Not that way. Or anyway.“No. Please. Don’t let them kill him.” I’m begging with my heart and soul because this is so much worse than I thought. “Please. I’m sure he’s sorry for whatever h
Alessio.By the gods, Camille Galitze is fucking beautiful.I don’t know how the fuck I’m standing over her perfect naked body with her tits looking as ripe as they do and managing to restrain myself.Me.Me, whose primary hobby includes fucking, is bridling the beast inside that wants to ravage her body.It would be so easy to bend her over the desk and fuck her senseless now that I have her all to myself. We’re not in a room full of people, and she’s not holding Richard’s hand.It’s only us within the four walls of my bedroom and the savage force of wild attraction rippling between us.But business first, then fucking when I see fit. Right now, I’ll settle for my fascination with our attraction, and her fire, which extinguishes as she processes the fact that I have her father under my thumb and she will be my wife in five weeks.“You’re serious about marrying me?” Her voice is weaker now.I’ve watched her go from strong to weak in a matter of minutes. The transition has been fascinat
Alessio“We did it,” Jayce states.“We did.” I smile, bumping my fist with his.“Shouldn’t we be having champagne?” Gytha asks, raising one perfectly arched brow. “Or something along those lines?”“We will.” I meet her serpentine eyes, which are fixed on me with wild seduction. This is one of those times when we’d usually end up in bed, or anywhere we could get lost in each other, to destress. “For now, how about you each get those bonuses I promised?”“Fuck, yeah,” Zane replies, pumping his fist once in the air then snapping his fingers. “And that’s why I fucking love working for you.”I’d like working for me, too, if I added a bonus of ten G onto an already high five-figure monthly salary.Given my poor upbringing, sometimes it feels unbelievable that I’m able to do this. Me at twenty-eight years old being in charge of what I’ve already been doing without the Scarfoni fortune.“Don’t go wild just yet. The job is still ongoing.” That’s why I’ve summoned them here for a brief check-in