“Get your ass in the car. And if you dare make a scene—”
“No! I’m not a fucking child anymore. You won’t dictate my life.” My father’s eyes widen with shock and indignation. “Now, tell me. Where is he? What did you do?”
I don’t care that people are staring and whispering. Not while I’m dying inside and withering in the unknown.
“Papá, please.” For Mikhail, I’m not beyond begging. “I love him. And if you loved me, you would understand. You know I’ve felt this way for a long time.” Tears stream down my cheeks, but he remains silent, the crease in his features firmly in place. He doesn’t give a damn about me or my happiness. To him, it’s all about money, power, turf—I’m barely even human in his eyes.
I’m just a walking transaction.
“I hate you,” I say from between my teeth.
My father’s mouth thins, his jaw tensing. “What the fuck did you just say to me?”
“You heard me. I hate you. And don’t act surprised or like you care, because we both know the truth.”
“Leah, come with me right now.”
I shake my head and shuffle back. “No. I don’t want anything to do with you. And when Nikolai finds out what you did...” My voice breaks, and I suck in a tremulous breath. “You deserve everything you have coming.”
“You ungrateful little whore. If you think you can disrespect me without consequences—” He signals Carlo with a nod. And although I try to evade his grasp, he’s on me before I can even blink. “You’re about to find out what I’m truly capable of. You will submit.”
Large hands reach into my jacket, then sandwich my arms to my sides, leaving me unable to fight him off.
“I won’t! Let me go! I’ll kill you.”
My pleas for help and my thrashing don’t cause a single person to intervene.
Fucking cowards.
He drags me outside, my father leading the way to a black SUV.
“You can’t do this. Please. Papi, please! Don’t do this.” I kick at Carlo’s thick legs, but the man is solid and doesn’t flinch. “Stop! Let me go. Papá, te lo ruego. Porfavor.” (Father, please. I’m begging you.)
He doesn’t so much as turn around, but simply waves me off with his hand as if I’m unimportant.
“I should have broken you a long time ago.” My father’s words don’t register because, in the next instant, a popping noise explodes near my ear, and I fall onto the cold pavement. While Carlo’s hold on me loosens, it isn’t enough to disentangle myself from his grip before he takes me down with him. I hit my head on the ground hard enough to feel slightly disoriented.
“Shit,” I breathe out, holding my temple. My haze is short-lived when I find myself face-to- face with Carlo’s lifeless eyes. The side of his head is drenched in blood, with a bullet wound in the center of the mess.
Gasping, I attempt to crawl away, but another set of solid arms lifts me to my feet. Mikhail shoves me behind him while keeping a gun trained on my father.
“Leah,” he growls, muscles so tense he’s nearly shaking. I know what he’s asking. He’s seeking approval to take my father’s life.
I squeeze my eyes closed and rest my forehead on his back. As much as I despise everything my father is and his intentions with me...I can’t bring myself to do it.
“Let’s go. He’s not worth the guilt.”
Mikhail slides his gaze my way and clamps down on his jaw, neck bobbing as he swallows hard. It takes another five full seconds for him to drop his aim.
“If you ever touch her, look for her—so much as think about her, I’ll have your head.” Lifting the weapon a second time, Mikhail orders him to strip down to his underwear. My father keeps his stormy gaze pinned on Mikhail as he peels off his suit.
“Looks like I need to phone in a call to Nikolai,” he taunts. His grin stretches. “Or rather, Yuri Kosovich.”
“Don’t tempt me because you already used your one lifeline.”
I loop my arm through his. “Please.”
It’s all he needs to hear. His body visibly relaxes, and he touches my cheek. “Are you
okay?”
“I will be.”
CHAPTER 19
MIKHAIL
The moment the car door closes, Leah throws her arms around me and sobs. I pull her into my lap, sure of my decision to have gotten our bags in the car before meeting her at the cafe. While I hate what she went through, it’s better Emilio and his man didn’t get the jump on me.
“You’re okay. I’ve got you.”
Her fist suddenly slams into my chest, then connects a second time. I catch her wrist on the third swing. “What’s the matter, my love?”
“I thought you were dead. I thought my father— Mikhail, you weren’t there this morning and didn’t answer my calls or texts. Where the hell were you?”
I won’t lie to her. “Handling the men from the bar.”
