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“No,” I whispered to myself. “It’s just my mind playing tricks. They abandoned us. They left us.”
My head was sure.
My heart, however, told me something was wrong.
I missed my twin.
Pace had been my rock, my savior; he was gone.
And I was so dehydrated I had no tears to cry, just memories of survival with the only person in this godforsaken world who had ever cared for me more than he cared for himself.
I fought sleep but finally relaxed into the expensive sheets as nightmares came in waves.
My captor touched me. Tried to rip my shirt.
“No!” I woke up screaming.
Santino rushed into my room in nothing but a towel, damp hair, and a gun trained on my head. “What happened?” His chest heaved. He was impossibly toned, with muscles that appeared strung so tight I wondered if he had trouble breathing. His honey-brown hair was wet against his face as water dripped down his chin.
“N-nightmare.” I found my voice. “Sorry for interrupting your shower…”
Slowly he lowered the gun. “Well, it’s been an interesting night, so the interrupted shower is the least of my worries right now.” He sighed. “And apparently, I did so well with the task at hand that I’ve been promoted. You’re my new job.”
“What? What job?” I sat up more, wincing in pain since the medicine had worn off a bit. I’d reach for the bottle of pills later.
“Bodyguard and all-around killer.” He pointed at himself. “Innocent mafia princess.” He pointed at me. “Any questions?”
Were they all insane? “Yes, you ass, of course I have questions. I don’t even know who Andrei is now! I was so young even then that I always thought it was some sort of fictional world I’d created!”
Santino scowled and ran a hand down his face, leaving his towel tied around his waist. Any second, I was convinced it was going to fall. “All right, the fast version. Your father was the head of the Petrov crime Family, a Russian crime Family; Italians and Russians mix like oil and water, but the shock of the century, your mom was a Sinacore. Ergo, he’s half, and so are you, and legally he’s the heir to the Sinacore throne. So the families merged, and now we’re in the middle of a super duper fun mafia war since the old families of Sicily have rowed their fucking boats across the ocean to kill all of us. That…” He shrugged. “…about sums it up.”
My body started to shake. “Are we safe?”
He frowned. “I’ll kill anyone who blinks at you wrong, happy?”
“Comforting,” I mumbled. “And no, I’m not happy. Why would any of this make me happy? I’ve been dropped in the middle of a mob war. I had a Russian mob boss as a father, which actually does explain a lot, so thanks for that. And what, he just got tired of us? Threw us out?”
Santino sighed in annoyance. “You still don’t get it. This is why you will never sit at the big kids’ table. Because you won’t ever get it. You are half of what he hates, half of what he loves. He was so angry at his wife that he took the single most precious thing she had. He needed the eldest to take on his legacy. The other two? Simple spares that would hurt your mom and brother more than anything. It kept them under his thumb, and when he no longer had use for you…” He shrugged. “He simply took you for a drive.”
My nose burned, and my eyes right along with it. “A drive.” I looked away from him and stared down at the comforter. “Like you take with a pet.” I stared straight at the clean, stark white comforter, refusing to blink. “I was a pet.”
“No,” Santino said softer. “You were a pawn. There is a big difference.”
“Pawns get taken to the special farm too?” I tried to joke.
He didn’t laugh. “You were useful until you weren’t. I’m still not sure how you didn’t die, but here you are, so make the best of it. Your brother went through shit to even find you.”
“So I should say thank you?”
“Yes.” Santino snapped. “Say thank you to the only fucking family you have left! The family that actually cares for you!”
“Cares!” I spat.
Santino marched up to me until my head was right in line with his waist and leaned over. “Oh, I’m sorry, did you need prettier words? A softer delivery? Three-point-seven million dollars.”
I gasped and met his eyes. “What?”
“The price they’ll pay for your brother’s head. Rumors have it, the longer he stays alive, the higher the price goes, so you tell me? As he’s fighting to stay alive and keep his family safe, why should you sit here and think he doesn’t for one-second care?”
