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Tears burned the back of my eyes. “Yes, because as your fiancé, that’s what I want, attention from other men.”
“Better than attention from me.” He shrugged.
I reached for his hand, then dropped my own in my lap. “Why do you hate me so much? Why are you ruining my life?”
He frowned and got down in front of me, he reached up and cupped my chin. “If you think this is true hate, you’re in for a rude awakening, all you need to do is play your part and say I do and then leave the rest to me.”
My tears were streaming down my cheeks. “You said to trust you.”
“And you were dumb enough to do it.”
“Maybe because I’m dumb enough to see past the facade you’ve always had, maybe because I watch you more than you realize, maybe because I’m hoping I’m right.”
Ivan licked his lips and got up, hovering over me, pressing me back against the wall, his knees on either side of my body, digging into the bed. “Shall I prove you to all the ways you’re wrong then, starting with helping you get dressed?”
I stared down at his hands and then did a double take. His right hand was shaking, and his left hand was clenched into a fist.
I nodded. “Sure, Ivan, show me.”
His eyes flashed before he jerked away from me and went back to his side of the room and peeled off his shirt. “We don’t have time for games, plus you’d take more than a few minutes to get ready, prudes always do.”
“Whatever you say,” I whispered and went over to my closet to find something that would drive him crazy. I finally settled on a red leather mini skirt I’d worn for Halloween one year. Why did I even pack that? I added a matching red top and a long black tuxedo jacket with thigh-high boots. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and channeled my older sister, putting on dark lipstick and makeup that made me look older than I was.
When I was done, I turned around. “Good enough?”
Ivan’s eyes started at my toes, and slowly, painfully, inched up my body to my face.
He said nothing, just stomped over to me and shoved me against the wall, his mouth was on mine in seconds. He didn’t ask. He just took.
I gasped when he parted my lips with his tongue, flicking it against mine before he pulled away. “A reward for your efforts, prude.”
I reached for my knife from the bed and charged him with it, slamming him against the wall.
He flipped me around so fast that my head spun, pressing my chest against the same wall and the knife in my hand clattered to the ground. “He made you weak. Next time don’t make so much noise when you charge me, better you seduce me then stab me, then try to stab me, and get me distracted by this.” He slapped me on the ass gave me one last shove and moved away. “Let’s go.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“People often say things aren’t what they seem, but I digress, sometimes, they are exactly as they seem. You can’t hide the cold hard truth, especially when it stares up at you with lifeless eyes.” -—King Campisi
King
All of the old bosses were in the room, along with the new ones and every other captain and underboss.
It was crowded.
Everyone was in panic mode.
And everyone was talking at once.
Old bosses wanted to take control of the Families again to keep us safe, in my dad’s words, the old Capo Tex. “We’re old enough to die, you aren’t.”
I ignored him.
Nixon was yelling.
Chase was hitting the wall with his hands—punching it and clearly getting upset every time the wall didn’t just break.
Ash was sitting next to me like a statue, along with Maksim and Valerian. We were missing one of our own; we were missing Junior.
