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My grip tightened, but only for a second before I finally snapped.
“Dammit!” I roared, letting go of her neck.
Savina tumbled to the floor, her hand coming around her neck trying to soothe the ache that was likely throbbing. She coughed, trying to get as much air back into her lungs as possible.
I stood above her, watching her trying to compose herself again. She got to have air in her lungs. She got to think about what she was going to do in the coming days. Sebastian and Danny didn’t have that luxury.
“Have you lost your goddamn mind?” She heaved up and down, still trying to catch her breath. “What was that?”
I balled my fists at my side. It took every ounce of my willpower to keep my hands to myself. My body still craved blood—hers to be exact. But for now, I would have to settle on hunting down whoever was responsible for Danny’s death.
“You’re lucky you wear my ring.” I crouched down and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at me. The stone wall she often hid herself behind was there in full force. She didn’t let an ounce of what she was really feeling show.
“Lucky? You just put your hands on the Syndicate's leader,” she hissed with a sharp bite. “I could have your head.”
“And for the murder of my men, I could have your life.”
“I didn’t kill anyone.” She tried to pull her chin from my hold, but I held onto her tighter.
“Your actions led to blood being spilled, Savina. You may get away with it for now, but make no mistake—you misstep like this again and, wife or not, you will give what is owed of you.”
There was no room for argument in my words. I had said what I needed to, and now she knew. Next time there would be no warning.
Only a bullet and a scream.
Chapter Thirteen
Savina’s POV
I stared at the bruises on my neck. They were still quite ghastly to look at, and the purple and blue made my skin look sick.
The look in his eyes had haunted me for the past week, and I had not seen him since that whole bathroom incident. He had left to organize the funerals and catch whoever was responsible.
My fingers brushed against the bruises. The tenderness had faded, but the flashes of that morning played vividly in my mind.
His eyes had held nothing but malice and discontent. I had thought for a split second that he would end it all. And in that moment, I had never felt so… helpless. I fucking hated it. I had worked my ass off and clawed my way to get to this point, and I would be damned if I let a man like him make me cower in fear.
After the whole encounter, I wanted to lash out. I wanted to show him exactly who he was dealing with. But he had left. He had been gone for a week and I had no idea when he was coming back.
It was maddening, having him interrupt my day-to-day life like he was. I had come back to the family estate to enjoy my ‘honeymoon period’, but there was no enjoying at all.
All I had done for the past seven days was devise ways in which to protect the Empire and strengthen my already deep roots. And when I wasn't doing that, I was thinking about him. After taking on the Valdez Empire, I had a lot of rearranging that I needed to do. They were involved in some other not-so-pleasant business ventures that I didn’t want to be associated with.
I covered my neck with the scarf and finished getting ready. I walked out of my room with what felt like the weight of the world on my shoulders.
I made it downstairs and headed toward the study when I heard some muffled voices from behind the door. It had been left slightly ajar, so I pressed my back against the wall and listened.
“I need to move her from this area to Manhattan immediately. She will be seen as my weakness, and having her in Brooklyn is too dangerous,” Andres said to someone.
Who was he even talking to? And why the hell did he care where I was? The man had made it very clear that he wanted my life. The only thing that had stopped him that morning was the fact that I now wore his name. He could not kill me in cold blood without good reason, or he would risk a war with the Syndicate. I was the last of my bloodline, and killing off a family had serious repercussions.
“She won’t come with you. We have a home in Manhattan, but she refuses to go there. She prefers her family estate upstate.” That was Dimitri. Why the hell was he having this kind of conversation with him and not me?
“And that is too far for me to conduct my business.” The edge in his voice told me that he was not used to getting told no very often. Unfortunately, that happened to be Dimitri’s specialty.
“Then you’ll just need to deal with it.”
There was a long pause.
