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Sofia must have captured Marinka right after she left Penelope’s apartment in the city. Fuck, I should have seen it coming, I should have protected her better.
“Hold the phone, Mikhail, and let’s see if we can wake the sleeping princess,” Sofia said, handing the phone to someone else, probably to one of her guys. Then, she lifted Marinka’s chin and started slapping her. I clenched my fists and motioned to Pedro to get me the other phone. My brothers needed to know what was going on. “Wake up, wake up. It’s time for you to say hello to your stupid husband who soon will be mine.”
This woman was truly deluded. It would be laughable, if it weren’t so tragic. Marinka moaned as she came to. Her face was clear—no signs of bruising or anything like that. I was barely controlling myself, trying to figure out where she was keeping her.
“You won’t get away with it. Do you hear me?” I told her.
“Well, I will and I am, you idiot.” She chuckled.
“What’s going on? Where am I?” Marinka looked disoriented, then her face brightened up when she noticed me on the screen.
“Marinka, just calm down and listen to me. She’s not going to touch you. Everything is all right and you will be home soon,” I said, even though I wasn’t sure about anything.
“Oh, don’t listen to him, dear. He has no idea what he’s talking about. First of all, I need you to sign some divorce papers, then you will hand me your father’s territory, and after that, you will watch me to get married to Sebastian. Everything is ready and I don’t like being kept waiting.”
Did she really expect me to marry her like this? She was crazier than I thought.
“Sofia, be reasonable. This is never going to work. We have nothing in common and I don’t love you,” I said. I wanted to be nasty with her but what good would that do?
Marinka was glancing around before she focused her gaze on the screen. She was probably scared and I was fucking hopeless. Pedro had vanished, probably on the phone with Milo and Sparky, but they weren’t going to be any use at all.
Sofia let go of Marinka and put her face right in front of the screen. She was mad, but that wasn’t surprising.
“Oh, Sebastian, we have so much in common and you don’t even realize that we are perfect for each other. We will finally unite both our families through this marriage, but you need to realise what will happen if you refuse,” Sofia rambled on with wild eyes. I shook my head, thinking that she needed psychiatric help. “First, I’ll burn down the rest of your clubs, until you have nothing left! Then, Marinka will die, but first I will cut her head and then her cunt, so the choice is yours. You have two minutes to decide.”
Sofia wasn’t bluffing. She had proven to me time and time again that she was crazy. Case in point, I now had the culprit responsible for fucking with my livelihood.
“You got someone on the inside to help you out with that,” I said in a cool tone.
Sofia shook her head. “You should pay more attention to the staff. The temp janitor was very eager to make a dollar and he was very good at slipping into places without being seen, overhearing some good conversations, looking for things…” she said, sighing dramatically. “But sadly, he won’t live to enjoy his stash.”
I wracked my brain, thinking. We did have some temp employees brought in as we restructured our schedule. And I believed we did have someone not show up at some point. I’d never given it much thought. All that worrying about the fire, the late nights trying to figure it out, and the answer was right in front of me. I had suspected her, but I needed to cover all bases. Seems now that had been a complete waste of time.
Guess she solved the mystery of the sabotage, but now, she had me by the balls. I’d have to do what she wanted—forced to fucking marry that crazy bitch after I divorced Marinka.
“Sofia, aren’t you forgetting something?” Marinka asked. She looked way too relaxed as she stared at the woman who caused so much drama in both our lives.
Sofia sighed. “I am sorry, darling, but I don’t think so. I believe my terms are very clear,” she replied in annoyance.
“I think you forgot to add that you work for the feds and that you got where you are today because you have managed to fool everyone you have chosen to work with you and for you. I’m sure they aren’t going to be happy when they find out that you have become the bureau’s puppet and that you have betrayed your whole family.”
CHAPTER32
Marinka
I was shakingwhen I left Penelope’s place. It was late and the streets were empty. I had to stand outside for a bit because I truly didn’t know what to do or where to head next. Sebastian didn’t cheat on me. Sofia had been convincing, but she was the one who deceived me.
I hated that I doubted him—doubted us. I trusted Penelope. She wouldn’t have lied to me about this.
I scrolled through the emails and then found a short recording of Sebastian and Sofia from that time Sebastian had left me at the boutique. It was another confirmation that she’d only showed me the compromising bits from their recent meeting. On the video, he clearly told her to back off. She didn’t listen and then she kissed him, forcing herself on him. The quality of the recording wasn’t great, but I could tell what transpired.
I felt stupid that I let her get to me, but thanks to her now I had all my memories back. Everything was there—my past, the present, and now the future.
I started walking ahead, this time trying to get an Uber through my phone so I could head over to see Edwardo. He would know what to do with all that crucial evidence that could bury Sofia, once and for all. I had to prove to everyone that I could protect the people I loved. I had to show the mafia world that I was worthy to be queen.
Not that I hadn’t messed up.
Sebastian was probably in jail and I just had to pray that he didn’t kill that poor guy at the party.
