Page 63 of The Virgin I Desire

“Yes, but I don't want them to think in any way that you could be gay like your brother.”

I growled and fury rose in me like boiling liquid. I crossed the short distance between us with an agile step and grabbed his head, slamming it against the doorframe.

“Do you think I'm gay?” I gritted my teeth, raising my voice and assuming a highly threatening posture.

“No, sir, but...”

“If you dare say that again, I'll send you to pay Igor a visit.”

“Some men commented of him, especially the soldiers.”

“You shouldn't talk about those who aren't here to defend themselves.”

“You're right, sir.”

I let go of his head, pushing him back and Sergei stumbled a few steps until he hit his back against the wall of the corridor. He passed his hand over his forehead and wiped away the trickle of blood that had flowed from the impact of my blow.

“I can help you with the wedding preparations.”

“There are still many details that need to be defined and at this moment I don't need your help. Focusing on mafia issues is the best thing you can do for everyone.”

“Don't you even want to tell me her name?”

“No.”

“Men will start asking.”

“You don't have to say it.”

He stared at me for a while until he finally agreed. He knew that going against me was not a good alternative.

“Do you need me for anything else, Pakhan?”

“I want you to check with the accountant if everyone paid for the shipments which they received last month. It is one of my priorities that they know not to even think about cheating on me.”

“I'll bring a spreadsheet.”

“Great, you can go.” I pulled the door, slamming it on Sergei's face.

His advantage was that at the moment he was quite useful for maintaining business. He had been in the mafia since my father's time and knew everything and everyone very well, otherwise he wouldn't live to regret provoking me.

I didn't need to rub some wife in their faces for this matter to be closed. Soon I would introduce Pietra Bellucci as my future wife and with that would come an alliance or war with her family.

Chapter twenty-eight

I closed the book I was leafing through and rested my chin on the hard cover. I took a deep breath when I came to the conclusion that I couldn't study properly that day, even if I wanted to, my mind was racing, and it seemed completely impossible to concentrate enough to take anything in from the sentences written on those pages.

I pulled out my cell phone and checked if there were any messages from Mikhail, after our moment together, he had returned to Moscow and my life had become even more insane when my father introduced me to my future husband. I shouldhave said right away that I wanted another man, but I was afraid of Marco Bellucci's reaction. In addition to rejecting the man he believed was best for me, I had also chosen a person he saw as an enemy.

A knock on the door broke me out of my contemplation and I moved my head before hearing my sister's voice.

“Pietra, can I come in?”

I wanted to say no, but refusing the presence of my twin, with whom I was closer, would only draw even more attention to my behavior.

“You can.” I opened the book again and read the first sentence on the page, so that I would appear minimally concentrated in case she asked.

“What are you doing?”

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