Page 82 of Crimson Vows

“Is it because of me?” she asks. I look up at her with a puzzled look.

“What?”

She sighs and looks out the windshield. “I’ve seen the way you’ve started looking at me, the way your eyes linger too long. What it does to you when Alex kisses me. Are you afraid to help me because of your feelings for me?”

My mouth falls open. She knows. The secret I thought I had locked away is out in the open. “Amelia, I—” I start to speak, my voice catching in my throat as I try to navigate through the tangled web of emotions. Guilt, longing, and duty collide within me.

She turns to face me, her stare piercing through my defenses. “Nikolai, you have been a loyal friend and protector. I know you would never act on your feelings, and that’s why you’re the only man I can trust with this. I know you would never fail me.”

“Does Alexei know?” I ask, my face hot with embarrassment.

“I don’t think so,” she replies.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know how I let it happen—”

She laughs. “That isn’t something you have to apologize for.”

I take a deep breath and slowly exhale before I finally say, “I will find them—for you, for Alexei, and for your baby. But after... after I do this, I want your help convincing Alexei to let me go back to Russia.”

“What? You don’t have to run away from our family just because you’ve developed a crush on me,” she says, offering me a tender smile. She doesn’t understand what I feel for her is so much more than a crush. She’s the first thing I think about when I wake and the last when I lay my head down at night. “Alex and I both love you.”

“I know. But this is what I ask of you in exchange for my help,” I reply.

Amelia studies me for a moment, her eyes softening with understanding. Then she reaches out and places her hand on my arm. “Alright, if that’s what you want.”

I nod. “It is.”

Amelia moves her hands back into her lap, cupping her belly slightly. “You have to make sure you bring them back alive. Okay? That part is essential.”

“What if they aren’t willing to come with me?” I ask as the scene with Dante replays in my mind.

Amelia inhales sharply, and I watch her chest rise and fall. She’s steel and silk all at once, one of the things that made me fall in love with her. “I think I have a solution.”

I turn to face her. “What is it?”

“I’m going to send someone to help you look for them.”

I shake my head. “You know I work alone.”

“Trust me,” she says, her smile widening just a fraction. “This person... They’re exactly who you need with you if Marco doesn’t want to come willingly.”

“Who?” My curiosity piques despite the knot of unease coiling in my gut.

“Marco’s little sister.” Her voice is even and matter-of-fact. “Sophia.”

“I didn’t think he had any siblings.”

“Not many people know about her. It’s not something anyone ever talks about,” Amelia explains, her fingers tracing the edge of her phone case absently. “Marco’s dad got whacked when he was a teen. His sister, Sophia, was only nine when it happened. Isabella’s sister lives in Italy, and she always wanted a daughter, so she took her in. Marco stayed here and became a soldier for my father.”

“When’s the last time he saw her?” The words scratch at my throat.

“His dad’s funeral,” she confirms. A shadow crosses her face. “He doesn’t like to talk about her. If she’s with you, though, there’s no way he’ll resist.”

“Why would she agree to help us?” I push back against the leather seat, skeptical.

Amelia sighs. “We tell her Marco’s being manipulated by Gia and that we need her help to convince him to come home because we’re his true family.”

“You want me to lie to this girl so she can help deliver her brother to us, knowing you plan to torture and kill him?” I ask. Her ruthlessness is unsettling.

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