Page 85 of Mafia Don's Secret Baby

Thanks, Si.

Aelita slammed the door closed after dragging me into what looked like a small office. A large mahogany desk sat in the space with a few miscellaneous supplies atop it. Boxes were stacked beneath the window and across a corner of the room, and a bookshelf held dozens of old books. She turned and deadbolted the door twice before whipping back toward me. She immediately lunged forward, lifting the gun in her hand and slamming it down across my cheek.

I cried out, wincing through the pain of the blow.

I tugged my wrist free of the restraints as she shouted. The sharp burst of pain was worth every second of freedom.

“You did this!” she screamed, a tear running from her eye. “You started all of this, and it’s going to end with you, bitch.”

She lifted the pistol in a shaky hand and pointed it to me. I jumped forward, and she stiffened, her hand going unsteady as she pulled the trigger. My momentum pulled me from the path of the gunshot as I lifted my arms and tackled her to the ground, the rope falling away entirely.

Aelita felt so small beneath me. I could hardly wrap my head around the thought of someone so tiny—someone seemingly so frail—taking so much from me. I felt like I could overpower her so easily, so how could she possibly take Silas? He was nearly as massive as Matteo. He’d been trained, and he’d defended himself from people who were much more dangerous.

She screamed and kicked up her knees, both of them colliding with my stomach and sending me launching backward with a strength I hadn’t expected from her.

I didn’t stay down long.

I leveraged myself to my feet and set myself up for a roundhouse kick. My foot collided with her hand, and the gun went flying across the room as I lifted my fists. It was instinct to fall into a defensive position, and it paid off as she threw herself at me with a bony fist extended. My forearm caught it easily, and I launched a more powerful blow at her face.

“You fucking cunt!”

Her angered, erratic scream rang through my ears as she flung her body forward, limbs flailing in a way that showed no control. She would kill me. I had no doubt that, given the first chance, she’d watch the life drain from my eyes remorselessly. She thought I was the reason for all her pain and heartache.

She thought I’d killed her brother, and she wanted to kill me for revenge.

But she had killed my brother, and I couldn’t let that go unanswered.

My attention veered around the room just long enough to take in a cup of supplies on the wooden desk, and I ground my teeth as I pushed my body forward. I took a hit to my shoulder before sending a round of punches into her face and neck.

She fell back with a cry.

It gave me enough time to grab a pair of scissors from the table and duck away from her next advance.

Aelita wasn’t thinking. She was too enraged. Too set on killing me.

“You took everything from me!” she shouted again, tears streaming down her face.

“And you killed my brother to pay me back!” I shouted back. “You know the ways of our people. An eye for an eye. But you took more than you were owed.”

She reached forward and wrapped a fist in my hair, jerking my head back as she grabbed a pocketknife and flipped the blade open.

I slammed the scissors into her stomach, using all my strength to plunge them upward. The guttural sound that left her lips made my stomach turn. Blood slithered through my fingertips as I held my grip firmly on the scissors buried in her flesh.

She pulled her body backward, and the scissors skidded across her skin as she fell away from me, tears streaming down her face as she gasped and placed a hand over the wound.

Gunfire exploded outside the building, and I flinched.

I prayed this was all a part of the plan. I hoped that Matteo had brought an army to take out as many of these people as possible.

I didn’t allow myself to think about Matteo’s plan anymore as I refocused on Aelita and where she sat. I needed to focus on this.

Aelita glanced toward the window before shooting her gaze back to me. When her eyes met mine, my heart skipped a beat.

Rage.

Pure, undiluted rage rested there.

I watched as her fingers went white on her pocketknife, and she threw herself at me faster than I could move. I raised the scissors again, but she grabbed my wrist and slammed it into the ground as my body fell back beneath her weight.

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