Page 31 of Bound By You

A tear leaks down my cheek, and he wipes it away.

"I love you, Phoebe. Do I hate that you've slept with someone else? Fuck yes, but I'm choosing to look past it because of how shitty I've been to you. I deserve the punishment of knowing someone else touched what was mine."

I suck in a breath; he still thinks I've slept with someone else.

I clear my throat about to tell him the truth when he talks again, "I want to try again. There are no other people involved, just you and me. I'll travel back and forth, so you don't have to leave here. I'll put a tracker on my phone so that. when I'm not with you, you can see where I am at all times. I'll keep you updated until you can learn to trust me again. Please, sweetheart, don't make me call my mother, because I will. I don't care that she's on a cruise." I giggle, then sniffle, before he leans his forehead against mine, and I sigh, hoping I don't regret my decision.

I nod, and he smiles brightly, and presses his lips gently to mine.

I feel like I'm home.

Which is a scary thought after everything he has done.

sixteen

Alexandr – One Month Later

I keep pacingback and forth,

"Al, will you sit the fuck down?" Sergi snaps; he hates it when I pace, but not telling his woman the truth about who he is is starting to get to him. I raise a brow at him, and he sighs while Damian chuckles.

"She'll be here any minute."

I sigh, knowing he's right, but don't sit down; we're in the conference room at Volkov & Co. about to have a meeting where we’ll present the proof of Mihai trafficking underage children, the scumbag. About a week after Phoebe decided to give me a chance, we met with Damian and Juan on a conference call, and we agreed to monitor Mihai, and get proof, before we strike, but keep intercepting the children.

We live by a code. For centuries, one man, a previous Don—in honor of each Familia, and a previous Pahkan—in honor of the Bratva, group together as a council. They ensure heads of each family stick to certain rules. Embezzlement from your own men is one of the sins against the code, and an act of treason, ifcommitted, that will be dealt with by death. That’s what Phoebe did with Christian. Another broken code is poaching another’s territory or selling their own product on another's territory, which is what Mihai is currently trying to do to keep the Feds off of his back. If caught, it'll look like one ofusis into human trafficking.

Today, we're meeting with them and the heads of the Irish and Greek families, but we haven't sent an invitation to Mihai.

The door opens, and the three elders enter. I see my father instantly, as well as Stefano, and an elder from the Irish, Liam, who’re all previous heads of the families. My father comes up to me and gives me a hug, while Stefano slaps me on the back, before he goes to take a seat.

My father looks at me with concern. "How are things?"

I sigh. He and mother were excited about Phoebe's willingness to give me a year. My mother thinks the Volkov charm will work again, well, she is praying it does, or apparently, she's disowning me; Phoebe's another daughter to her.

"As good as can be…she's trying."

He nods, giving me a sad smile, then takes a seat. I wasn't lying; she has been trying, though we haven't done more than a peck, she lets me hold her hand now, even though it took two weeks for her to. She's talking to me more now as well, telling me about school and her life. Apparently, after I broke that Brent guy's hand, he transferred schools. She had a twinkle in her eye when she explained. It is like we wereusagain.

Baby steps.

The door opens again, and Noah walks in with Basil behind them. Noah nods at me, slapping a hand on my shoulder, and greets Damian, while Basil comes to me and says, "How's my daughter?"

I nod. "She's doing okay."

He sighs and nods, then takes a seat. She's still refusing to sit down with him, and he's disappointed, but it's expected; he hasn't exactly been a father to her. As it stands, Selene can do no wrong in his eyes despite her trying to sell his other daughter. He was supposed to monitor her, but I don't think he is, which pisses me off even more; he's blind, and Phoebe doesn't want anything to do with him anymore.

Each man in the room has two men with them; one stands behind their family head, while the other sits beside him.

The door finally opens again, and I smile my first smile all day as my girl walks through, looking badass in her leather, showing us that the Angel of Death is present.

Just when I thought she'd ignore me because she’s donned her mask, she doesn't. She walks up to me and places a peck on my lips. I smile again and squeeze her hip. She gives me a wink, then sits next to Sergi, who will be acting as her guard today while I'll act as Damian's. We didn't bring anyone else because our building was full of our men, and about eight men line the walls inside the room. I fought Phoebe about her sitting next to Sergi. I wanted to be with her, but she stated it would make her look weak, so I folded this once.

I sit next to Damian as Sergi sits on his other side, with Phoebe next to him.

All eyes turn toward my brother, and I smirk. They all think he's taking charge of the meeting, but he is not; this is Phoebe's show. Damian smirks, too, and while I hear Sergi chuckle quietly, all the men around the table frown, looking at each other, confused.

Damian stands to get the meeting started. "Okay, gentlemen, let's start this meeting, shall we?"

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