Page 74 of Ruthless Vow

Hot tears streak down my cheeks as I stare up at her.

And as I do, I realize that I cannot trust a single thing she says. She twists the truth to suit her purposes. She twisted my loyalty, my love, to suit her purposes. Telling me Sofia is dead turn my own emotions against me.

But Leo’s intel says Sofia is alive.

I push to my feet, glaring at her. “I don’t believe you,” I say.

She looks startled for an instant, then her gaze shifts to my left as Leo chooses that moment to emerge from the shadows of a large gravestone.

Bianca looks shocked. Appalled. Even confused. “You told him.”

She didn’t expect that. She still thought that even after everything she’s done, I was nothing other than her pawn.

“Of course I told him, you fucking bitch,” I say.

“So,” Leo says. “You’re Bianca Moretti.”

With that dark tone, that dark look, I swear, anyone else would be shaking in their boots to be faced with Leo and his formidable reputation as someone that nobody fucks with. But Bianca is showing an almost smug satisfaction. I watch her, wary.

She sweeps her gaze up and down his form. “Leonardo Russo. We finally meet.”

“She says Sofia is dead.” Even though I don’t believe my aunt, my voice catches on the last word.

“Why do I doubt you’d so quickly remove the one tool you have for controlling Nicole’s actions?” Leo asks softly. “No, I think Sofia’s still alive.”

Bianca’s gaze flicks from me to Leo and back again. Her shoulders are tense, her hands thrust in the pockets of her coat.

“Nicole,” she says. “You can make this right. Whatever Leo has told you, whatever he’s promised you is only lies. He’s using you every bit as much as I ever have. Do you think he could ever trust you after what you did? No. The only place for you now is with me. Me and Sofia. Come. Come here.” She holds out her left hand toward me, beckoning me like she would beckon a dog.

“First, you say Sofia is dead. And now you say she’s alive?” I say, my tone incredulous. Rage and hate boil in my veins, but I take a page from Leo’s book. I master my emotions, I force myself to stay calm. “First, you wants me dead, and now you want me back? You try to kill me, then say my place is with you? You are wrong. So very wrong.”

But she’s right about one thing—Leo won’t trust me again. Not fully, not like he used to. I might be sharing his bed, his house, but there’s always something there between us. A brick wall that might never crumble.

“Come with me,” Bianca says. “Let’s end this charade, once and for all.”

“Fuck you,” I tell her.

Her brow raises. “You used to be so eloquent. A pity, really.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Leo says. “This ends here, tonight.”

“You’re right,” she replies. “It does.”

Despite the shadows and darkness, I see the movement of her right hand, the shape of something in her pocket. And I know she’s going to kill him.

A cry catches in my throat. “Bianca, no!”

I throw myself in front of Leo as the sound of a shot echoes in the night.

25

Leo

Time slowsto a crawl and I feel like I’m watching events in freeze-frame detail. Nicole cries out and her body jerks a millisecond after the gunshot, her arms jerking up reflexively as she stumbles back. Her face contorts in shock and pain. I catch her as her legs give way, holding her against me as I spin so my back is to Bianca, my body protecting Nicole from another shot.

Just as she protected me.

I hear a mechanical clack, but not the sound of a round being chambered. I spare a glance for Bianca, who stands with her pistol aimed at my head.

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