Page 16 of All the Dangerous Things

I grabbed the burner cell out of my purse with shaky fingers and dialed. Though my second eldest brother was pretty unhinged and known as being a sociopath, I’d probably be able to reason with him more than with Dmitry.

It only rang twice before the caller picked up. There was a heartbeat of heavy, hard silence, and I closed my eyes, resting my head back against the seat and bracing myself.

“I’m on the way back to my apartment,” I said with a steady voice, surprising myself that it wasn’t shaking—although it sounded hoarse and nothing like me. “So just meet me there.”

The fact that he stayed so quiet scared the hell out of me.

“If you’re not there in fifteen minutes, Tati, I’m going to fucking lose it. Do you understand?” Nikolai’s voice was calm and even as hell despite his words.

He was pissed the fuck off.

I swallowed and rubbed my eyes, knowing my brothers would never hurt me, but I also knew, in order to get their frustration out, they’d leave a pile of bodies in their wake.

“I’ll be there.” I hung up before he could say anything else, which was probably the worst thing I could’ve done in this situation. I wanted to save my voice, but I also didn’t want to talk about it at all.

I didn’t want to feel his anger and disappointment and worry. And I knew that’s what all this stemmed from. My brothers had been worried about me.

I caused that.

“I have to be home in fifteen minutes,” I whispered to the driver, not elaborating, but if he worked for Gio, he knew not to ask questions.

I opened my eyes to see him glance at me in the rearview mirror. He gave me a slight nod, and I felt the car accelerate.

All hell was about to break loose, and I was right in the center of it.

Shit.

7

GIO

THE PAST

I’d made a deal with the devil and was marrying off my youngest sister, Claudia.

My father had done the same to my sister Amara.

Shit had come full circle. I was officially no better than dear old Dad.

Claudia stared at me with her mouth hanging open. Her expression was one of pure shock and hot, unadulterated anger.

Good. I could deal with her rage and hatred. I was familiar with it.

I noticed how she curled her little hands into fists and pinched her lips tightly together.

She wanted to say a whole lot but kept her thoughts to herself and just glared at me.

So I glared right back.

But the truth was, no matter how pissed I was, no matter how much I kept that wall of indifference up, I felt… regret. My apathy hid a lot of shit, but I knew Claudia could see the truth in my eyes.

“I won’t do it.”

Her defiance created an instant reaction in me.

A muscle in my jaw ticked as I ground my back molars. I leaned back, the leather of the chair making a soft sound from the shift of my weight and position. With my hands on the arms of the chair, my fingers drumming on the surface, I said nothing and just stared at her.

She shook her head and said again, “I won’t do it, Gio. You can’t make me. I’m almost twenty years old.” I could have chuckled from the way she said that, as if her chest was puffed up from her inner strength. “I’m an adult. You aren’t my parent or legal guardian. You are not Father.” The last part was a whispered plea.

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