Page 120 of Sinful Lies

“You’re going to regret making a deal with a Koslov,ragazza.” He turns his back on me and heads for the door.

“Dimitri loves me!” I sob, my eyes swimming with tears as I lunge for the door.

“Don’t fuckinglie!” Massimo roars, spinning around and striking me across the face with the back of his hand.

My head whips to the side, and I stumble, collapsing against the table as I clutch my cheek.

“I heard the truth from your own fucking lips. You were stupid to get on the wrong side of Giovanni Saccone.”

I can barely catch a breath as I push myself off the table and look over at Massimo.

“You truly thought he would let Dimitri get away with what he did? I thought you were meant to be clever.”

I frown, not understanding what he’s saying.

DoesGiovanni know Massimo?

“Saccone said he could get me proof of Dimitri’s deception in exchange for protection. I had him plant a bug underneath your desk and low and behold you admitted the full truth almost instantly. You threw your husband to the wolves without so much as a second thought. Though I knew Dimitri was never going to let Giovanni off the hook, so it was a win-win for me. I got the truth at last, plus I didn’t have to waste good men on a snake like Saccone.”

My stomach sinks, remembering the very conversation I had with Bianca where the truth came spilling out. I couldn’t bear to lie anymore, and my weakness is going to cost Dimitri everything.

“You only have yourself to blame for what happens to Dimitri. If you’d only kept your mouth shut…”

Bile burns my throat at the thought of him laying a hand on Dimitri—the man who has fought so hard to keep me safe…

I wish I could have done the same for him.

“So,ragazza, Dimitri is going to marry Lucia at last, and you’re going to help me.”

“H-he won’t. He loves me.”

“That will only work in my favor. You will be…an incentive. Perhaps once he sees the woman he loves being tortured, he’ll have a change of heart.”

“No,” I breathe, my hands moving to my abdomen. “Please, you can’t do this.”

“I can, and I will,ragazza. I’m not going to stop until Dimitri agrees to marry my daughter.”

A whimper escapes me as I try to imagine what he’s going to do to me.

I’ve been here before, and I barely survived. I know all too well what men like Massimo are capable of, and I have no doubt that he will take great pleasure in seeing my blood on his hands.

I’m not going to survive this, but Dimitri will. As much as he will hate to marry Lucia, he can at least walk away and move on from this. My weakness doesn’t have to be his downfall.

“What will you do with me once this is over?” Tears fill my eyes.

“Once I have what I want, I won’t make you suffer anymore. Despite what you might think, I'm not a complete monster. I’ll kill you quickly.” He says it so casually, as if he’s done it a thousand times before.

Massimo slams the door shut behind him, and I sink to the floor as he turns the key in the lock. I hug my knees to my chest as tears stream down my face.

My eyes flutter closed as the breath leaves my lungs.

This is how it ends.

I won’t have my happily ever after, but perhaps Dimitri can one day have his.

Just not with me.

29

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