Page 3 of Ruthless Royalty

“As opposed to Rhode Island?” I ask, completely confused. “What is that supposed to mean? Of course I’ll be safe there!”

I don’t understand it. RISD is one of the best, why would thisWillow Bridge Academy be any better? Not only that, he, this man I had just met, wants to pay for my entire tuition when I already have a full ride?

I hear Nikolai chuckling. “You wouldn’t last a fucking day in Sergei’s territory?—”

“Nikolai, you are not helping,” Dmitri says in an honest to God growl and my eyes widen at the silent conversation that seems to be happening between them. Nikolai backs off with a sigh and finishes his drink in one swig.

My mother places her hand on my thigh and when I turn to look at her, she shakes her head.

“Why don’t I speak with Chiara in private,Amore,” she says, then she gets to her feet and pulls me up with her.

I’m about to protest when she shoots me a look that shuts me up immediately, then she pulls me out of the room by my arm. Deciding to just let her lead me, I seethe quietly and wait for her to explain what the hell is going on.

We make our way up a flight of stairs and what feels like an eternity later, she opens a door and we walk inside. It’s only when I spot my luggage by the bed that I realize this must be my bedroom.

You can literally fit my London flat in this bedroom. What the hell. How has my mother gotten used to all this wealth? It feels like too much of everything and it makes no sense to me.

“This will be your bedroom, if you’d like,” she says with her back to me before she turns around. “I know you have questions?—”

“Mom, what the hell is going on? Where did you meet this man? Who is he and why … What is all this?” I ask, waving around the room to emphasize. “I don’t understand!”

I watch her, the woman I got my dark, unruly curls and green eyes from, and I see her resolve settle. A part of me knows she wasworried about what I would say when I saw how she has been living. She sighs and gestures for us to sit down on the bed, and yet again, I follow her.

“Chiara,” she starts and takes my hand. “You need to keep an open mind with what I’m about to tell you, okay? You need to understand that this was the last thing I wanted, but Dmitri and I do love each other very much.”

I nod slowly. “Okay, this is freaking me out even more, but I’ll keep an open mind,” I say and give her hand a squeeze.

God, I’m scared. What the hell is my mom hiding?

“Dmitri and I met at a function for the hospital where he was one of the donors to a specific fund I was overseeing. I knew he was an important man back then, I just didn’t realize how powerful he actually was. When I found out later on that he was Pakhan of the Bratva and I tried to call it off between us, he gave me the space I needed to come to terms with everything. He didn’t push me at all, and after a while I realized that despite knowing what and who he was, that I still loved him.”

I frown at her words. “I don’t understand?—”

“Dmitri is a powerful man, Chiara. A powerful man many would love to see brought down by any means possible. It’s the main reason he wants to send you to a school where he knows you’d be safe from those who want to do him harm. They all know that he’s married to me and will definitely try to get to him by using you.”

The urgency in her voice does nothing to quell my worry, but nothing she’s saying is making sense to me. Dmitri is a powerful man? Wait, what did she say he was, a Pakhan? What the hell is that, anyway?

“Mom, what exactly are you trying to tell me? What makes him so powerful that people would use someone like me?”

“Not someone like you; his step-daughter,” she explains, thenshe places her hands on my shoulders. “Chiara … Dmitri is a Pakhan?—”

“Yes, you’ve said that but I have no idea what that is!” I interject, getting completely annoyed with her being so vague. What could possibly be so bad that she can’t spit out what’s going on?

She bites her bottom lip again, then she breathes out a sigh of resignation. “He’s the head of the Russian Mafia, Chiara.”

CHIARA

I’m sure I must have misheard my mother, because there’s no fucking way she just told me my step-dad is part of the Russian Mob. Wait, no. Not part of the Russian Mob, but the head? The actual leader of a criminal organization?

Oh, my God. I’m going to die, aren’t I?

My mother looks at me as I silently spiral. I’m sure to her it looks like I’m not affected when in actual fact I am completely losing my shit. On the inside.

“Chiara? Please say something?”

I blink and my eyes come into focus again, realizing I’ve probably been staring at my mom for too long without saying something. Then again, I’m scared when I open my mouth nothing will come out but a high pitched shriek.

“He’s … You married a criminal,” I finally say, blinking too fast again. “Mom, you married a … Oh my God!”

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