Page 89 of Ruthless Royalty

I glare at him, the rage boiling just beneath the surface. “It’ll bring me peace.”

“Bullshit,” Connor interjects, stepping forward. “You know damn well that’s a lie. Killin' him won’t change what happened. It won’t make her feel safe again.”

I stop pacing, turning to face them, my chest heaving with barely contained fury. “Then what the fuck do you suggest I do? Just sit here and wait while that piece of shit family plots their next move? While they try to take her again?”

Nikolai walks up to me, his voice low and deadly serious. “We’re not just going to sit here. But we need to be smart about this. I kept Leo alive for this one reason—so we can get information out of him. If we’d let you at him first, he’d be dead, and we’d be in the dark.”

“I don’t need information to know what needs to be done,” I hiss.

“But you need information to know how to do it,” Nikolai counters, his eyes locking onto mine. “You want to destroy the Volkov family? Fine. But you do it with precision, with strategy. You don’t just run in guns blazing and hope for the best. That’s how you get yourself, and her, killed.”

I stare at him, my fists still clenched, the anger burning in my veins like fire. He’s right, and I fucking hatethat he’s right.

“So what’s the plan?” I finally ask, my voice still rough, still seething with anger.

Nikolai glances at Mihai and Connor before speaking.

“Our fathers have Leo in the basement. We’ll get everything out of him—who sent him, why they want her, and what their next move is. Once we have that information, we can plan our response.”

“And then I get to kill him,” I say, my tone flat, leaving no room for negotiation.

Nikolai’s lips press into a thin line, but he nods. “Once we’ve gotten what we need, he’s yours.”

The tension in the room is thick, the air heavy with the promise of violence. I know they’re all watching me, waiting to see if I’ll explode again, but I force myself to take a deep breath, to keep my focus. Chiara needs me to be calm, to be smart, and as much as I want to let the rage consume me, I can’t afford to lose control.

The door opens again, and Dmitri walks in, his knuckles still bloody, his face a mask of cold, calculated anger. There’s something in his eyes, and I know immediately that whatever he’s about to say, it’s not good.

“We got him to talk,” Dmitri says, his voice low, the words clipped and precise. “Leo was sent by the Giannini family to keep an eye on Chiara and take her when the time was right.”

“Giannini?” I repeat, confusion threading through my anger. “Why the fuck would they want her? Is this about the fucking feud?”

Dmitri’s gaze shifts to me, and I see the hesitation there, the weight of whatever he’s about to say. “There’s more, Giovanni. More than you realize.”

I don’t like the sound of that. Not one fucking bit. “What do you mean?”

Dmitri takes a deep breath, his eyes never leaving mine. “Alberto Giannini … is Chiara’s father.”

I blanch. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Her mother,” Dmitri continues, his voice steady but grim, “was involved with Alberto Giannini years ago. Chiara is the result of that relationship. Her mother ran from him while she was still pregnant, and she’s been hiding ever since.”

“No,” I say, shaking my head, refusing to believe it. “That’s not possible. Chiara would have told me if she knew.”

“She doesn’t know,” Dmitri confirms. “Her mother kept it from her, but now it’s come back to haunt her. Giannini wants to force Chiara into marrying Leo, to legitimize the Volkov family’s operations while strengthening ties with the Italian Mafia.”

I feel like the ground is shifting beneath my feet; the world spinning out of control. “So this was all a setup? From the beginning?”

Dmitri nods. “That’s why she was targeted, why Leo was sent to take her. This was all part of a plan to bring her back under Giannini’s control. They knew she would be at Willow Bridge.”

The rage I’ve been holding back roars to life, burning hotter than ever. “That bastard … He set her up. He fucking set her up!”

“We’ll take care of the Gianninis,” Dmitri says, his voice cold and deadly. “But, Giovanni, you need to take Chiara’s safety seriously. This isn’t just about you and her anymore. There are forces at play here that are bigger than both of you.”

I stare at him, my mind racing, my heart pounding in my chest. “You think I don’t know that? You think I don’t fucking understand what’s at stake?”

“I think,” Dmitri says slowly, his gaze hard, unyielding, “that you need to stop acting like this is just about revenge. Chiara’s life is on the line, Giovanni. And it’s a pity that she had to learn about this world in the worst possible way. But now that she knows, youneed to protect her. You need to make sure she understands what she’s up against.”

“I will,” I say, my voice a low growl. “I’ll protect her, no matter what. But I’m not letting this go, Dmitri. I’m going to make sure the Giannini’s pay for this. For every second of fear they put her through, for every fucking moment they made her suffer, they’re going to pay.”

---