Page 11 of Bound to the Mafia King

I ground my teeth, trying to bite my tongue. “Of course.”

This was what my life had become. I was nothing more than a docile, silent trophy that was simply meant to be admired and never heard. This was the life that my brother had set me up for, all in the name of family.

“Shall we?” Sergei offered me his arm, his ice-cold gaze stabbing me with sharp precision.

“We shall.” I plastered on my fake smile and threaded my arm through his.

With each step I took with him, I felt my soul die inside a little each time.

Chapter Six

Valerio

Two years. 730 days.

That was how long I had waited for this woman. I had searched for her high and low. I had exhausted all my resources just to try and find her. And even with all the millions of dollars I had spent on private investigators, sketchers, and bribing various FBI agents, I had still not found her. Only to find that she had been under my fucking nose running within the same circles as I did.

Cielo.

I sipped on my cranberry juice while I watched her and that ass wipe of a fiancé move through the room. Sergei was a sleeve. No one in our line of work was a saint, not by a long shot, but there were lines that even we never crossed. Child trafficking was most definitely one of them. But if that wasn’t bad enough, there were rumors of the man getting into the organ smuggling industry.

Danill was an idiot. How could he put his ‘beloved sister’ in harm's way like that? Danill’s father had been deeply embeddedin the Russian syndicate before Savina’s father had to put a stop to him. It was not a surprise that he had been ostracized from society. But if he wanted to rebrand his family, this was not the way to do it.

I watched the way Sergei had her glued to his side. He was a possessive little twat, but he also seemed to be parading her around like a trophy. And I could not fault the man there. Anastasia was the diamond of the ball. All eyes gravitated toward her without even truly trying. She had this captivating energy.

“Brother.” Andres came up beside me. “Would you like to tell me why you have been looking at Danill’s sister like she is your last meal on this Earth?”

I sipped on my juice, ignoring him.

“Silent treatment? Surely, we are above that?” When I didn’t respond, he sighed dramatically. “Must you always behave like a child?”

“Yes,” I quipped. “Why did you invite Sergei?”

“My wife,” was his simple answer. “She wants to make a show of this gala. As you well know, this is simply just a statement party. We need to still show that we are the Family that remains on top.”

“The King and Queen of the streets of New York.” I drawled.

“And beyond.” He chuckled under his breath, taking a sip of his drink. “I am less than pleased having him here, but we cannot deny the pull that he has within the Russian community. The Irish are still a problem, and the tensions seem to be getting more intense with each passing day. Savina wants to avoid an all-out war, but I don’t really give a fuck. Eradicate them all, for all I car.”

“Careful, brother. You are starting to sound like a xenophobe.”

My brother rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean. The issue is we keep trying to cut off their heads, but they are like a Hydra. You cut off one head and then two more grow in its place. We must pierce the beast from the heart.”

I remained quiet. My eyes stayed trained on Anastasia. I watched the way she interacted with people as she continued to be paraded around like a champion horse. She had that smile of hers plastered on her face, but it didn’t reach her eyes the way I imagined it to be. But my God, was she ethereal. She had this air about her that made her seem unworldly, like she was a different breed of woman that had never existed before.

“She is taken, Valerio.” My brother interrupted my thoughts. “I know that look on your face. You cannot have her. She is not yours.”

I tore my gaze from Anastasia and looked at my brother. “And who says I want her? I’m simply looking at Sergei. Is it not my job to analyze threats? Your wife just invited a cobra into the rabbit hole.”

His eyes pulled together, not appreciating my little remark. He downed his drink and excused himself to head over to Savina, who was talking to some of the other guests. Had my sister-in-law not been in the crime world, she would have made a brilliant politician. The way she schmoozed people was an art form that many presidents hoped to master.

Anastasia’s eyes briefly flicked my way before she snapped her gaze back to the small group she was speaking with. I didn’t miss the small flash of something in her eyes.

Oh,cielo, our little game had only begun. She wanted to run, but the problem with that was that Ilovedto chase. No matter how far away she wanted to roam, I would find her, and I would make her mine. Sergei was simply a small little hiccup that I had to overcome.

“As I live and breathe, Valerio Valdez.”That voice. As a boy, it had haunted me and had been one of the recurring roles in my nightmares. Vance Leamen walked toward me with that disgusting yellow-stained smile. His eyes locked in on mine but, for some reason, he was not as menacing as he had been when I was just a boy.

“Vance.” I gripped the glass tightly in my hand, so much so that I thought it would shatter in my hand from how tight it was. “Looks like Savina is letting anyone in these days.”

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