Page 33 of Bound to the Mafia King

That was the truth of the matter. She was my newest addiction, and I was hooked on her like crack.

The same way that the lines had helped to calm the noise in my head, she did the same to me with her presence. I had traded one lethal substance for an even deadlier woman.

Savina pinched the bridge of her nose. “Enough now, I'm tired of these little games you want to play. I don’t care if you two had a history in the past, leave her alone. Your darkness will consume her, Valerio.”

“Excuse me?”

“You can try and fool your brother, but you can’t fool me. I see you. I was you once upon a time. I just didn’t have an addiction problem.” She stared into the very depths of my soul. “That girl is all things light and pure, no matter how much of a brave facade she wants to put on. She isn’t like us. She isn’t built for this world; she can’t hold the darkness the way we can. If you continue to do what you're doing, you will kill her.”

My lips parted.

“Leave her alone, Rio. Go fuck some prostitutes if you must, but leave that poor girl alone. She is already suffering from being used as a pawn by her brother. You can't risk her being found out by Sergei. He will kill her if he even senses another man has touched her.”

The mention of his name made me murderous. I didn’t like that little shit, and I never would. She deserved better than what her brother was getting her into.

“Noted.” This was the first time I was acknowledging her direct concerns. “Now, if you will excuse me.”

This time she allowed me to walk past her and make my way out of the gym.

I walked up the stairs of the basement and made my way to my room again. I had just walked past the kitchen when I caught a glimpse of her. She was on the front porch, stretching out her body.

I paused and observed her for a moment. My sister-in-law’s words screamed in my head loudly, but I couldn’t hear those cries above my own.

I wanted this woman, terribly so, and I felt this possessiveness over her that I had never felt before in my life. But maybe that had to do with the fact that I was addicted to her.

She was my new drug and that made her dangerous. But I craved danger the way a man in drought craved water.

I was in deep waters, and I couldn’t give a fuck less about it.

Chapter Thirteen

Anastasia

Dinner was a silent affair. The tension was so thick in the air that you could cut it with a knife. No one spoke, the only sound that could be heard was the clinking of the cutlery against the plates. There was a frosty chill in the air. Every time I looked up, Savina would be looking at her husband while he was momentarily distracted. Then, when she looked away, Andres would be looking at her.

You could quite literally feel the tension between them. I guess that was what marriage was at times: you would fight with your spouse and not know how to communicate. Well, at least for healthy marriages. There weren’t many of those in the world, today. You didn’t even need to look far within the normal world. Love had become such a tainted thing. It had been twisted and corrupted into something that was never intended to be what it was.

Love was not hardships and strife. It was meant to be soft, warm, and kind. It was meant to be a safe haven, not a battlefield.

I poked at my steak, my appetite forgotten and my mind hyper-fixated on the man before me. I had been stealing glances at him every so often, and not once had I caught his eye.

It shouldn’t bother me, but it did. I was used to his gaze following me.

I had crossed a line. That bathroom moment was a big no that I should have never let happen. I had told myself repeatedly to keep my distance. But I had let that man put his mouth on my…

“No,” I gasped before I slammed my fork down. The intrusive images played in my mind like a movie on repeat.

All eyes at the table turned to me. I could see the varying looks. Savina looked concerned, Andres looked like he couldn’t care less, and Valerio… well, he looked passive.

There was no emotion in his eyes. I didn’t know what it was, but something was different about him.

Something was off. I just couldn’t quite place what it was.

He had not looked me in the eyes since he had sat by the table. I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss his constant gaze. In the beginning it was unnerving, but over time, I had started to find comfort in his stare. It was as if I was never alone.

“Are you okay?” Savina asked.

I nodded, the heat rising to my cheeks as the embarrassment seeped into my blood. “Sorry, I think I just got a chill.”

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