Page 52 of Bound to the Mafia King

“No. We need to talk about thisnow. I can't keep doing this damned back and forth with you, Valerio.” My heart wanted to scream the three words I had locked inside of myself for weeks, but I kept them down. I needed to restrain myself. “You left me. Don’t you get that? You left me to fend for myself without a single trace. I called and texted, wondering when you would be back, or if you would ever come back for me.”

“How could I not come back for you?” He reached for me, but I pulled away. The pained look was enough to have my resolve cracking, but I held my ground. “I meant what I said. I needed to come up with a plan, and that meant that I needed to leave.”

“You should have told me.”

He scratched the back of his head. “I know, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I was just—fuck. I’m not good at this feelings shit,cielo. I don’t know how to say what is inside so that you can understand. My words mix themselves up and then… then the fear kicks in. I am a fuck-up, I know I am. I have more scars on me than I care to admit. I am impulsive, hot headed, and I can be dark, and you… you are all things light and good. You are the very best that this world has to offer, and I don’t deserve you, but I’m a selfish motherfucker and I can’t stand the thought of any other man claiming you when you belong to me. I meant what I said when I said that we are inevitable. In every lifetime, every universe, every season, it will always be you and me.”

The wire that I had placed over my heart slowly began falling away. I held onto whatever little resolve I had left in me. The truth was that I wanted this man. I had wanted this man from the moment I’d first seen him. But the fear of stepping out of line again kept me rooted to my spot.

“Where were you?” I needed to know. I was done with men always telling me to trust them and just follow them with blind faith. I needed answers.

“I went to see his uncle,” he said. “Sergei isn’t the true head of his family, and joining with your brother was only meant to legitimize his claim for his family throne. The man is crooked. His Uncle Alex was meant to take over, but he was blindsided by his nephew, who took over and forced him to leave America and head back home to Russia where he recuperated and began to rebuild. Sergei knows the danger his uncle poses, and he is going to use it to make sure that he can keep his family empire. You and your brother were simply a ploy in his plan to secure his legacy.”

I remained silent, just trying to digest all the words he was telling me. It was a lot to take in, but at least he was finally telling me the truth. I didn't want to be left in the dark like I wasn't a part of this whole thing.

“So, what does that mean?”

“It means that with your union no longer happening, his uncle will come to collect what has been stolen from him.”

“You know he won't let me go willingly, right? If I am the key to him keeping what he has built, then that means he won't rest until he gets his way. He will come after me and try to marry me by force.”

“And that's why we are leaving. We need to get out of the country. My job was to tell Alex, and now what I need to do is to protect you. I have no grounds to kill Sergei, but Alex has every right. His throne was stolen, and by our Code, he can take it back. I gave him the necessary information that he needed, and now he will finish the job. We just need to make sure that we are as far away from the blast point as possible. He is on his way to Mallorca to meet us. We just need to convene and discuss howhe will go about things. I won't let anything happen to you or your brother. You have my word.”

He reached for me again, and this time, I allowed him to pull me in toward him. My arms remained at my side. I didn't even move an inch. I just allowed him to hold me.

It was only when the first tear trailed down my face that I realize I was crying. And once it tapered off the edge of my jaw, I could not stop the onslaught of tears that followed.

“Ana…” I felt the gentle press of his lips, the side of my head and the tightening of his arms around me. “You can break. I'm right here.”

His words should not have offered me comfort, but somehow, they did. They offered me a small pocket of safety where I felt like it was okay to let all my glass shatter, and he would be there holding me upright.

“It’s okay.”

Those two words were enough to have my entire world-shattering and crumbling to the floor.

I broke. In the middle of the aircraft, twenty-two thousand feet above ground, I shattered in the very arms of the man that had held the hammer to my glass.

Chapter Twenty-One

Valerio

We were six hours into our nine-hour flight. Anastasia had calmed and she had managed to sleep for two hours in her seat before she woke up. She was silent. She didn’t say much, apart from answering my questions.

I had hurt her.

That was to be expected. She had every right to be mad at me. I had let her down when I should have taken her emotions into account.

I kept staring at her, and every time, she would look my way instead of turning away.

Who knew that loving someone so deeply could bring you to the point of agony? I guessed this was the painful part of love. It was a beautiful agony to be in love.

“I have to tell you something.” Her eyes glistened under the luminescent light above me.

“I’m all ears.” I put my phone down and gave her my undivided attention.

She breathed in deeply and took in a large breath of air. She let out a shaky breath and blinked rapidly as if to try to keep her tears from watering.

“The night of the accident, I wasn’t supposed to be in Michigan.” She twiddled her fingers in her lap. “I had actually run away from home. I was on my way to Alaska, to some small town in the woods where no one would find me and my baby.”

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