Page 48 of Bound to the Mafia King

“I’ve looked up to you for some time. We are both women, and yet you have managed to make peace with the darkness that surrounds you, and you not only found your voice, but you also sit at the helm of the ship.” I wished that I could be what she was. “I’m not like you. I wish I could be, but I’m not. I was never built for this world, and I told my brother that. But he wants to restore honor to our family. This world is all we have ever known, and he can’t see himself existing outside of it. Whereas I can. I can see a life where I’m happy beyond the bullets and blood.”

It was easy enough to say the words that she was saying. The issue came about when it was time to act on it. Every time I thought of my marriage to Sergei, my heart just constricted in pain. Her advice was sound and practical, but I didn’t believe that I had it in me. Call me naive or foolish, but I dreamed of a fairytale ending where I got to ride off into the sunset. I didn't want to settle for this world.

Yet he still lived in this world. He thrived in it,no, he commanded it. How could I yearn for a man that existed in the very darkness I longed to leave?

“Have you heard from him?” The question left my lips without my full consent.

Her eyes softened. “No. He’s gone off the grid.”

My heart deflated.

Savina sighed and brushed the back of her hand against her daughter's head. The little bean stirred in my arms, but she didn’t wake. She lifted her gaze and connected with my eyes.

“Valerio is complicated. His past is ridden with scars that he refuses to talk about, so we have no way of helping him. But for all his faults, that man cares deeply for you. I watched him become half of the shell that he was for almost two years, and then, he met you. You were his angel, hisheaven. You offered him a peace that he had been searching for, and you filled the void that this life has left him with. I love Valerio, he is like a brother. I could see that he was in pain, and no matter what we did, we could never take it away. But in only a short life-defining moment, you healed all the broken parts of him, Anastasia. And for that, I will forever be grateful. I wish I could give you what you desire, but a war is something that my family cannot risk. Not with my children.”

I let out a low and humorless laugh. “So, you came out here to tell me that I need to lose hope for your brother-in-law? Is that why you handed me your daughter? To soften the blow?”

The side of her lips tilted upward. “I felt the news would be better received with a bundle of joy in your arms.”

I couldn’t help the small laughter that bubbled up from my chest. “I suppose so. I think I’m just?—”

My words never had the chance to leave my lips, because we were interrupted by one of the guards. We both looked up at him.

“Sorry to disturb, ma’am. You have a guest.”

“A guest?”

For some reason, my heart skipped a beat. The same dread I had been feeling the past week and a half settled into my belly.

“Sergei.”

Fuck.

What was he doing here?

Chapter Nineteen

Anastasia

Isat in my chair in silence as my fiancé stared me down from his seat on the opposite side of the armchair. His glacier eyes pierced right into my soul. Savina sat on the loveseat with her husband, looking like the cool and collected Mafia King and Queen they were. Savina had refined her previous look and now wore a suit and had her hair slicked back into a tight bun.

She was all business now, and I had to say that I admired the shift that she was able to pull off.

“I would like to welcome you to my home, Sergei. I trust your trip back to the States went well?” Savina offered the olive branch to him first.

However, Sergei ignored her and continued to look at me. His eyes roamed my body, but not in an appreciative manner. This was more like he was assessing me, to see if anything had been broken on his property.

“You've gotten fat.” His voice cut through the thick silence. “When I gave her to you to keep, I did not say you should overfeed her. I don't want a fat wife.”

His words were meant to cut me, but instead, they rolled over me like water. The girl I had been before had been ridden with depression and anxiety about failing my family. After I lost my child, I felt like I had nothing left to live for. I had been stripped of my hope and all that remained was a shell of who I was. It was easier to play the part that he wanted me to play then. But not now.

“I think she looks healthier,” Savina quipped. “Far better than the skin and bones you left to me months ago.”

Sergei scowled. “Your opinion is irrelevant, and I was not speaking to you. I was speaking to the man.”

Andres glared at the man who disrespected his wife. “Careful, Sergei. I do not take kindly to disrespecting my wife or my guests.”

Sergei rolled his eyes, unphased by the warning. “No matter. Pack your bags, Anastasia. Your brother and I agree. You will come and live with me until the wedding. I don't like having you here. Your virtue is far more important to me.”

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