Page 51 of Bound to the Mafia King

“I need to get her out of here. I have the jet ready for Spain and we will lay low in a…” Valerio’s voice faded into the background and my internal voice took center stage.

My brother had asked me one thing. It hadn’t been a small thing, but it had been just one. He wanted us to retain our honor and rebuild our Empire. But I had chosen this exact moment to be selfish. The one time in my life when I wanted to choose me, it cost me the last remaining family I had left.

Had it truly been worth it, or had I just made the worst decision of my life?

Chapter Twenty

Anastasia

Everything moved so quickly, I hardly had time to recall everything that had happened. One second, we were in the study, and the next, we were on our way to the tarmac. My mind was going a million miles a minute. The scene that had unfolded in the study played in my mind over and over again, stopping frame by frame to truly assess what the fuck had just happened.

I vaguely remember speaking to Savina and her hugging me before placing me into the car.

I knew that it was bad because she looked a little flustered. And Savina Valdez didnotget flustered. She was the Ice Queen for a reason.

Fuck.

I had dismantled years of work my brother had put together in a matter of seconds. He knew that I wasn't a virgin. To make matters worse, he was probably presuming Valerio was the reason, which wasn’t true. I had lost my virtue long before I had given myself to Valerio, but it didn’t matter. I had just cost my family everything.

If I hadn’t been sitting, I would have collapsed.

The trip to the airport was spent in silence. When Valerio opened the door so I could get out of the car and onto the jet, I didn't utter a single word. But that was simply because I was waiting until we were locked away on the aircraft and he couldn’t run away from me. I needed answers. He couldn’t just leave for two weeks without a trace and then come back and suddenly blow up my life.

He didn't get to do that to me.

War. The one thing I had tried so hard to avoid had finally found its way to my doorstep.

My blood curdled as I thought of all the lives that were likely to be lost. I had always wanted to be selfish and to do things for myself. But why was it that, when I chose myself, it meant that others needed to suffer?

Valerio helped me into the aircraft that had been waiting for us. I allowed him to buckle me into my seat for take-off and set there locked in with shock, unable to say or express the chaos and uncertainty that riddled my body. All the while I felt his eyes on me. They pierced right into my soul and tried to peel away at my protective layer.

We had only reached peak altitude for a minute before he finally broke the thick silence. “Your silence is scaring me,cielo.”

“Iam scaring you?” My voice was hoarse from my dry throat. I tried to clear it away, but it did nothing to soothe it. “I need some water.”

I unbuckled my belt and got up from my seat to make my way to the galley. I only managed to take half a step before he grabbed my arm in his seat.

“Let me go, Valerio.” The shock had waned away now, and all that remained was the anger and the hurt that he had left me to deal with.

“Talk to me,cielo.”

That name… it was like a blade to my skin. What was once a unique sentiment only caused a subtle ache to move through my entire body now.

“I don’t want to talk to you.” I tried to pull my arm away, but he only held onto me tighter. “Valerio!”

“Then scream.” He stepped up toward me. “Then scream at me, Anastasia. Kick, scream and even punch me if you must. I don’t fucking care, as long as you speak to me.”

“I put my brother’s life on the line! I just signed his death sentence, and for what? For a man who doesn’t even want me!” I ripped my arm from his hold and allowed the hurt to pour into me. “Sergei could be hunting down my brother as we speak. I can't relax and calm down. My world has essentially turned to shit, and all you can do is stand and say, ‘Speak to me?’. You broke me when you left, Valerio. You told me to trust you, and look at what happened because of that.” My vocal cords squeezed when I said the last part. “I let you in. I broke my walls down for you.”

Him leaving had done more damage than I cared to admit. It left me feeling abandoned and forgotten. I was simply but an afterthought, someone he didn’t care to take with him.

I was being dramatic, I knew, but when you have been treated like a pawn in a game of power and thrones your whole life, every little thing made you feel disposable. He had been the first man to make me feel seen. To make me feel important. I had been told by my brother many times over that I was an important part of restoring our family’s legacy, so why did I feel like I was a disposable piece on his board?

“Cielo…”

“No, Valerio. I’m tired of you only giving me little crumbs of information. I want to know the whole truth now. I deserve that much from you.”

“Can we talk about this later? Let me just hold you, please.” He reached for me again, but I pulled away. The last thing I wanted was to refuse his touch, but I knew I had to.

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