Page 43 of Claimed Bratva Virgin

“But it is when the bitch concerned is Colombo’s daughter. Jesus, Rafa. I don’t care who you fuck, but I care about who’ll get the chance to fuck with us.”

If I threatened to cut his tongue for referring to her as a bitch, he wouldn’t flinch, and it would only fuel his urge to call me out on my bullshit.

I combed my hair with my fingers to distract myself.

“An alliance was what brought her to you, and that should be the focus.”

“Thatisthe focus.”

It was just one fucking night. Christ. Having Andrei breathing down my neck made it seem like we’d been sneaking around the outfit for months.

“I call bullshit, Rafa. The Italian is a distraction. I know you’ll probably make me regret saying this, but I’ll say it anyway, and I’ll say it once: Get your shit together and smell the coffee. You can’t afford to get attached. Once again, she’sItalian.” The pronouncement came out like a curse, and his disdain was palpable. “They’re only loyal to their kin. You, me, or anyone else? We’re nothing to them. Just pawns in their little games.

I frowned but said nothing, my jaw tightening while I let him talk.

“Besides,” he continued, a little lower, “the smart thing to do would be using her. Wipe out the entire Colombo clan after you deal with Luca. Isn’t that why you’re fucking her?”

My fingers flexed with the need to punch something. I hated how effortlessly he laid out the cold logic of it all.

A knot tightened in my chest. “I’ll handle it.”

“Stay realistic.”

“Fuck you, too.”

I almost saw his smirk before the line went dead.

I glanced back at the room, allowing my gaze to linger on her peaceful form as she slept. Her chest rose and fell with each quiet breath. She looked so innocent, so unaware of the storm brewing just outside the walls that sheltered her.

But Andrei was right.

The Italian princess was anything but innocent.

I couldn’t afford to let my guard down, not now, not ever. I tore my eyes away and headed straight for the showers. My resolve hardened with every step.

There was no room for mistakes, not even for her.

Chapter 12 – Leonora

Seven weeks, five days, and seven—now,eighthours. But who was counting?

I didn’t miss him. I didn’t miss the way his scent lingered in my clothes, in my very soul, wrapping around me when I least expected it. I didn’t miss the way it clung to my skin, dragging memories of that stupid night that I wanted to bury to the surface.

No, I didn’t miss him. Not the way his presence followed me everywhere, reminding me of his hot breath on my skin or the profanities he filled my ears with. Or the way every leather and musk scent infuriatingly reminded me of him.

Orthe way his absence now gnawed at the edges of my resolve.

But I refused to acknowledge it, refused to admit that a part of me still yearned for him, still craved the intoxicating rush of being near him.

I couldn’t.

And yet, every breath I took betrayed me, aching for something I swore I was better off without.

Even if I felt it deep down in my bones that Rafayel intentionally avoided me, it was better this way. I could breathe again, think properly again, without having him mess with my head or cloud me with his essence.

We were enemies—enemies who somehow needed each other and had formed an alliance. And thatwas what mattered, the alliance and nothing else. Or so I tried to convince myself.

He'd said it, hadn’t he? It was for one night only. And he kept to his word. I woke up that morning, and he was gone. With no note to explain anything, I got the message loud and clear.

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