Page 57 of Savage Obsession

And with every word that leaves her mouth, my rage grows.

“Lazaro has always been… ambitious,” she begins. “But in the past few years, it’s become something darker. He’s not satisfied with being a respected name in the organization. He wants more—power, status, influence.”

She pauses before adding, “He doesn’t just want to be a notable member of theElliniki. He wants to be tied to the leading family.”

A muscle in my jaw ticks.

“He wanted Bella to be your wife,” she continues, her voice tight. “He pushed her to stay in a relationship with you, even when it was clear you had no intention of making it permanent. Or that you even wanted her.”

I turn to Bella again. “And you went along with it?”

She swallows hard. “I thought… I thought if I could just get you to see me, really see me, you’d change your mind. And in turn, I'll make my father proud for once.”

I let out a dark, humorless laugh. “You thought I’d wake up one day and decide to marry you?”

She doesn’t answer.

Her mother steps in. “She didn’t have a choice.”

I drag a hand down my face. Lazaro had been forcing this—forcing Bella into my bed, forcing an alliance through marriage, forcing a position at the top.

And when I ruined his plans by marrying Yelena, he retaliated.

It all falls into place like shattered glass reforming into a blade.

Lazaro spent years positioning Bella as my only viable option. And when that failed—when I publicly rejected her in favor of a woman with more power, more connections, and more strength—he hadn’t just accepted it.

He called for war. A cold and silent war.

My unborn child was his first casualty. And will be his only victim, I swear.

My fists clench, my vision narrowing as pure rage courses through me. “He tried to kill my wife.” My voice is dangerously quiet.

Bella’s mother nods. “And if he knows we are here, if he even suspects I’ve spoken to you… he’ll kill me. And Bella too.”

I hold her gaze, searching for any trace of deceit.

I find none.

Then she says something that makes my blood run colder.

“There was supposed to be a second attack.”

Silence.

The kind that hums, charged with the promise of violence.

“What did you just say?” My voice is so low, so lethal, that Bella visibly shudders.

She swallows, hesitant. “Lazaro wasn’t going to stop with poisoning Yelena.”

A slow, deadly rage unfurls inside me.

"He is also planning to sabotage the organization's businesses, deals, and especially your relationship with the Bratva. He was pissed when war didn’t breakout between us and the Russians after the gun deal was interrupted."

I rise so suddenly that my chair scrapes against the floor. My hands slam down onto my father’s desk, rattling everything on it.

Bella’s mother flinches. Bella lets out a small gasp. Even my father watches me warily.

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