Page 78 of Forced Bratva Bride

Dino handed the photos back without comment, but I caught him looking at them again later.

My final piece of evidence was the most direct: news clippings about safety initiatives in low-income areas under Lebedev control. Improved street lighting, security patrols, and women's self-defense classes sponsored by the local business community—all Lebedev work. I left them on Carlo's desk, knowing he'd read anything that resembled news.

“Interesting tactics,” he said that evening, finding me in the library. “The Lebedevs playing community heroes.”

“It's not play-acting if it actually helps people,” I pointed out.

Carlo studied me for a long moment. “You really care about him, don't you?”

I didn't answer, which was answer enough.

He sighed. “Larissa, even if this Giovanni has some redeeming qualities, he's still our enemy. There's blood on his hands, just like there's blood on ours. That's the world we live in.”

“Maybe it doesn't have to be,” I ventured. “Maybe there's a way our families could—”

“No,” Carlo cut me off firmly. “Some rivalries run too deep. I'm sorry.”

A week passed, and the hole in my chest only grew larger. My little campaign had softened Carlo and Dino somewhat, they no longer spat the Lebedev name like a curse, but they remained unconvinced that any real peace was possible. And Gastone only seemed to grow more hostile, as if sensing my silent rebellion.

But it was the lie that weighed heaviest on me. Every time I remembered Gio's face as I told him he meant nothing, I felt sick. He deserved the truth, even if nothing could come of us.

He had asked that we meet face-to-face. I had turned him down, but the truth was I needed to see him as much as I needed to breathe. I’d been without him for two weeks now, and I couldn’t take it any longer.

It was almost like I was a woman addicted, and he was my drug somewhere out there in the world, waiting to be found.

That night, I lay awake until everyone was in bed. Sometime past midnight, I slipped out of bed and changed into black jeans and a dark sweater that could blend into shadows.

I didn’t have a concrete plan, but whatever plan I had was simple. I would go to Gio’s, tell him the truth so we could both heal with love, and then come back home. I knew he’d fight me, insisting on bringing an army to get me back, but somehow I had to convince him not to do that.

No matter how angry I felt at my brothers, I didn’t want to see them injured in battle, or worse.

My only agenda was to see Gio and kiss him goodbye, to tell him I hadn't meant those cruel words. That I ended things to protect him, not because I didn't care.

The memory of that last kiss alone, I thought to myself with tearful eyes as I cradled my belly, would be enough to get us through the pain of not having him in the future.

Getting past the security system was easy. I'd watched Carlo reset it enough times to figure out the code, which he usually rotated every four months. The guards at this hour were usually scarce and mostly slept. The night air hit my face as I slid into the lawn and ran to the side gate, sliding out. The street was empty, eerily quiet.

I'd made it to the end of our block when the black van appeared. It pulled alongside me so suddenly I didn't have time to run. The side door slid open, and hands reached for me.

I fought, kicked, and tried to scream, but a cloth pressed over my mouth silenced my voice. As consciousness faded, my last thought was not of my brothers or myself, but of Gio.

He would never know I loved him.

Chapter 25 - Gio

I parked my car a hundred meters down the road from the Ajello compound, but didn’t get out immediately. I watched the house with a pounding heart as I considered my options. The last time I spoke to Larissa, she said things I refused to believe.

Two weeks had passed, yet her words still left me sleepless and distracted. I couldn’t get her out of my mind, nor could I believe that we meant nothing to her. Somewhere in my heart, I had this inkling of doubt about whether she truly believed that, or if someone else had put those words in her mouth.

If I had to place a winning bed, I’d bet on the latter having happened.

The house was so close. She was so close. I could feel her calling to me, a moth to a flame, and when that call became louder, I could no longer sit here and wonder if I was making a mistake.

I stepped out of the car and inched along the wall to the compound. If she told me to my face that she wanted to leave me in the past, then I wouldn’t fight her. But even as I considered that option, I knew that wouldn’t be the outcome.

To truly know what happened, I’d have to get her alone.

The security around the Ajello estate was tight, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. I placed my hand on the small of my back and checked to see if the gun was there. It was.

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