Page 143 of Massimo

"Done," Rurik says immediately. "Mysovietnik,Kirill and a team will leave within the next thirty minutes."

"Give Kirill my number."

"Done. Stay well,moy droog."

The call disconnects, and Massimo locks his phone, turning to me. "How are you doing, princess?"

I caress his cheek. "Steady and sure."

He turns his face into my palm and kisses it. "Good. Your father won't get to you here."

"I want to be there." The words escape before I even fully process the thought, but they're true and certain. "Ineedto be there when you end my father, Massimo."

He lifts me effortlessly, adjusting me so I'm straddling him. Then he cups my face gently. I'm expecting him to tell me no, to insist I stay safe and secluded here.

"Your transformation is complete." His face is filled with pride. "From the Mancini Princess, tomyprincess, my little hellcat who walked through the fires of hell, emerging forged into my queen. My wife."

My heart tightens with love for him—and for the healing journey we've shared, one he's walked beside me every step of the way, and one I wholeheartedly trust he'll continue to walk with me. "From a monster tomymonster, my beast. My savior. My husband."

His eyes glisten with emotion, and his voice is thick. "Let's go cut the head off the snake."

Chapter 59

Massimo

Sevenhoursandforty-nineminutes later, we're in the playroom.

Between the Santoro resources and the Frolov Bratva, we had annihilated our enemies. The Serpents gang was no more, and none of the soldiers of the Mancini family and the French mafia lived.

The sole survivors—Ivan, Julien, Mancini, and his second-in-command, Mauro Torrisi—are current guests in the playroom.

Ivan hangs from chains in the ceiling but he won't be with us long. He's bloody; his right eye is swollen shut, and his abdominal wound will soon kill him.

However, the other three are unscathed, since they hid and let their soldiers fight for them. The cowards. Ivan, at least, had the balls to face his enemy.

Mancini and Mauro are hanging from chains and are gagged. Julien, though, is screaming like a banshee, flailing and kicking, desperately trying to stop two Russians from grabbing him and taking him to Rurik Frolov.

Kirill, Rurik's second-in-command—known as thesovietnikin the Bratva hierarchy—is a towering man with broad shoulders and just a hint of salt-and-pepper in his stubbled beard. He looks to be nearing forty, but his physique is that of a honed, brutal soldier many years younger. He winds a chain tightly around his fist, then whips it over his head, wrapping it around Julien's neck like a lasso. He jerks on it, effectivelychoking off Julien's screeching and his air, and the Frenchman falls to his knees.

Kirill pivots on his heel, dragging Julien across the floor with the chain around his neck. He stops in front of me while Julien's face turns an alarming shade of purple. Where Rurik sounded like ice, Kirill is all fire—the intensity of his hatred for Julien radiates off him.

Kirill's gaze shifts to Nova, standing silently by my side. She wasn’t present during the raid or the ensuing battle, but after we succeeded, Gabe instructed Damien, Max, Tino, and Marcelo to bring her here. Since her arrival, she's been quiet, observant and unwavering.

As Kirill studies her, the chains around Julien's neck have loosened, and he chokes and sputters, struggling to pull air into his lungs through his battered airway.

"Would you like to say anything to your formerly betrothed, Mrs. Santoro?" he asks.

The title seems to take her by surprise, and she quickly glances at me. But then her shoulders pull back, and her chin tilts up. Defiant, strong, and unbroken. "I have nothing to say."

Julien's eyes are bloodshot from the chain leash. His gaze moves over her as she stands over him. "Nova." His voice is a choked rasp. "Princess—"

Julien is up off the floor, feet dangling, as I fist his throat. My massive hand grinds the chain into the fragile bones of his trachea. His eyes bulge from his head and he starts to kick, squirming like a worm on a hook.

"She'smyprincess," I seethe in Julien's face.

Kirill pats my back. "Easy now, big guy. The deal is we get Julien for our grand finale."

Air bursts from my nostrils like I'm a snorting beast, and I release my grip. Julien crumples to the floor, wheezing through a further damaged windpipe.

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