Page 59 of Dance of Madness

Leo isallsmiles as he walks over and shakes my uncle’s hand, then my father’s.

Then he turns to me and walks over. Before I can react, he takes my hand in both of his.

“I fucked up four years ago, Milena,” he murmurs, looking right into my eyes. “If you could ever find it in your heart to give me a chance to show you the man I really am, I would love the opportunity.”

Then he lifts my hand andkisses the back of it, sending a curdling sensation through me.

I yank my hand back as Uncle Levka walks over and claps Leo on the back like they’ve just sealed a fucking deal.

“I’ll walk you out.”

I wait until the study door closes behind them before turning to Papa.

“You’renotgoing to let that happen,” I fume. “Right?”

Papa smiles in amusement, shaking his head.

“Of course not.”

“Good. He’s a douchebag.”

Papa chuckles. “Well, he may have been. But I checked, and hehasquit drinking.” He shrugs. “You never know. It does seem like Leo’s turned a corner.”

“Great. He can keep walking past mine.”

Papa laughs, slinging an arm around my shoulders to pull me into a side-hug.

“As if there’s any man alive who could ever hope to tame my warrior daughter.”

I smile, but inside, I’m not. Because there might actuallybea man like that out there.

Watching. Waiting.

And I just called his bluff.

.

Have you ever held on to something, and not said anything, because you were worried about the fallout? Even though just saying it would 100% lift that weight off your chest?

Buckle up, because I think you know where this one is going.

I want to come clean about something. I know I’ve mentioned that my family is powerful, and dangerous. But I don’t mean dangerous like “don’t let Aunt Mildred get into the wine before noon” and I don’t mean powerful as in “dad is friends with the local police chief”.

I mean legitimately, lethally dangerous, and powerful on a global scale.

(This is me taking a deep breath…)

My family is mafia. Not a small-time one, either. The kind that you don’t even know exist unless it’s on the front page of the New York Times.

I hope that sound I hear isn’t the echo of your footsteps running the fuck away…

But if it is, I get it. Most people don’t really know what to do with that kind of information.

Remember that joke you made about sneaking in through my bedroom window to hang out when you just thought my father was “strict”?

Bet you’re rethinking that one!

Totally fair.

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