Page 10 of Her Cruel Empire
I think about Maisie’s pale face. About Alicia struggling with homework she can’t understand. About Dane wanting to drop out of school to work. About the rent demands and the medical bills and the credit cards maxed out beyond reason.
And then for some reason, I think about the woman from the bar—her amber eyes, her knowing smile, the way she made me feel like I was something interesting and fresh, instead of just another struggling girl in a city full of broken dreams.
But that woman is gone. She was never real anyway, just a fantasy that lasted all of five minutes.
Thisis real. This card, this choice, this chance to save the people I love most in the world.
I piece the card back together, lining up the torn edges until the phone number is whole again.
I pull out my cell and stare at the screen for a long moment. Once I dial this number, there’s no going back. Once I cross this line, I’ll become someone else entirely.
But maybe that’s what it takes. Maybe saving the people you love means sacrifice. And I would sacrifice anything and everything to keep my family together.
I take a shaky breath and dial the number.
Chapter 4
Eva
Icatch my reflection in the mirror as I slide the final pin into my hair. Every strand sits exactly where it should. My black silk suit clings to me like a liquid shadow, and my stiletto heels—seven inches of pure intimidation—gleam under the suite’s lighting. Perfect. Lethal. Untouchable.
“This is a mistake.”
Leon’s voice cuts through my focus. He stands in the doorway, arms crossed over his massive chest, wearing that disapproving expression I’ve come to despise. And he’s not speaking Russian, the common language of the Consortium.
He’s speaking our shared dialect, the one from home. That means he’s serious about talking me out of this—he’s not appealing to the head of the Consortium.
He’s appealing tome.
“The Gattos are bad news,” he continues, his tone measured but insistent. “Volatile. Petty. And they can’t afford your wares.”
I guide my red lipstick across my mouth in one smooth stroke and say nothing.
“Eva. You’re better than this.”
Now I turn. Slowly. The look I give him could freeze the Mediterranean. “I am not here to bebetter. I am here to win.” Leon opens his mouth again, but I slice through whatever platitude he’s about to offer. “Watch your tone.”
He says nothing more. He simply opens the door for me, and I sweep past him into the hallway.
The silence that follows is exactly what I wanted.
The Gatto’s casino makes the Golden Sands look refined. I didn’t even catch the name, I was so taken aback by how tacky everything is. Red velvet drapes hang like curtains of dried blood around gold-plated everything, and the women lolling across the gaming tables as they openly palm extra chips look like they were ordered from the same catalog as the decor. Tasteless. Gaudy.
Exactly what I expected.
And I’m starting to have second thoughts.
I enter with Leon flanking my right side, two more of my men creating a wall of silent menace behind us, and Markov sweating as he hurries along next to me. Gatto’s men escort us through the maze of slot machines to a private lounge where champagne waits in an ice bucket. But I know better than to drink anything offered.
The Gatto Boss himself emerges from behind a leather-bound bar, arms spread wide like we’re long-lost family. We’ve never met, but he greets me like an old friend.
“Eva Novak! The most dangerous woman in the room.” He pauses, grins like he’s told a joke. “Oh, I guess I gotta be politically correct these days, eh? The most dangerousperson.”
I don’t smile back. “That might be flattering in a different room.”
His laugh is too loud, too forced. Behind him, his lieutenants shift uncomfortably.
We sit. He pours himself champagne and makes a show of offering it to me. I decline with a shake of my head and he pours out a glass anyway, which I ignore. He starts talking numbers—shipments, territories, profit margins—but within minutes, it’s clear he can’t afford what I’m selling.
