Page 32 of Sworn to My Heart
“I didn’t come here to discuss whores,” he manages to say, his voice strained with discomfort as my grip tightens on his collar. Fury still burns hot within me, but I reluctantly release him, cursing under my breath. I slowly holster my gun, the tension in the air palpable.
Behind me, Mariano silently appears, his presence suddenly feeling like a looming threat. “You’re on the wrong side of town, Stas,” Mariano’s voice cuts through the air like a blade, dripping with menace.
Stas glares defiantly at me for a moment before turning to face Mariano, his expression unreadable but his posture tense.
“And here comes your little lapdog, great. I need answers,” Stas responds with disdain, pushing my patience to its limit. “You won’t come to this side of town and disrespect me or my brother. Talk now, or you’ll be heading back to your men in pieces,” I grind out, stepping forward to grab him again, but he raises his hands in mock surrender.
“I came here because I wanted to know more about that girl of yours,” he begins. “She made quite an impression on my men.”
Now she’s fucking his men too? Who are you, Alin, and what the hell are you doing? I feel Mariano’s stare piercing my back, thinking the same thing.
“That girl caused serious internal injuries to my men, leaving them in the hospital for days,” he coolly volunteers, while showing me a picture of Vladimir strapped to a hospital bed on his phone. Mariano mentioned two weeks ago that they were injured that day. Did Alin do that?
“What are you talking about?” I ask, unable to hide the curiosity in my voice this time.
A spark returns to Stas’s eyes. “Seems like you don’t know what kind of gem you have here,” he taunts. Son of a bitch. “Maybe she really is just another one of your whores. I want her, name your price, and I’ll pay it now,” he offers, not hiding his intentions, which only increases my questions.
Is he admitting he works with Alin? But if that’s the case, why does he want to buy her from us? Could Mariano and I be wrong? I need to figure out what’s going on. I’ve been in the dark for too long with her. No one plays me.
“She’s not one of my whores, and she’s definitely not for sale,” I declare menacingly. I won’t give him any explanation. “Let’s get to the point. We both know what your men tried to do to Alin that day. Now start talking about what happened there, or I’ll lose my patience.”
He looks at me and smirks. “So, this treasure’s name is Alin...” he mutters, almost to himself. “Whether you sell her to me or not, she’ll end up working for me eventually,” he states confidently, turning to leave. I can’t hold back anymore and reach for my gun again, but then a hand rests on my shoulder from behind.
“Brother, this isn’t the time. We need to figure out what really happened there. It seems Alin wasn’t actually working with him,” Mariano brings me back to a clear mindset, confirming what I’ve also started to believe. She wasn’t working with the Russians.
“So what the hell happened at the aquarium?” I whisper, running my hand through my hair in frustration, restraining myself from putting a bullet right between Stas’s eyes as he gets into a car waiting for him in the parking lot. He’s a dead man walking, and he doesn’t even know it.
“That’s it, I’m going to find her and she’s going to tell me everything I want to know,” I hiss through gritted teeth to Mariano, who gives me that same wary look he’s been giving me for the past two weeks— like he’s walking on eggshells around me.Have I really lost my mind because of her?A quiet curse slips from my mouth as we head back up to the private room in the club.
“You need to think clearly, brother. I can’t find any other reason she’d lie to us. And I don’t believe Alin could harm Stas’s experienced men to the point of severe internal injuries,” he tries to make me see reason, but it’s easy for me to believe what Stas said.
I saw the look of a dangerous animal in her eyes the day we burst into her apartment. If someone cornered her, I wouldn’t be surprised if she caused some serious damage. It wasn’t the look of someone who doesn’t know what danger is. Stas called her a ‘gem,’ what exactly did she do to them?
I’ve underestimated her. She might not be working with the Russians, but she still screams danger, and I’m not going to fall for that trap again. I’ve been blinded by those eyes for too long; it’s time to get answers the way only I know how. You won’t escape me, Alin Gray. You’ll leave the family one way and one way only–in a coffin.
“You’ve completely lost it. You’re actually going to believe that?” he finally cuts through my thoughts when I don’t answer him.
I return his gaze with a menacing look, “I am starting to believeAlin isn’t working with them, but the fact that she lied about what happened there is certain. Now that the suspicions about the Russians are off the table, it’s time to handle her as my job requires.” I’ll muster all my strength to be ready to finish the job if the situation calls for it.
Alin
“Where is she?” I wake up in a panic to a thunderous roar. “Luca, you’ll wake the girls. Calm down, she’s here, sleeping,” I hear Mariano.
Luca is here.
I hear his footsteps coming up the stairs, and my stomach tightens. I look at my tail and understand that I must have fallen asleep in the bathtub all night.
“Where is she, Mariano?” I hear Luca’s angry voice coming down the hall.
“What’s going on?” Cora’s tired voice joins the symphony. Great.
Loud knocks sound on the bathroom door. “Alin?” Luca roars again, making my heart leap in fright. He can’t see me like that.
“I’m here,” I respond tiredly, just hoping he’ll stop with the pounding before he breaks the door down and the real trouble starts.
“Open the door now,” he orders.
I raise my hand, and within moments, the bathwater floats in the air. I regain my legs while holding the water above me, step out of the tub, and let the water fall back in. I quickly wrap myself in a towel and slowly open the door.
