Page 31 of Sweet Deception
This is my fault.
I swore to protect them.
And I failed.
A hand touched my lower back, startling me.
Gleb.
He leaned in, his lips brushing my ear. “Let’s go.”
I hesitated, my feet refusing to move. But what choice did I have?
I turned away from the cell, away from Matteo’s fury and Salvatore’s silence.
As we walked down the dim corridor, my hands clenched into fists.
Gleb thought he had won.
That he had crushed me.
But he hadn’t.
He had only lit the fire.
Because if I had to burn this world down to save what was left of my family, I would.
“You’ve kept them there for three years,” I said, my voice low but shaking. “Why show them to me now?”
Gleb didn’t look back. “Because I wanted to see how much you’d beg.”
I clenched my fists, anger burning through me. Then, without another word, he led me inside the lounge.
He didn’t speak as he led me inside. The guards who had trailed us like phantoms since the prison cell now stood stationed by the door, silent sentinels to whatever was about to happen.
A small fireplace crackled in the corner of the lounge, casting flickering shadows against the dark-paneled walls. The space was richly decorated, deep leather chairs, a decanter of dark amber liquid on a polished table but it felt suffocating. Or maybe that was just the weight of Gleb’s fury pressing into me.
I turned to face him. “What was the point of that?” My voice was sharp, my body still vibrating with the shock of Vincenzo’s betrayal.
Gleb pulled off his gloves one by one, his movements precise, controlled. “You needed to see the truth.”
I took a step closer, the fury bubbling inside me making my limbs shake. “And what truth is that?”
“That loyalty is fragile.” He tossed his gloves onto the table and leaned back against the edge of it, watching me with the samecold amusement that always made me want to scream. “That your family will choose survival over you.”
My hands clenched at my sides. “You forced them into this!”
He arched his brow. “Did I?”
I hated how calm he was, how every word dripped with condescension.
I swallowed down the lump in my throat. “Matteo will never kneel to you.”
“Matteo is a fool.” His voice was quiet but sharp enough to cut. “And you’d do well to stop clinging to dead ideals. It only makes your suffering worse.”
My nails dug into my palms. “Why did you bring me there?”
Gleb sighed, as if I was exhausting him. “Because I wanted you to understand what happens when you play at defiance. It doesn’t break me, Anna. It only breaks the things you care about.”
