Page 24 of Owned By the Mob Boss
I curl up on the floor, pulling my knees to my chin. Viktor’s shirt still carries his scent. And I can’t help but react to it.
“I thought he had changed…”
“He has,” Anton says. “Why do you think he didn’t just send one of us to take care of this?”
I look up at Anton, seeing something like cold sympathy in his eyes.
“He’s going himself because he’s conflicted.” Anton shakes his head. “Christ, I shouldn’t be talking like this…The old Viktorwould have had your father’s head brought to him the moment I told him the news.”
“Oh, and that’s supposed to make me feel better?”
My chest is burning. My heart pounding. I’ve never had a panic attack before, but I think I might be on the verge of one.
“It’s supposed to make you understand. You’ve changed him, Isabella. But change doesn’t happen overnight. Nor does it erase who he is.”
Who he is…
A killer. A monster. The Ice Man.
But he’s also the man who loves me.
I close my eyes. I’ve also never prayed before, but I find myself wishing into the ether to anyone out there who might be listening.
Don’t let him kill my father. Please don’t let him become the monster again. Don’t let me lose the man I’ve fallen in love with…
But even as I pray, I know how stupid I’m being. I know the truth.
Viktor is going to do what he’s always done. He’s going to protect his empire. Even if it costs him his soul.
Even if it costs himme.
9
VIKTOR
The old warehousesmells like piss and old bait.
I find Seth Rossi sitting in the back corner, surrounded by empty bottles and still running his mouth to a handful of lowlifes who scatter the instant I walk through the door.
Smart move.
“Viktor!” Seth shouts as he sees me. He scrambles backwards, falling out of his chair. Mr. Tough Guy, who’s been spreading lies about me all over the city, suddenly looking like the pathetic little worm he is. “I can explain—”
“Oh?” I pull out my revolver, the weight in my hand familiar and comforting. “Explain how you won fifty grand, and instead of buying back your only daughter, you blew it on booze and whores?”
I take aim, my fist clutching the worn grip of the pistol. My arm is steady as ever. My men may have been doing my dirt for me as of late, but I haven’t softened. Not one bit.
Unless I’m with her…
“Please, I can get you the money—” Seth’s sobbing now like a child. It disgusts me.
“You had the money!” I snap, pressing the barrel of the gun against his forehead. “But that’s not even why you’re going to die. You know why?”
He whimpers, shaking his head.
“You’re going to die because you’re telling people IkidnappedBella. That you don’t need to pay me back. You’re making me look weak, which is endangering her!”
“She—she’s my daughter…” he stammers.
