Page 59 of The Rise of Saint (The Sins of Saint 1)

“Have you told Mila?”

Goddammit.“About what?”

“About what happens next.”

I swallowed the last mouthful of my drink and placed the empty glass on the counter. “Not yet.”

“Marcello, you need to tell her.”

“I will.”

“When?”

“Soon.”

Elena got off her seat when I tried to walk away and moved to stand in my way. “She needs time to prepare for what’s going to happen”

I clenched my jaw. “I know that.”

“Then you better tell her sooner rather than later. You have put her through enough. The least you can do is spare her the element of surprise.”

I narrowed my eyes, tilting my head as I studied Elena with surprise. “You’ve grown fond of her, haven’t you?”

“She has a good heart. And the mere fact that she hasn’t fallen apart yet, after everything you’ve put her through, says a lot about her.”

“You act like I’ve dragged her through hell.”

“Haven’t you?”

“I think, under the circumstances, I’ve been more than lenient with her. The woman has done nothing but disrespect me, defying me every opportunity she gets.”

Elena crossed her arms and cocked a brow. “Is that why I heard her scream from your bedroom earlier? Because you were beinglenient?”

“Step lightly, Elena,” I seethed. “There’s a side to me you haven’t seen, and I’d like to keep it that way.” My words echoed with the fiery daggers of warning, and tension pulled at my shoulder blades.

Elena pinned me with her stare, a coy look on her face. How far would I allow Elena to go? How far would I let her challenge me before I’d finally put her in her place? I loved and respected her. She was the closest I had to a mother for the better part of my life. But there was a certain line in our relationship, a line between me being the Russo firstborn, and she a woman who did not carry the same name. It was a line I would not allow her to cross. Ever.

She sat back down by the bar. “I think you should tell her.”

Frustrated, I rubbed the back of my neck. “Tell her what, exactly?”

“The real reason you want her shares.”

“Why would I do that?” I scoffed.

“Maybe if she knew the truth, she wouldn’t be so torn between fighting you and accepting you.”

I dragged a finger across my jaw, scratching my five o’clock shadow. “She can fight me all she wants. She won’t win.”

“I’m not worried about her winning, Marcello.”

“Then what are you worried about, exactly?” I snapped, but she didn’t even flinch.

“About Mila being eaten alive because you sent her into the lion’s den unarmed.”

A foreboding silence settled around us like the last few seconds before the timer of a fatal bomb would run out. The weight on my shoulders doubled as Elena’s words rang like a fire alarm in my head. But I couldn’t allow it to affect me. There was too much at stake, and I had to make sure I didn’t lose sight of what mattered—and that was accomplishing what I had set out to do the day I walked out of my father’s house.

Destroy him.

---