Page 17 of Sinful Queen (Dark Mafia Sins 5)

She is mine. There will be no asking for permission. No one will get in my way this time.

“Katrina.” Her name rolls off my tongue, dumbfounded. Reaching her, my hand strokes her belly before rage enters me, my gun coming up to press against her head to make her answer my next question. “Who fucked what’s mine?” Someone has stolen my happily ever after.

A flash from my past temporarily blinds me, and I close my eyes, seeing my wife dead, with our child sitting in her blood. Each nerve in my body hardens like it did before. My jaw clenches while my finger itches to pull the trigger. I should kill Katrina for betraying me.

“Demetri!” my cousin hollers, and I turn to see the leaders, Nicoli Rossi and Leo O’Conner, being held at gunpoint.

“Kill them all,” I order.

Katrina’s hand flies to mine. It’s soft under my rough skin. “No!” She forces my attention back on her and holds my cold stare with her brown irises. “Please don’t.” Her voice is soft and sweet, but I know it’s only a disguise.

“You don’t get to ask me for anything,” I tell her, ripping my hand away from hers. “We could have been something great. When I find your baby daddy, I will murder him. Every time you think you have found happiness, I will destroy it. Then you might have a chance to see how I feel right now.”

This is the life I have to live.

She opens her mouth to argue, when a shot is fired. I turn, instinctively pushing Katrina behind me. Leo O’Conner falls to the ground, the Irish leader now dead, and surprisingly not by one of our bullets, if the stunned look on my men’s faces is anything to go by.

The Italian boss, Nicoli Rossi, is leaking blood like a faucet. I’ve made my point, so I whistle for my men to move back. I’ve done all I needed to do.

Katrina

DemetriSokolovkeepshiseyes on me as he takes steps backward in retreat. My feet feel heavy, glued to the spot. I look around me to see bloodshed, my family paying for another sin of mine. Their tears and screams echo in my ears, and I’m at fault once again.

My hands cover my ears, wishing this madness away. I squeeze my eyes closed, praying this is a nightmare. A swift kick on my side reminds me that my baby is still here, and he or she will be born into this madness. I open my tear-filled eyes, seeing the chaos still surrounds me. Every person avoids my space, knowing I have a curse—or am one.

“Katrina.” My head swivels to the side, and my sister, Gia, goes to touch my hand. I haven’t seen her since that horrid night….

We both stand there, staring at each other. I don’t know what to say.

While I was in hiding, Luna told me Gia returned home shortly after I went into “rehab.” I expected, or at least hoped, I would have the chance to talk to her here, and now my words have escaped me.

Unlike the rest of my family, I wasn’t invited to the wedding. Everyone thinks I’ve been in rehab, and I hate that they still believe the lie. Luna snuck me into her wedding at the last minute.

“Gia,” I finally gasp out when I look down and, to my surprise, she looks as pregnant as me.

“We need to go.” She pulls my hand, but my feet stay rooted to the floor as my attention goes back to the chaos of the room.

I watch as my brother shoves our doctor toward our bleeding father. I’ve never seen my father lean on anyone. He can hardly walk. Luca catches my eye. He doesn’t smile or frown; he simply looks away as if I am nothing.

My sister, Luna, my biggest supporter, my protector, has already been taken away in her bloodstained wedding dress. If anyone dies, it is on my hands.

My oldest sister, Aria, hurries over to Gia and me. “Girls, we need to leave.” She takes my hand from Gia and pulls, but again, my feet try to keep me here, where I belong. Gia’s man manages to tug her toward safety.

I’m still shell-shocked from what just happened, as I watch Gia move away from us, and I realize I forgot to ask for her forgiveness. Somehow, Aria gets me to move toward our getaway car. Us girls are in the back as Max Mancini drives. Before I went into hiding, the other Italian family would have never offered to help us. A lot has changed while I was gone.

“How is Gia?” I never got to tell her I’m sorry for the pain I’ve caused. I can’t believe I didn’t even know she’s pregnant until now. “She’s not hurt, right?”

“Romeo’s men are protecting her.” Her words are clipped as she texts quickly on her phone.

“I should have never come,” I mutter to myself.

My hands rub at each other, my nervousness unable to stay contained. I can feel my stomach tighten and relax in even intervals, so I try to control my breathing, but it’s hopeless. I’m too wound up. The blur of the outside world makes me nauseous, and I have to stop looking out the window.

“Luna is in surgery and in critical condition,” Aria says after her phone buzzes.

“And Father?” My heart pounds and causes ringing in my ears.

My sister doesn’t answer my question. It frightens me more.

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