Page 161 of Fortress of the Heart

“Let’s just be rational,” Enzo suggests. “We don’t want to give him time to call for help. He’ll be down soon enough. Judging by his Instagram account, he loves to flaunt his Lamborghini around the streets of Boston.”

I think about that photo I saw of him and Katiya from a few years ago on her Instagram when he had his arm around her. I want to cut that arm off and the rest of him while I’m at it.

I shake my head. “Why does he deserve the luxury of time? This is personal, and I want to see him piss his pants before I slit his throat.”

“We do nothing until we get to the warehouse,” Rocco reminds me. Funny, I always used to be the voice of reason. My how the mighty have fallen. “It’s safer that way for all concerned.”

“What did you make of Sloane?” Enzo asks as Rocco circles into the underground parking lot and secures a spot.

“She’s honest enough,” I say. “I don’t think she had any inclination of who she was working for or what she was doing. She doesn’t have it in her.”

“I agree,” he replies.

“I don’t like women who are smarter than me,” Rocco says, checking the rear-view mirror as he turns the key off. “They make me fucking nervous.”

I snort a laugh as he turns his head to look at me.

“What’s so funny?” he asks, rubbing his chin.

“All women are smarter than you,” I reply.

He rolls his eyes and cracks his knuckles as if he’s getting ready for a big bout.

“I’m glad you want him alive,” he goes on. “Capturing Sloane, while thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining, didn’t exactly do it for me.”

“You sure about that?” I chuckle. “I’m sure I saw you checking her out.”

He grunts, palming the back of his head.

“Yeah, I didn’t think you were into the brainiac type, Roc,” Enzo joins in.

“I’m not,” he finally answers. “But she’s got a nice rack.”

I shake my head as Santino climbs in the back.

“Vladimir’s not important enough to have security,” Santino tells us. “Though there are cameras on the East and West sides, both are pretty shit. I doubt that they’d pick up anything, but our plates could be a problem.”

“Already taken care of,” Enzo says.

Good. I don’t want to leave anything to chance on this one.

This is the only thing I have to convince Aleksi Petrov that Katiya is mine, whether he likes it or not. I’ve considered the consequences, and I know I can keep her safe, better than what her own family has done. But it’ll be her choice. Not his. Not mine. Hers.

If she wants to take things slow, then we can do that. We jumped straight into bed without knowing anything about each other. Neither of us cared then, we just acted on impulse.

I never expected to feel this way again, but if time has taught me one thing, it’s that I’m still a romantic at heart. And, I have to make this right.

If Aleksi is all Katiya has in terms of family who love her, then I can’t take that away.

I also can’t live without her.

She’smine.

I took her virginity. I made her bleed. And it’ll be my face that she sees when all this is over. I’ll make sure of it, if she’ll have me.

It won’t sit right with Angelo, but I now know how to make a truce with the Petrovs. We’ll never see eye to eye, but we don’t have to have a war either.

Aleksi can’t ignore what I have to say, not when I’m about to have Vladimir captured and tied up.

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