Page 27 of Reckless Hearts

Slowly, I allow my eyes to raise and to rake across the gardens to where Dahlia is sitting with Eilish and Gavan.

Looking…delicious.

Fake wedding or not, everyone’s dressed to the nines for the photos that Ya-ya insists on, and that Ares believes are crucial in selling this whole thing to the Carvelis. If my own intel on Massimo Carveli and the LeBlanc French mafia family is correct—and I’m almost sure it is—then “selling” Callie and Castle’s marriage isn’t anything anyone needs to worry about. But who am I to step out of my lane?

Back to Dahlia. She’s in this olive-green wraparound gown—the tone of which goesperfectlywith her skin, her dark hair, and her green eyes. It’s not overtly sexy, but it’s not a burlap sack, either.

It’s fucking distracting, is what it is. Very,verydistracting.

Soon, my darling.

Soon.

The thing is, wanting her isn’t just about taking what I was denied before. It’spunishment. For the pain she knowingly caused me. She alone is theoneperson in the history of my life who’s managed to fool me and get past my defenses.

And I’ve spent years hunting her, looking for my way to take revenge. By sabotaging her happiness. Stamping out the slightest spark of a flame that dared to flicker between her and any other man.

For the last year and change, I was distracted from my plan. I had the running of our operations in Europe to attend to, which, as you can imagine, is asuperhumantask that requires literally all my focus. It’s the only reason I somehow missed that she’d cozied up to my sister.

Like a fool.

The music begins to play. Deftly, I type a few more directions on my phone and then raise my gaze to her back. She tenses up, and as the music plays, and my sister begins to walk down the aisle toward Castle, Dahlia senses my eyes on her, suddenly flinches, and turns. Her eyes lock with mine immediately, then go wide as her face turns white.

I just smile as my thumb taps the final button on my phone before I slide it into my pocket, sealing her fate.

The last wall of her prison just slid into place around Dahlia Roy.

And she hasno fucking idea.

7

“I just can’t believeyou’re not freaking out right now.”

Sprawled at her end of the big couch, Callie shrugs dismissively. “I mean, I’m notnotfreaked out. And I was way worse before. But…” She lifts her shoulders again and sighs. “I dunno. I guess maybe because I grew up so firmly in this world, it’s notthatinsane to me?” Her brow furrows. “I should probably talk to someone about that, shouldn’t I?”

I smile as I reach over and squeeze her hand. “You’re talking to me about it right now.”

Some people just can’t catch a break. First, Callie gets betrothed to a pig of a mafia don who’s like three times her age as part of an agreement her dead father hammered out with him. Then, when said don dies, his asshole son drops in on Callie’s birthday party to claim she’s magically “his” now.

Which is why she had to marry Castle. And, I mean, Castle is outrageously hot, don’t get me wrong. And he’s a nice, decent man. It’s also pretty clear to me by now that Callie’s been harboring a massive crush on him. But still, crushes are one thing. Being forced to marry someone with just two days’ notice in order to break a mafia blood marker is insane.

And as if that wasn’t enough, two weeks ago, barely after their wedding, someone opened fire on the Kildare family brownstone, almost killing them both before Castle started shooting back and scared the gunman off.

Long story short, Callie and Castle are holed up together in Konstantin Reznikov’s penthouse apartment for now. Konstantin, Gavan’s half-brother and co-head of the Reznikov Bratva, is currently in London with his very pregnant wife, Mara, who’s about to give birth to twins. Theirpied a terrehere in New York is a freakingfortress, and it’s guarded like Fort Knox. Even I had to be put on an “okay” list just to get through the front door downstairs without getting shot. And that’s by Kildare guards who know me.

“Well, if ever youdowant to freak out, you know you can call me.”

She grins. “Thanks. I’m okay, I guess. Just bored and kinda over being stuck in this place.”

That’s another part of the deal. While they’re staying here, and while everyone’s out there tracking down whoever the fuck might’ve taken a shot at her and Castle, Callie can’t leave. As in literally cannot leave this one bedroom, one bathroom, normally- occupied-by-a-married-couple apartment, under strict orders from Castle, not to mention all her brothers.

“I mean, I figure ifyouwouldn’t freak out, I’m going to be just fine,” she winks at me.

Callie knows a lot of my backstory. Not all of it, but she knows the part about my mother and Nasser El-Sayed. She knows how when I was a baby, my Aunt Celeste, who was at the time fake-married to Nasser’s son, Amir, was forced to trot me out as their daughter for photo ops, with my mother playing the part of “nanny”. Until Uncle Adrian helped Celeste break free of all of that and saved my mother and me.

I snort. “You seriously think I wouldn’t be freaking the hell out right now if I was in your position?”

“No. You wouldn’t be.” She shrugs matter-of-factly. “Because you’re such a total badass.”

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