Page 56 of Wicked Knight 2

“Ivan will do what is best for his family.” Papa’s gaze shifted from mine to Maxim. “We’ll make the announcement tonight. None of it will come as a surprise.”

“I will not fail you.” Maxim reached for Papa’s arm and squeezed it.

I glanced down at my hands. Here was another thing Luca didn’t have. In our world, he was never going to be Don, which was why more than once Enzo had accused Luca of using me to gain favor within the Society. To his family, especially Uncle Jimmy, Luca was no more than a pawn. Luca was now next in line to be Don Gallo. But that was merely a dusty title that didn’t have a crew to back it up.

More and more, I realized I didn’t have much to offer Maxim. He had no reason to want to come back to his old life. Fuck.

“Go.” Papa gestured toward the door. “Get ready for tonight. I’ll see you at dinner.”

Maxim rose to his feet, then helped me up. With a quick nod, he escorted me out. On the way back to our suite, he fell into an easy step next to me. When I glanced up at him, he met my gaze and grinned at me. God, I had missed his sexy smile. Without meaning to, I melted into him.

“You have it all figured out, don’t you? A wife, a crew, a home?” I motioned to the courtyard where the guys were back to their card game.

“Life has offered me a second chance.” He tightened his hold around my waist. “I’m not going to squander it this time.”

“What makes you think you threw away your old life?”

“A gut feeling.” He kissed my forehead. “If I’d had my shit together then, I wouldn’t be here. If like you said, you met me ten years ago, what the hell did I do with that time? Why were we not together?” He reached for the knob of our suite and let the door fall open.

“It was complicated.” I cradled his neck with both my hands. “Our love was forbidden.”

“And now it’s not.” He wrapped his fingers around my wrist and kissed the inside of it. “In every dream I’ve had of you, you’re always mad at me, and I’m desperately trying to hold on to you.”

Yeah, that would about sum up our previous relationship. But none of what happened was our fault. I opened my mouth to say that but then decided not to. Because as fucked up as our new situation was, the time I’d spent at the compound with Maxim had been the best we’d had.

He wasn’t wrong to want to stay. This new life was worth fighting for—even if it wasn’t real.

“I’m so confused.” I threw my arms around his neck and pressed my mouth to his. “You make it sound so easy. You make me want this.”

“Being with you is easy. Don’t fight it.” He deepened the kiss as he stepped inside.

I let out a sigh. “We can’t be late to your ascension dinner party.”

“We have time.” He glanced down at his watch, before he untucked his T-shirt and pulled it over his head.

His abs rippled from the effort and left me speechless. Yeah, being with Maxim was easy. What we had now was the life I had always dreamed of. I slid my hand across his chest, following the edges of his tattoos all the way down to his stomach.

“You’re not playing fair.”

CHAPTER20

No More Lies

Donata

“You look gorgeous.” Maxim took my hand and kissed it. “Don’t be nervous.”

“I’m not.” I exhaled and fixed the bodice of my cocktail dress.

“You’re fidgeting.” He placed his hand on my lower back. “How about a drink?”

“That sounds great.” I nodded.

I made to fix my top again, but then stopped. Since we entered the dining room, I’d had this foreboding pressure in my chest. When Belinda strode in with yet another dish to set in the middle of the long table, I made a beeline to her.

“Are you avoiding me?” I moved a platter a few inches to the right to make room for the new one.

“Me? No. Why?” She shot a furtive look over her shoulder.

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