Page 29 of Savage Beauty

“He’s busy. And the family is in and out, hungry at all hours.” She laughs heartily. “He’d never leave the kitchen; I sure don’t. Nowadays, he only cooks for Signora G.”

Another woman?I bristle, and Dulcie sees my irritation. “No,bella. Signora G was his Mama’s friend. She’s old and not very well these days, so he visits her and makes sure she eats.”

I’m astonished, and I’m sure it shows on my face. My husband is a killer. A man with a brutal temper and a hair-trigger reaction to anyone showing me disrespect—a reaction that usually leads to bloodshed. But he remembered so much about me, redecorated his bedroom to suit my taste, and kissed me so tenderly I almost melted into a puddle at his feet. And now I find out he’s a carer for a little old lady and takes her homemade meals every day?

“I don’t know him at all, do I?” I ask.

Dulcie smiles as she gets to her feet. “Maybe not. But encourage Sasha to open up to you, and you might just find that under the brash exterior beats the heart of a lover, not just a fighter. He’s tough, Josie, tougher than you know, but he needs a woman like you.”

19

Sasha

When I return to the house, I find Arman in the foyer, picking out notes on the piano. He looks drawn and preoccupied, his dark eyes dull.

Arman isn’t an official Kislev, but he might as well be. His father was killed many years ago, and the old man was loyal to our family, so Papa took Arman in. Although he wasn’t a kid anymore, he needed direction, and my father’s guardianship probably saved his life.

He’s our go-to guy for gathering intel, and he’s proven himself to be an exceptional bodyguard. In recent months, he’s been supervising Lilyana as she gets used to her burgeoning independence. My little sister has always been vulnerable, but she’s come a long way, gaining confidence under Arman’s watchful eye.

“What gives?” I ask. Arman ignores me, and I notice the half-empty bottle of vodka on the side table. “You’re hitting the bottle hard,priyatel’. Alone. It’s not a good sign.”

Arman closes the piano with a sigh. “I should have learned to play this fucking thing,” he says. “I tried, but I was never any good.”

I’m not sure how to respond, so I change the subject. “Is Vlad around?”

“He took Morgana out to a restaurant. She wanted sushi, and you know how he is. He didn’t need telling twice.” He sighs heavily and picks up his glass. “They took Lilyana with them. She’s meeting a friend from Juilliard for drinks.”

“I’m glad she’s getting out,” I say. “She needs more than just her family. She’s lived far too sheltered a life.” Arman knocks back his drink, reaching for the bottle. I pick it up, shaking my head. “Enough. You look fuckawful already.”

“D’you think Lili should be hanging out with guys, though?” Arman asks. “Idon’t. I want her home, and I can’t fucking relax until her asshole buddy Sebastian returns her safely.”

There’s a vitriol in his voice that I recognize. Somewhere beneath Arman’s protectiveness is a streak of true jealousy.

“You got something on your mind?” I fix him with a stare, but he slides his eyes away, and I know he’s hiding something. “Because we can talk about it if you want. It’d be better than fucking up your liver.”

“Are you really the person to be giving that lecture?”

He turns to look at me, and I see it in his face; he’s not gonna give me anything. If I want to know what’s eating him, I’ll be waiting a long time.

“What did you do with Miss Suddenly-Single White Female?” Arman gets to his feet and crosses the floor, dumping himself on a couch.

“I took her to her father.” I put the bottle on the piano and join him. “He’s not best pleased with herorme. On the other hand, he gave me a job, so once that’s out of the way, our truce will be officially back in place. Maybe then I can get on with my life.”

“You should have thrown a fuck into Claudia,” Arman says. “Might have settled her down. Do you think she’ll let this slide because her daddy said so?”

“She doesn’t have much of a choice,” I reply. “Tosca may be enjoying flexing his muscles, but he doesn’t have the power to cause significant problems, even if he wanted to wage war over her. He’s just throwing his weight around and has thekomissiyaon his side, so he’s making the most of having a hold over us.”

“Overyou.” Arman raises an eyebrow. “It’s not our bratva’s business.”

“Just as well. Something about it bothers me.”

I’ve been thinking about this ever since I left Tosca’s club. Kill some nobody and keep it on the down-low? Is that all he wants? Tosca has a golden opportunity here, and he’s squandering it on an errand anyone could do. He said he doesn’t trust anyone with the job, but I’m unsure. A nagging sense of doubt keeps drawing attention to itself, like an itch in the center of my head.

“Well, you could discuss it with Vlad,” Arman says. He stands and stretches. “But if we start asking questions, someone will guess we know about it, and you’ll have broken the terms of the honor debt. On the other hand, once it’s done, Tosca will have no leverage.” He grins. “So you’ll be finally able to tell the prick to go to hell, and thekomissiyawill have nothing to say.”

He’s absolutely right. All I have to do is get this bullshit errand out of the way, and then I can work out what to do about Josie. She’ll be safe, but if she doesn’t want to stay married to me…fuck knows. I’ll figure that out if we get to it.

“You make a good point,brat,” I say. “Why make a bigger deal out of it? I’ll just get it done, and then we can put Tosca back where he belongs—at the bottom of the pile.”

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