Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Anastasia
I fingered the bracelet that I had not taken off since last week. Valerio had gifted it to me after our little date.
It had been perfect. He had taken me to the local fair, and we had ridden rides and talked for hours. Then, we had gotten back home and had some mind-blowing sex that left my body sore but my heart content.
I had been living in a little blissful bubble for the past week, and I didn’t want to leave it. Life felt better with him in it.
I was being foolish, I knew this. This little thing that we had going on was extremely dangerous and could have dire consequences for everyone. My brother had promised me to a man under the guise that I was a virgin. Not only that, but I was messing with a man who Sergei hated and had made it known did not want anywhere near me.
But my selfishness prohibited me from caring. For once in my life, I was going to do what I wanted to do. I didn’t care for the consequences. At least for now.
I caught my gaze on my vanity mirror and smiled. I could see the life and joy in my eyes. I could not remember the last time I had felt so free and at ease in my life.
Valerio Valdez was arguably one of the most dangerous men on the East Coast. He had caused chaos and wreaked havoc on people, and yet his presence was the only one that could bring peace to my heart.
I reached for my make-up, needing to get ready. I had been up for an hour, and Valerio wanted to take me to the park for a walk. He had been doing these little dates with me almost daily. They would be the most simple and mundane things, but those were my favorites.
I would spend time with him and pick his brain as I tried to figure him out. I loved peeling back the layers day after day, getting to the core of who he was.
My phone buzzed, and when I looked at the caller ID, I smiled.
“Hello?” I put the phone on speaker so I could do my make-up at the same time. “For a second I thought you had disappeared into the northern tundra.”
“Very funny, Ana.” My brother’s voice filled my closet. “How are you?”
“I’m fine. Shouldn’t you be asleep? It should be well after one in the morning there.”
“Sleep is for people without a legacy to rebuild.” He sounded tired and burdened. “How have the Valdez family been keeping you?”
“They’ve been keeping me well.” Particularly the younger Valdez man . But that was not something that my brother needed to know.
“Good,” he sighed. ‘Listen, I didn’t just call for a check-up. I actually have some information for you.”
Of course, he did.
“Savina told me that she told you about moving up the wedding to be in the next two months.”
And just like that, the good wave I had been riding quickly disappeared.
“Yeah, she told me.”
“I’ve decided to move it up again. You will marry Sergei within the month.”
I paused all the varied emotions that came with this topic of discussion flooded into me.
“You’re being unfair to me, Danny. I don’t want to marry him.”
“You don’t have a choice in the matter. This is for our family.”
The frustration I had been holding back for weeks bubbled up and it just spilled over. “We didn’t need to be in this life, Danny. I refuse to suffer for the choice you made to keep us in this world. I never wanted to be a part of the Mafia world. It took both our parents, and when they died, we finally had an out. But you wanted to keep us here. I will not sacrifice my freedom for your greed.”
At the end of the day, that was what all this was about. It was not that he enjoyed stealing, convincing, and backstabbing people. My brother had a much softer heart than that. Some men relished in the darkness while it corrupted them. But I knew my brother. I knew him better than he knew himself, at times. He wasn’t like that.
“I won’t marry Sergei.”
“Then you sign my death sentence.” Silence followed his confession. My heart clambered to a less than graceful stop. “He has paid his dowry. He also gave me the advance of twenty million in order to secure a lab here in Moscow. I was going to tell you before I left, but I knew that you would cause a fight, and I didn’t even know if I could find a factory that could manufacture the product. But now that I have, he has made it clear that he wants you to be his wife within the coming month. He wants you as his bride and to give him a son within the year of your marriage. If you fail to do so, then he has grounds to kill me.”
Fuck .
Now it all made sense. The man was meant to be coming within the week. This wasn’t just some regular routine visit. He was here to formally announce it to me.
“So, you can choose not to marry him. But in doing so, you will be killing me.”
The guilt washed over me. “Why would you agree to something like this? It is such a stupid deal.”
“It was the only way to secure the capital we needed.”
“And now you have me trapped, Danny. You know that I can’t let you die, so my fate is sealed.”
He didn’t speak.
This had been his plan all along, I believed. He had placed me in this position.
“Why?”
My only answer was silence.
“ Why, Danny? ”
“You left me no choice. I couldn’t have you trying to run like you did before.”
Flashes of that night moved through the back of my skull.
“You had no right.” A large lump formulated in the middle of my throat.
“You ran, Ana.” His voice was low and filled with emotion. “You ran, and I couldn’t find you for days. I had no idea where you had been, or what you had been up to. I understand that you feel I am being unfair, but this is what is best for you and this family. I needed to carry on our legacy, and you needed to be taken care of. You could grow to love Sergei, and even if you don’t, you will love your children and you will find consolation in that.”
He could not be serious. This man was breaking my heart apart, and I could do nothing but let him. The one man who was meant to protect me and guard my heart was the one plunging dagger after dagger into it.
“We all need to play a part in this world that we live in, and this is yours.” There was no room for rebuttal in his tone. That was that on his side, and his word was law. “I will leave Moscow in the coming days and return to New York. After I land, we will begin prep for your wedding. I love you, Ana. I hope you know that.”
And then he hung up, leaving me to take on the load that he had just dumped on my chest. The phone went black, and the closet returned to its thick silence.
An unshed tear pricked my eyes. The phone call with Danill had been less than pleasing. He was my older brother, the one entrusted to care for me after my father met his untimely demise. He wanted to restore our legacy and bring honor to our name again.
And this came before my wellbeing. I was sure that, at this point, he was willing to throw me at the literal stake to be burned if it meant that he could rebuild what my father had lost. He was so obsessed with it. The legacy.
When our father died, we could have left this life behind. We could have been normal people in society. I didn’t care for the money or the power. What I craved the most was the one thing that was free for everyone else to take, but impossible within my world.
Peace .
I stared at my reflection in the mirror. Only a few short minutes ago, my eyes had gleamed with excitement and joy. Now, the same hollow and dead stare that had riddled me for years was looking back at me from the mirror.
Life was so unfair.
The first tear fell, and I watched it move from my eyes and roll down my reddened cheeks until it tapered off the edge of my jaw.
“ Cielo ?” My eyes moved to the left side of the mirror and that’s when I saw his reflection.
I quickly brushed away the tears, not wanting him to see, but it was too late.
He strode into my closet and crouched down beside me. His eyes stayed glued to my reflection in the mirror. I watched his eyes move from the top of my head across my features.
“What happened?”
I forced a smile onto my lips, but before I could even speak, he cut me off.
“Don’t do that. Don’t hide from me like you do with everyone else. Tell me what’s wrong.”
I hated how he could see right through me like glass. I considered just lying to him, but I knew he would understand I wasn’t being sincere.
“My brother called,” I started. “He said that the wedding is being moved to next month. Sergei paid an advance, and he was able to establish a few things in Moscow. He will be back home within the next two weeks.”
I left out the exact words that were said in our fight. I knew that they would only anger Valerio, and the last thing that I needed was an angry underboss. He already made his sentiments toward my brother known.
“You won’t marry him.” Like when he had asked me to marry him, the conviction in his voice was loud. “Like I told you last week, cielo , this is your life. You don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to do.”
“It’s not that simple, Valerio. I’m not like you. I don’t hold rank, and I have no real power. If I go back on my promise, Sergei will kill my brother for breaching our contract. I can't let my brother die.”
“He is willing to send you to a trafficker, how can you even consider him in your decision?” I could feel the anger in his system building. “To hell with your brother and his protection! He is a grown man and can take care of himself. You are his little sister. His job should be to protect you, and yet he has failed. No, he actually did worse than just failing. He is throwing you to the wolves without a second thought.”
“He’s my brother.”
“All the more reason why he is a colossal fuck-up. He is sending you off to Sergei. We live in a dark world, Anastasia, but Sergei exceeds evil itself. He is a Devil who does not abide to any laws.”
My heart clenched.
“You don’t have to do what he’s asking you to do.”
The grip on my heart tightened. “I do.”
Valerio grabbed the side of my face and forced my head to turn in his direction. I could feel the tears threatening to leave my eyes as I stared into his deep blue oceans. I could see the anger and frustration swimming in his pupils. He wanted me to walk away and choose the life I wanted. He wanted me to have the life I had envisioned for myself if I’d ever could have had it my way.
The only issue was that I did have an obligation to my brother. He had protected me and shielded me while we grew up in a world made up of malice and blood. Everyone who was a part of the Mafia world understood that we all had to do what we could for our Family.
“What’s done is done, Valerio. We were never meant to last anyway. We both knew that this,” I gestured between the two of us, “would have to come to an end eventually, and it’s best that it stops here. Before things get bloody.”
I went to take off the bracelet, but his large hand covered mine. The heat from his palm prickled my skin.
“You will not take this off.” He leveled me with a steel gaze.
“Valerio, please, don’t make this harder than it has to be.” Why did it feel like my heart was breaking apart? I didn’t know that a heart could physically hurt this way.
“You won’t marry that man, Anastasia. You belong to me, and I will not lose you to some stupid call of duty that your brother brainwashed you into thinking you have to follow. You are a free-thinking woman.” He stood to his full height, then. He stared down at me with such conviction in his gaze that it hit me hard in the center of my chest. I could quite literally feel the waves of anger rolling off him. “I will handle this.”
“Don’t, Valerio.” I stood from my seat and grabbed his hand. “I can’t afford a war. As much as I am protecting my brother, I’m also trying to protect you.”
His eyes softened, but only by a fraction. “There is no life worth living to me where you are not by my side. And if it takes a war for me to have you, then to war I shall go.”
He pulled my face toward him and placed the gentlest of kisses on my forehead. He allowed his lips to linger on my skin for a few seconds before he pulled away.
I gripped his wrists as I searched his eyes. My heart thundered in the middle of my chest. I tried to calm the anxiety that built in my blood, but my spirit would not settle.
“Please, Valerio.” I didn’t know exactly what I was asking him for. For him not to start a war? For him to save me? For him to forget about us so that we could move forward?
“I will handle this.” There was a promise in his words. “Do you trust me?”
I nodded my head without hesitation. “But you can’t?—”
“Then let me handle it.” He cut my words off before I could say what I wanted to. “I will fix this.”
And then he turned on his heels and left me standing in my closet, alone and confused. I had no idea how he was going to fix this mess we had found ourselves in.
Valerio didn’t care if things got violent. Violence was a comfort for him, but I couldn’t risk my brother. He was the only family that I had left, and I needed to protect him.
I only hoped that this would not be the start of a big problem that we would need to solve in the future.