Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Susanna
The priest asks Gabriel if he’ll take my hand in marriage and Gabriel doesn’t hesitate to say ‘yes.’ But there is a moment.
Just a moment where his eyes soften and I feel like I’m seeing the real Gabriel for the first time.
Not the harden man who kidnaped me. Not the one embroiled in a war with Luca.
But the real man who just wants love and to be loved in return.
Does Gabriel even want that though? We’ve never spoken about it. Just a few days before, I was sleeping in a cage he put me in and now I’m marrying him. None of this makes sense.
And yet, it feels right.
Gabriel is my future. He excites me. He instills a passion inside of me. I want to become my own woman away from my family.
Hell, he even likes my attitude when no one else does. Ironically, he’s the perfect man for me.
“Do you, Susanna Petrov, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
The truth is: I don’t hesitate to give my answer either.
“Yes. I do.”
I know I just signed myself over to the devil and yet, I don’t care. This is my one chance to have power. My one chance to feel passion.
Maybe even love.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Gabriel presses a passionate kiss to my lips seeing as this isn’t our first one. And it won’t be the last. That makes a heat settle in my core. I know I want this.
I want him.
“We should leave,” he says. “Before Luca arrives. He might find out where we are.”
But when Gabriel tugs on my hand, I can’t move my feet. Even though I want to be with Gabriel, I also miss my mom and sister. Luca saving me is the one chance I’ll get to see them again.
But I know if I return to my mom and sister, I’ll fall back into old habits. I’ll be trapped all over again. This is my chance to be free of that.
So when Gabriel tugs on my hand once more, I follow him out of the church and into our new lives together.
Luca
It takes hours of research and having my men dig around but we eventually figure out which church Gabriel is taking Susanna to.
To be married. To screw me over. To win.
I cannot stand for that.
Alek and Dimitri are with me as we storm inside the church. The priest is on the dais, rearranging things on the altar.
“Where is she?” Alek demands, storming forward. Susanna is like his daughter. The last thing he wants is to lose her to Gabriel of all people.
The priest startles. “Where is who?’
“Susanna Petrov,” Alek snarls. “Where is she? And where is Gabriel Amato?”
“They’re not here so there’s no point in trying to hurt me. I don’t know where they went.”
“So they were here?” I ask.
“Yes.”
“Does that mean they got… married?” I spit the word out.
The priest looks me dead in the eye. “Yes. They did.”
“Fuck!” My shout echoes through the large cathedral.
“They already got married,” Alek says, running his hand over his face. “She’s gone. Susanna is gone.”
“No,” I growl. “We can still get her back. We can kill Gabriel and save Susanna. Simple as that.”
“But he can hold Susanna over our heads. Threaten to hurt her if we go after him.”
“So? Gabriel needs to die.”
Alek stares at me for a long moment. Dimitri stays out of it, since he knows this problem is between Alek and me.
“Susanna is like a daughter to me,” Alek says. “I care if she’s hurt.”
“Are you saying I don’t care?”
“I’m saying that I think you love Nina. Which I like since Nina is like a daughter to me as well.
I think you want to protect her. But it also means that you don’t fully care what happens to Susanna as long as Nina is safe.
You will do what you have to do to end Gabriel, even if it means Susanna is hurt in the process but Susanna is someone I love.
And I will fight to get her back but I will also not do anything to risk her safety. ”
“Gabriel needs to die. I will not let him use Susanna over us. I will not let him win.”
“And I will not let you put Susanna in harm’s way to make it happen.”
“Then I guess we’ll see what happens.”
Alek scoffs. “If you do this, Luca, then our alliance is over.”
“I am married to your daughter.”
“I will not let you harm either of my daughters. We will work through this together to find them. To find Gabriel and kill him without harming Susanna. It’s fair. Before we do anything rash. You know this, Luca. Let’s think things through first. Ok?”
I inhale and exhale slowly, knowing Alek is right. I can’t risk breaking up our alliance because Gabriel is getting under my skin. “Let’s just go. They’re not here anyway.”
We head out of the church… and that’s when I see him.
Gabriel. Getting into a car. Just down the road.
“There,” I snarl. “He’s right there.”
We all give chase but Gabriel gets into his car and drives away before we can reach him. “Follow that car,” I growl. “Now.”
I will not stop until Gabriel is dead.
Gabriel
I look in the rearview mirror at Luca, Alek, and Dimitri, and let out a laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Susanna asks.
“Your surrogate father is right behind us. So is your brother-in-law.”
She whips around in her seat to look. “What do you mean?”
“They saw us. They’ll be coming for us. We have to switch cars. I don’t want to lead them straight to my house. That would be inconvenient. I wanted a wedding night with you.”
Susanna calms her features down until I can’t make out what she’s thinking. Is she happy her family is coming for her? Or upset?
But why would she be upset? It’s not like she loves me.
I pick up the pace and make it through a light before Luca can follow. “What are you thinking?”
“That’s for me.”
“I’m your husband now. You share your thoughts with me.”
“Is that the deal?” she asks, crossing her arms. “I have to share everything with you? You did kidnap me, remember?”
“But I also killed one of my own men for you. Remember?”
“You put me in that position though so you only have yourself to blame.”
“You’re not wrong,” I admit. “But I want to know what you’re thinking.”
“Why? So you can use it against me?”
“We’re married now, Susanna. You’re going to have to start trusting me.”
She sighs and stares out the window. “It’s just… I never thought Luca would come for me. Alek, yes. He helped raise me. He cares. But Luca? He can’t stand me. He’s only trying to get me back for the sake of my sister.”
“Do you miss her?”
“Nina?” She thinks on it for a long moment. “Yes. She’s my sister. But she pulled away from me after she got married. She was tired of me. And honestly, I can’t blame her. I wasn’t the best person.”
“That darkness I see inside of you. Ready to tell me what that’s about?”
Something almost like guilt crosses her features but she doesn’t say anything. “I’m allowed some secrets, am I not?”
“We’re married. I should know everything about you.”
“In time. You have to earn my trust. Just because I agreed to marry you doesn’t mean I trust you.”
“Then why did you agree to marry me?”
She sighs, staring into her lap and biting her lip like she really doesn’t want to say. “Because you don’t judge me. In fact, you seem to like me for me. No one has ever done that before.”
“Most people don’t like you, I take it?”
“You would be correct. I used to be a menace. I can admit it. I was a bitch sometimes. But I’ve tried to change over the years and yet, no one wants to give me that chance.
They still see me as the immature, bratty teenager I once was.
But I’m ready to grow into a new woman. They just won’t let me.
Except for my sister. She was ready to embrace the new me. ”
“That’s why you miss her.”
“Yes,” she whispers. “That’s why I miss her. But you don’t judge me. I guess it just took meeting someone even worse for me not to look like the bad guy.”
“I guess so. And I like that you’re a spitfire. You should know that, Susanna. Yes, I initially took you because of my game. Because of my plan. But you’ve become more than that. I’m man enough to admit it.”
“I’m shocked you’re so open with me about that. I’ve never met a mafia man who was so open about his feelings.”
I give her a pointed look. “I guess we’re not all as we seem, are we?”
She finally cracks a smile and it makes her face light up. Fuck. I like this girl. I care for her.
And that’s the last thing that should happen. Because the more I care about her, the more she becomes a liability to me. The more my enemies can use her against me.
“I guess not,” she says.
We share a smile before I turn my eyes back to the road.
And everything after that happens so fast.
A car slams into the back of my car, pushing my car off the road. I slam into a light pole. Susanna’s scream rips right through me.
“Are you all right?” I ask, looking around.
“I think so.”
That’s when I see in my rearview mirror Luca getting out of a car behind me. He didn’t hesitate to slam into my car. Did he know Susanna is in here with me? Did he even care?
“Fuck,” I growl, grabbing my gun from my jacket pocket. The only good thing is that we’re on a busy New York street. Luca won’t risk killing me in front of so many people.
But that won’t stop him from trying to kidnap me so he can take me somewhere else and kill me.
“Get out of the car,” I say to Susanna. “Now.”
She hesitates only a moment before scrambling out of the car. I follow and keep my gun low but it’s still seen enough to let Luca know not to try anything with me.
Luca stops in his tracks when he sees Susanna get out of the car. His eyes widen.
“Did you know she was in the car with me?” I ask.
By the shock on Luca’s face, I take it he didn’t.
Alek and Dimitri pull up behind Luca. Susanna gasps when she lays eyes on her surrogate father figure.
“Susanna,” Alek says. “Come here. Now.”
I’m outnumbered. I can’t take on all three but they won’t risk shooting me in broad daylight on a busy street.
Susanna looks between me and Alek, uncertainty in her eyes. I’m sure everything inside of her is telling her to return to her family where she’ll be safe. With me, she’ll never quite be safe.
But she doesn’t move. Her eyes land back on me. Even if we try to run, we’ll be caught. There’s no way out of this.
One thing I do know is that I am not going to let go of Susanna that easily. I will go down with a fight.
And then Susanna does something shocking.
She runs to my side and plants herself in front of me. “Don’t kill him.”
Alek rocks back on his heels while Luca narrows his eyes and raises his gun.
“I have to,” Luca says, right before he pulls the trigger.