Darkest Desire (The Dark Mafia #2)

1. Chapter One

Chapter One

Nico

I knew the first time I saw her, I had to have her.

The way she spoke so confidently. The fire in her eyes. The bravery.

I knew then that I could make an alliance and gain a wife in the process.

Sasha Petrov captivated me when I first saw her months ago and now I’ve come to collect.

Now I’ve come to make her mine.

Sasha

The sneer on my uncle’s face isn’t anything new. He’s been continuously frustrated since he first moved into my family’s home.

Since he first invaded, I should say.

After my dad died a year ago, he forced himself into my home and hasn’t left since.

“Happy birthday,” my mom, Tatiana, says as she sets the cake down before me. Twenty candles are on the cake.

My younger sisters, Irina and Anastasia, clap for me as I blow the candles out while my uncle Denis continues to look unhappy. He hates celebrations. He hates seeing me and my family have any sort of fun.

The occasion is marked with some sadness though.

My older sister, Natalya, isn’t here with us.

She’s married to Mikhail Novikoff, a Bratva man, whom Denis hates.

My uncle hasn’t allowed her over since she tried to save us by taking us away to live with her.

That plan failed and me and my other sisters have been stuck with Denis for a whole year.

Natalya and I always had a strained relationship. She was so focused on her ballet while I floundered through life, trying to figure out what I wanted to do. It caused tension between us.

She preferred to spend time with Irina, who’s also a ballerina, leaving no room for me.

But after she married and tried desperately to save us, I’ve warmed up to my older sister and for the first time, I actually miss her. I wish she was here for my birthday.

“Just one more year and you can legally drink,” Anastasia, my youngest sister says with excitement. At sixteen, she tends to think of only partying and having fun since she’s been deprived of it her entire life. All my sisters and myself have been.

Our father, Lev, who was killed a year ago by mafia members, had strict dating rules for us: no dating at all. The plan was always to find us a Mafia man to marry. Natalya found Mikhail.

And now it’s my turn to get a husband.

Denis locks eyes with me across the table. He’s a less handsome version of my father. Where my father was strong and tall, Denis is weak and short. He’s a pale comparison.

A slow smile creeps across his face and I shiver. I know what it means. It means he’s going to marry me off to a man of his choosing. Soon.

I knew this day was coming but I’m not sure I’m going to take it as graceful as Natalya did. I’ve never been a rule breaker myself but I’ve also longed for freedom. Longed to just live my life for myself.

But my life will belong to the man that Denis chooses for me.

Mom cuts the cake and hands each of us a piece. When she places a plate in front of Denis, he grabs her wrist.

“You did a good job with the cake,” he says.

Mom tries to tug her wrist free but he’s not letting go. I’ve seen the way he looks at my mom. I’ve seen it for the past year. He wants her.

But she refuses to give herself to him.

“Thank you,” she says through tense lips. “Now I’d actually like to eat it.”

Slowly, he lets her go and she sits down next to Ana, acting as a force between her youngest daughter and her brother-in-law. Denis has hit Ana in the past to keep us in line.

“The cake is delicious,” Irina tells our mom. Always the most polite out of us. The most shy and demure.

“Thank you, honey.”

I take a bite and while the cake is good, it settles heavy on my stomach like cement. Denis returns his gaze to me, locking me in place.

I can’t enjoy my own birthday knowing that I’ll soon lose all of my freedom. All of my own agency. I’ll be lost to whoever Denis chooses for a husband for me.

I can only force one bite down before I push my plate away. “So, who is it going to be?”

Mom frowns. “Sasha?”

I keep my eyes on Denis. “Tell me. Who are you going to marry me to? Who is it going to be?”

Denis dabs at his mouth like he has all the time in the world. It’s infuriating. “I have invited him over tonight for you to meet. Well, officially meet. It’s my present to you.”

“If you wanted to give me an actual present, you wouldn’t be forcing me to marry someone of your choosing.”

“Well tough, Sasha. You are my daughter now and you will do as I say.”

“I am not your daughter. None of us are your daughters and we never will be.”

His sneer returns as he slams his hand against the table, making the cups and silverware rattle. “You are my daughter in everything but biology. I have been a part of this family for the past year.”

“You are my uncle. Not my father. Get it right.”

“I can see that I cannot change your mind. But what if I do this?” He grabs the back of Irina’s hair and tugs her head back. The yelp that escapes her sends an intense anger straight to my stomach.

“Let her go,” Mom growls.

“No. This is between me and Sasha. Say it. Say I’m your father.” His grip tightens on Irina’s hair. Her eyes flash to mine, begging for me to help her.

I want to say no, that I will not fall for his games but… Irina needs my help. I can’t judge Natalya for being a so-so big sister to me and be a bad big sister to Irina.

“Fine,” I grit out. “Your my father. Happy? Now let her go.”

He doesn’t. “I want you to say it like you mean it.”

“You are my father,” I say in as much of a sincere tone as I can manage.

He narrows his eyes, holding onto Irina for a beat longer, before letting her go. She rubs the back of her head. Soon, she’ll be turning eighteen. Only a couple of months away. That will make her even more of a target for Denis to use.

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” he asks. “Now, finish your cake. Our guest will be arriving shortly.”

“The man you’re forcing me to marry, you mean.”

“He’s still our guest. Now eat. Or don’t eat. I don’t want you getting fat on cake. I don’t think he’ll want an ugly bride.”

That spurs me on to eat my entire piece. It’s delicious but every bite feels like it’s burning in my mouth.

Denis gives me a smug look, knowing he’s won this round.

We congregate in the living room as we wait for this guest to arrive. Denis takes my father’s chair by the fireplace while me and my three sisters huddle on the couch. Mom remains standing, glaring at Denis. He pointedly ignores her.

“How do you think Natalya is doing?” Irina asks. Since she and Natalya were the closest, I know she misses our big sister the most.

“We don’t talk about that traitor,” Denis says.

Natalya tried hard to save us but Denis’s hold over us is too strong.

Even her powerful husband can’t break it.

Denis barely leaves the house anymore and is always surrounded by guards, making it virtually impossible for Mikhail to kill him.

Me and my sisters don’t have any weapons of our own to use and none of us know how to fight.

My mom did teach me and Natalya how to shoot after we turned eighteen so I do know how to use a gun.

But since I don’t have a gun, that skill is currently pointless.

“I think she’s happy,” Ana says. “I saw the love in her eyes when she looked at her husband.”

“We don’t talk about him either,” Denis snaps. He hates Mikhail because Mikhail used to work with my father. And Denis hates everyone who had a connection to my dad. It makes him feel inferior.

I tuck a piece of my brown hair behind my ear. It hangs limp around my shoulders. Normally I’d curl it for my birthday but Denis hasn’t allowed anything in our home that could act as a weapon.

“I want to talk about him,” I say, unable to help myself. The smugness in Denis – the way he acts like he owns us – gets under my skin. “I wish I was living with him and Natalya over you. And Natalya and I were never that close so that’s saying something.”

“Do you want me to hurt Irina again?” he challenges.

That makes me close my mouth. Now that I’m the biggest sister in the house, I have to be responsible for my sisters. I can’t run my mouth off, even though I desperately want to chew Denis out.

A knock at the door makes me tense.

“Ah, there he is.” Denis leaves the living room, giving my family just a moment of respite.

“Mom, what am I going to do?” I whisper, hating how scared I sound but I am scared. There’s no denying it. What if Denis marries me off to an abusive man?

“You’re going to sit with your head held high,” she says. “You’re not going to show any fear. Don’t give Denis what he wants.”

Denis and his guest enter the living room. The sight of the mystery man makes all the air leave my body. I know this man. I’ve seen him only once before but that memory has been cemented in my mind since it happened.

Nico Bernardi. Head of the Italian Mafia.

Denis tried to force Natalya to marry an Irish mobster, Cillian Kennedy, about a year ago. Until Mikhail showed up to stop the wedding with Nico beside him. Nico shot Cillian like it was nothing.

Last I heard, Mikhail shot Nico in the back since they were never friends. Only ever enemies. Nico obviously survived.

The two of us never spoke but I remember him. How can I forget the scary, intimidating, shockingly handsome, mafia man?

Who’s now going to be my… husband?

“Everyone, this is Nico,” Denis introduces.

Nico is disarmingly handsome. Brown hair and eyes, stubble that’s just right, broad shoulders, and a power in his eyes that speaks to his strength. At least I won’t find my future husband ugly.

Too bad I’m terrified of him.

“You can’t be serious,” I blurt out.

“Sasha,” Denis snaps.

“He’s at war with Mikhail. I can’t marry a man who’s at war with my own sister’s husband. That would mean me and Natalya would be at war.”

“You’re already at war with her,” Denis says. “When she left, she made it clear she didn’t belong to this family anymore. Now, don’t be rude to our guest. Nico, that is Sasha.”

Nico laughs. How can he find any of this amusing? “I remember Sasha. Nice to see you again.”