Chapter Fifty-Four
Stella
The door closes behind me and I’m nudged forward.
I clutch the rusty railing that leads up a staircase, the flaking metal biting into my palm as I force myself to move. Each step feels heavier than the last, terror pooling in my stomach like lead. My breathing is so loud it seems to echo off the concrete walls.
The air smells of mildew and damp stone, suffocating in its closeness, but I focus on moving, acutely aware of the thugs behind me. My legs tremble, but it’s not from climbing.
At the top of the staircase, a door shifts on its hinges, a low, guttural moan that tells me it hasn’t been used in years. This place is probably abandoned. Unlikely to have anyone stumble in and find me here. Rescue me from whatever fate Aleksei has in store.
Surely, he wouldn’t! I just can’t believe he’d do anything to hurt me.
Why not?
He murdered Dad.
My breath stalls, caught somewhere in my throat, as two figures materialize from the shadows.
“Aleksei?” I choke out, praying that I’ll be able to reason with him somehow. I squint into the darkness.At first, it’s just the shapes, but then the dim, flickering fluorescent light reveals them.
And it’s not Aleksei. It’s…
Shit!
Gianni steps forward, his mouth twisting into that infuriating smirk. That smirk that slithers under your skin and festers. The sharp lines of his face look even harsher under the unforgiving light, his predatory eyes glinting with something dark, something vile.
Then a woman moves into view beside him, and I gasp. “You!” I choke. “You’re…!” The sleek black hair, the impeccable designer suit, her head held high like a queen surveying her kingdom.
Sofia!
My eyes rove over her as a realization dawns on me. It was her! She was the woman I saw coming out of Gianni’s apartment that morning I went to confront him. The one he’d been screwing while we were engaged. I never saw her face that day, but her bearing, her posture… it’s impossible to deny.
I shake my head as I try to comprehend this.
“Hello, Stella,” she says, her voice cold as ice.But it’s her eyes that unnerve me — the pure, cold hatred there pierces right through me, leaving me raw and exposed.
The pieces lock into place like jagged fragments of a broken mirror, cutting as they come together. A sickening clarity washes over me, pulling the breath straight from my lungs. My vision wavers.
Oh God.
They’re working together!
And whatever their goal is, getting rid of me seems to be part of it. I feel it in my gut, in the way their gazes pin me like a cornered animal.
Gianni spreads his arms, the gesture as slimy as the false warmth in his voice. “Welcome to the party, cara .”
The fluorescent bulb above flickers, swelling the shadows on his face until he looks almost monstrous.
Something oily twists in my stomach, and for a moment, nausea floods me so fast I clutch the railing harder to steady myself.
But it’s not morning sickness this time — it’s fear. Raw, unfiltered fear.
“What do you want?” The words somehow stumble out of my mouth.
My voice, though steadier than I feel, sounds foreign to me.
False bravery wrapped over trembling lips.
I keep my arms stiff at my sides, willing them to stop shaking.
Cold metal against my spine forces me to walk forward again, but even the fear of the weapon held against me can’t force me to close the distance between us.
Sofia’s laugh cuts through the stagnant air like a blade. She stalks toward me, setting my teeth on edge.
“What do we want ?” She stops just short of me, tilting her head as if she’s looking at something pitiful. “That’s rich,” she sneers, the contempt dripping from her tongue. “I want what’s mine . What you stole .”
The accusation hits like a slap to my face, making me recoil as though she physically struck me. Even though I open my mouth to protest, my voice falters. The words stick to the roof of my mouth.
I didn’t steal anything.
But the truth tastes hollow when I chew on it. Because I did, didn’t I? Aleksei was hers first — I didn’t know it, but that doesn’t change what happened.
She arches a dark brow, one manicured hand flicking in quick, dismissive motions.
“You know what’s funny?” Her smile spreads, cruel and tar-like, smothering anything soft.
“I actually tried to handle this… delicately at first.” She takes a step closer, her perfume sharp, suffocating.
“Poor, stupid Imelda was so easy to bribe. A few thousand dollars, and she was ready to slip anything I wanted into your food.”
I stare at her, the air stalling in my lungs as yet another revelation hits me.
The food.
Diana’s warnings.
I sway as the pieces slot together, and horror rises in me.
“You—?” My hand flies instinctively to my stomach as realization unfurls. Protecting… something. Someone . Something so small and fragile it feels laughable to cling to it in the face of this onslaught. “You tried to poison me?”
Sofia rolls her eyes, as though I’m the one being irrational.
“If it wasn’t for that meddling Diana,” she spits the name with such venom that it makes me flinch, “you’d already be gone.
No mess, no fuss. Just a tragic little accident.
” She offers a theatrical sigh, her voice dripping with mock regret.
“But no. Dear old Imelda’s gone back to starve in the Philippines.
And here we are, doing things the hard way. ”
The hard way?
My arms wrap around my stomach like a shield, but I know it’s useless.
I can almost hear Diana in the back of my mind, her voice laced with warning.
I’d told myself it was just another way that Aleksei was trying to control me.
But it wasn’t. It was an assassination attempt.
This woman in front of me. My sister. The irony of it twists inside of me, too sharp to laugh at and too painful to ignore.
My voice trembles despite my best efforts to sound steady. “Sofia—” Her name feels foreign on my tongue, as though it doesn’t belong there. I step forward, just a little, just enough to put hope into the movement. “There’s something you need to know—”
“Shut up! I know everything I need to.” She cuts me off.
“But… but this is important,” I push, fumbling for words. “I just found out. I know it sounds ridiculous, but… we’re sisters.”
Her eyes fly wide. And then her face twists into something dark. “What?” she laughs out the word. “Are you fucking kidding me? That’s the most idiotic bullshit I’ve ever heard.” She shakes her head; dark hair goes flying.
“But it’s true! You were adopted, right?” I say, hoping for some sort of acknowledgment. All I see is contempt. I start to babble, trying to get the right words out. “Your parents were my parents. They had to give you up. But I always knew I had a sister and I never—”
“Stop.” She spits the word with violent precision, cutting the air between us like a blade.
“Do not call me that.” Her eyes are shards of ice.
I see no reflection of myself there, only hatred.
“You think you can manipulate me with some… ridiculous lie?” She sneers, low and bitter, the sound scratching down my spine. “Nice try, Stella.”
“It’s not a lie!” I take another step forward, my hand reaching out, desperate now. “Our parents — your birth parents — they were too young. Sofia, they were too young to keep you . They found you a family who could take care of you. But before that, you were — you are Boyana Larkina.”
A flicker. The barest flicker of something tilts her expression — her lips part, her brows twitch downward. It’s there for a fragment of a second before the rage washes it away, sweeping over her like wildfire.
“Shut up!” She surges forward, her finger jabbing toward my face. “You think you can spin fairy tales and make this go away? You think I’ll just forgive you for ruining my life because you fabricated some bullshit story—”
“Ruining your life?” I say in astonishment.
“Yes!” she snaps. “You and that fucking baby got in the way of me and Aleksei and ruined everything, you stupid cunt!”
I stare at her. The way I’m starting to see it, her ‘perfect’ life was destined to be over before it began. She was screwing Gianni before she even walked down the aisle with Aleksei, for God’s sake. But there’s no way I’m going to say that now. She doesn’t need any more reasons to want to kill me.
“I’m so sorry, Sofia,” I say instead, my hand outstretched. I don’t know if it’s a gesture of surrender or connection, but she stares at it as if she’d happily bite my fingers off.
“Don’t you fucking ‘sorry’ me!” she snarls. “I’ll show you how sorry you can be when I—”
“Ladies, ladies, let’s be reasonable here.” Gianni’s voice cuts through her tirade, slick and smooth, like poison dripping from silver. It makes my skin crawl.
He slides between us, his body a barrier I would never ask for. His eyes shift to me, and a shiver rakes through me as they roam over my form, stopping at the slight curve of my stomach.
“Ah,” he says. “The miracle of childbirth.” He smirks.
“You know, I find it fascinating.” He’s too close.
Close enough that I can smell the faint musk of his cologne, feel the heat radiating from him even as my own blood runs cold.
His lips curl into something that’s supposed to be a smile but feels more like a predator baring its teeth.
It’s impossible to believe that not long ago, I was planning to spend my life with this man. Now, just standing in front of him makes me want to vomit.
“Get away from me,” I hiss, recoiling and folding my arms over my chest. He reaches out to stroke my cheek, and I slap it away, resisting the urge to snap my teeth at him.
“Leave this to me, Gianni,” Sofia says coldly. “I told you I wanted to handle her.”
Fuck.
Exactly how does she plan to handle me?
“Now now, Sofia, cara mia .” Gianni’s accent has grown thicker. “Let’s not be too hasty. You can still have your moment with her. Just let me have my fun first.”
“Gianni, stop fucking around,” Sofia barks.
“Fucking around. Funny you should say that.” He chuckles. “Let’s not waste this opportunity,” he purrs, unhurried, deliberate.
Opportunity?
The words feel acidic, burning through the heavy air and into my skin.
“What opportunity?” Sofia’s voice slices upward, sharp and disbelieving. “This wasn’t part of the plan, Gianni. We agreed —”
“Don’t worry, I just need a moment,” he interrupts her, his eyes never leaving me. “After this, you’ll do with her as you please.” His hand drifts toward his belt buckle, his movements casual, predatory.
What?!
He can’t be serious!
I freeze, unable to breathe, unable to move, as his zipper whines in the oppressive silence. My stomach churns violently.
I back away until I feel myself press against a wall, the rough concrete biting into my shoulder blades. My breaths come short and shallow, my chest heaving as panic cracks through my resolve.
“Gianni, for fuck’s sake! We don’t have time for this,” Sofia objects but he stops her with an upheld palm.
“Quiet,” he barks, and her mouth snaps shut.
I don’t know if it’s obedience or surprise, but both seem foreign to her.
“I’ve always wanted to fuck a pregnant woman…
with someone watching. Seeing her like this…
it’s too perfect to pass up.” He reaches for my chin, his grip on it tightening painfully when I try to pull away.
“Gianni…” she tries once more.
“Sit down and be quiet,” he says, jerking his head toward a nearby chair.
His hand is delving into the front of his open pants.
I fight down a gag as he tugs out his hard cock and begins to stroke it.
The tip is already glistening with precum as he rolls his palm over it, leering at me.
I stare in horror for a second before snapping my eyes back to his face.
Sofia has sunk onto the chair, her face a mask of conflicting emotions.
Gianni’s grin stretches wider. “Strip,” he commands me.