Chapter 32
EVA
I stare at the crystal wine glass Ivan just filled. It reminds me of blood.
"You're not eating, Eva," Ivan observes, slicing into his steak. "The chef prepared this especially for our reunion dinner."
Reunion. As if we're old friends catching up.
"I've lost my appetite," I manage, fighting to keep my voice steady.
Ivan chuckles, dabbing his mouth with his napkin. "Understandable. It's been quite a day for you."
I glance at the doors, wondering how far I’d make it before I was caught, or shot, if I ran.
"Do you remember the first time we met?" Ivan asks, swirling his wine. "You were just a terrified girl, begging my brother for your father's life."
The memory is seared into my brain. My father on his knees. Maksim Vasiliev's cold eyes. My desperate pleas.
"You made a choice that day," Ivan continues. "A contract, if you will. Your service for your father's life."
"A contract you broke when your brother killed him anyway," I snap, unable to contain myself.
Ivan shrugs. "My brother was impulsive. I would have honored our arrangement."
"And now?"
“And now you have to honor yours. After all, your father’s death was your fault. You broke the contract—”
“Lorenzo was going to kill me.”
He sits back and studies me. “And we could have protected you. You and your child. You should have trusted us, Eva. If you had, your father would be alive and the Dantes would all be dead.”
Adriano has said similar words to me. Asking me why I didn’t trust him then. Why I didn’t trust him now.
“Like I said, the Dantes will kill me on sight. I’m no help to you.”
“I don’t know about that. Everyone knows when it comes to you, Adriano is a fool. It’s sweet, actually. Who’d have thought he had a heart? If anyone can get back into the Dante estate, it’s you, through him.” His gaze scrapes over my body. “Use your assets. He seems to like them.”
I want to slap him. "Kill me if you must. I won't betray him again."
“Again?” He laughs. “My goodness, if he took you back more than once, he really is a sucker.”
I’m resolved that no matter what, I won’t hurt Adriano again. I know it means I die, but I can live with that. I couldn’t live with being party to Adriano dying.
I’m back to those impossible choices. Four years ago, I chose to save my father. I can still picture his face, ashen, bruised as Maksim Vasiliev pressed a gun to his temple.
“Get into the Dante house. Find work. Fuck the sons. Doesn’t matter how,” Maksim ordered.
I was able to make myself useful to Lorenzo, working for him as an assistant. Maksim couldn’t be happier. At first, I wasn’t bothered by infiltrating the Dante home. To me, the Dantes and Bratva… all of them were scum.
But then I met Adriano at one of the Dante charity galas.
I remember every detail of that first night.
The way his hair fell slightly across his forehead.
Those piercing gray eyes that seemed to see right through me.
The slight quirk of his lips when he smiled, something I learned he didn’t do often, except with me.
"Dance with me," he'd said, not a question but not quite a command.
I should have said no. I should have maintained distance.
Instead, I placed my hand in his, and the moment we touched, electricity coursed through me. I’d never felt like that with a man before.
He pulled me close, one hand at the small of my back. "You're not like the others.”
I wasn't. I was worse. A spy. A traitor.
Yet as we swayed to the music, something blossomed between us.
Something warm and intoxicating that made me forget my mission, forget my father's life hanging in the balance.
Something that, despite everything that came after, I've never been able to forget.
Something that I know I’ll never experience with any other man.
At first, I told myself that this was part of the mission. How pleased Maksim would be and perhaps I could finally free my father from the Bratva threat.
I remember the exact moment I knew I'd made a fatal mistake, when I realized that the lie I was living had become real.
Adriano and I were on his balcony, the night air gently blowing. He'd pulled me against his chest.
"I love you," he'd whispered, lips brushing my ear.
Three simple words that shattered my world. Because in that moment, I realized I loved him too. Truly, desperately loved him. His fierce loyalty, his unexpected tenderness, the way his eyes softened only for me.
"You don't have to say it back," he murmured, misinterpreting my hesitation. "I just needed you to know."
I turned in his arms, guilt ripping me apart. "I love you too.” They were the only honest words I’d spoken in the Dante home.
That night changed everything. Each piece of information I passed to the Russians felt like a betrayal not only of Adriano, but of myself. Of my values.
But whenever I considered stopping, Maksim Vasiliev's voice would echo in my mind. "Your father's life is in your hands."
I can still hear him, even now, sitting across from his brother who watches me with the same cruel eyes.
Then came the morning sickness. The missed period. The realization that I carried Adriano's child inside me.
I decided I needed to protect my father and Adriano, so I passed on bad information. Not lies, but nothing that would help Maksim and Ivan in their war against the Dantes.
Maksim must have figured it out because he brought me my father’s finger and told me he’d cut him piece by piece if I didn’t do better.
A day later, Don Lorenzo confronted me. To this day, I don't know if someone betrayed me or if he simply figured it out himself.
"You think I don't know what you've been doing?" he'd asked. "You've been selling our secrets to the Russians. Betraying my son."
"No," I'd protested, even though it was true. "I can explain—"
"There's nothing to explain," he cut me off. "I’m sure you understand what happens to people who betray me.”
“Please… I’m pregnant.” I hadn’t meant to blurt it out. I hadn’t even told Adriano yet. But I couldn’t let Lorenzo kill me… kill his grandchild.
He sat back and studied me. I swear I saw a moment of humanity. I suppose when he said I could live but had to leave, that was his humanity. “You leave. Tonight. Never contact my son again. If you stay, you die," he continued, voice empty of emotion. "If you go, you both live. Choose."
My father had helped me fake my death, his final act of love before Maksim killed him anyway, punishing him for my disappearance.
I lost everything that night. My father. The man I loved. The life I might have had. All I had was Mirabella.
Now, looking at Ivan across the table, I realize I'm about to lose everything again.
"Maksim's death won't go unpunished," Ivan says, pulling me from my memories. "The Dantes have lived too long thinking they're untouchable."
“You killed the Don, didn’t you? When does it end?”
His hand slams on the table, making me jump. “It ends when every Dante is dead. Start with Adriano, the monster they send when someone needs to be dealt with.”
"He's not a monster."
"No?" Ivan scoffs. "Ask the men who've screamed beneath his blade if they agree.
" He grips my chin, forcing me to look at him.
"But don't worry. I'll make sure he sees you before he dies.
Make sure he sees exactly who led us to him.
" His smirk makes my skin crawl. "You're not the spy anymore, Eva. You're the bait."
"He won't come for me," I lie, praying it's true. "Not after I ran."
Ivan releases my face with a dismissive flick. "We'll see."
I swallow hard. If Adriano doesn't come, I die. If he does come, he dies. The thought of him walking into Ivan's trap, believing I've betrayed him again, is unbearable.
"You won't win," I say. "The Dantes aren't as easily destroyed as you think."
Ivan's expression darkens. "Neither was my brother. Yet here we are."
He rises, tossing his napkin on his plate. He moves toward the door, pausing with his hand on the knob. "Sleep well, Eva."
The door closes behind him, leaving me alone with nothing except the certainty that whether Adriano comes for me or not, whether he still loves me or hates me, I've dragged him into a death trap.