Chapter 31 - Stephano #2
"You're going to be late," I tease, leaning against the doorframe, working the last buttons on my shirt, then sliding on the tie.
She doesn’t answer, just sends me one of her… looks.
I do have a request. "Check on Nico; he should be—"
"I won’t be seeing him," she cuts in. "We're not meeting at the house. But I’ll tell Grigori to have Nico call you."
I roll my eyes. "How considerate of the man who is holding my brother captive."
She smirks. "You Italians take everything so personally and make it so dramatic. He's keeping him safe."
She's right. I know she is, but the last thing I want is to feel… indebted or grateful towards the Russian Bratva bastard. I'm about to respond, but she’s already turning away from me, lifting her braid, twisting it up. Then she pulls a mesh cap over it and settles a blonde wig on top. I blink.
"Shit," I breathe. "You’re even more gorgeous as a blonde."
She's a goddam goddess.
"So I’ve been told." There is no flaunting in her voice or posture. She assesses herself like she does everyone and everything else: dispassionately and objectively. Which makes her even more dangerous because she knows and accepts not only her strengths but also her weaknesses.
She kisses me, brief and taunting. "Don’t do anything too stupid while I’m gone."
I raise a brow. "Define stupid."
She opens her mouth, but I stop listening. Because I suddenly register what’s not happening. She’s not calling for guards.
She’s not waiting for escorts.
She’s heading toward the door—
Alone.
"Oh hell no." I catch her wrist and pull her back. "You’re not going anywhere without—"
She doesn’t even blink before there’s a gun at my temple.
A fucking gun.
Pressed to my head by my wife.
I nearly laugh.
"I think I can handle myself," she says calmly.
And God help me—my entire body reacts.
Hard. Immediate. Unavoidable.
She laughs softly. "Does this arouse you?"
"You arouse me," I growl, grabbing her by the waist and dragging her against me, kissing her hard enough to bruise. The gun lowers, just enough. That’s when I move.
Quick, clean, instinctive.
I twist her wrist, disarm her, and click the safety before she even realizes I’ve moved.
She stares at her empty hand like I just stole fire from a goddess.
"You…" she breathes. "That hasn’t happened to me since I started training."
I wink. "About those guards."
Her eyes flash with fury. "I don’t need guards if you’re not around to distract me."
She’s pissed. Beautifully, lethally pissed.
I laugh. I can’t help it. "You’re welcome for the reminder."
I hand her back the gun. But when she reaches for it, I keep my grip firm, not letting go. "You’re not going to shoot me with it," I murmur.
"Don’t tempt me."
I tug her closer by the weapon between us, pulling her mouth an inch from mine. Her breath warms my lips. Her eyes burn straight through me.
Devotion. Violence. Lust. All of it wrapped into one impossible woman.
"Come back to me," I say quietly.
She leans in, whispering against my mouth, "Try not to start a war while I’m gone."
And then she slips the gun from my hand and vanishes through the door,
leaving me hard, annoyed, and completely in love with the most dangerous creature on earth.
Raf arrives ten minutes early. I’m still agitated as hell when my guard announces him.
Oksana has been gone less than an hour, and I trust her—God, I trust her—but fuck, she’s my wife.
My responsibility. It's my job to keep her safe. And she’s making that job harder than any enemy ever could.
Before the meeting with Raf starts, I make a few phone calls.
I get drones in the air, trailing her. Then I stare at the screen, keeping my eyes on my gunmetal-gray Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport as she drives down the road into the city.
She had better not leave a scratch on it. Or herself.
Finally, Raf steps into my living room, giving the place a once-over, and his mouth twitches. "You’re using Russian guards now?"
I almost smile. Almost. "The situation is… delicate."
"That’s one word for it." He nods toward Oksana's men, then takes the coffee I hand him. Like we've done a hundred times before. Before…
He sits, posture relaxed but ready, the same lethal quiet he's always carried, but there is something else there now, too—the acknowledgment of power.
"I’m sorry about your father," he says.
My jaw tightens. "You knew." It's not a question.
He doesn’t flinch. "Some. Not about Nico. I would’ve told you if I’d known that."
I stare at him. Long and hard. That’s not nothing. And I believe him. Still, "You should’ve told me about Gustave," I snap.
He drags a hand through his hair. "I would’ve, in Vegas, but then… things escalated."
A sharp breath leaves me, something close to a laugh. "That’s one word for it."
I throw his words back at him. We exchange a commiserating glance before he shoots back, "You knew I was building my own shadow kingdom and never said a word. You knew about Leonardo."
I bark out a real laugh at that. "I was going to tell you in Vegas…"
His eyes narrow with begrudging humor.
"And then things escalated," we finish together.
We stare at each other for a beat. And then both of us laugh, short and rough. Two men who should probably be enemies. But he feels more like a brother-in-arms, and we work dangerously well together when the world’s on fire.
It hangs between us now: We were a good team.
Maybe we still are.
Raf leans back, studying me with that surgical intelligence of his.
"You look like a man trying not to think about something," he says.
I shake my head. "Someone."
He doesn’t ask who. He knows.
"Oksana?" he guesses.
"Meeting Grigori," I mutter, rubbing my jaw. "Alone."
Raf whistles low. "Brave woman."
"Fucking impossible woman," I correct, but there’s no heat to it. Only… feeling.
Raf’s gaze flickers with something I don’t recognize at first. Understanding? Maybe even—respect.
"She can handle him," he says.
"She can handle anyone," I agree. "That’s not the problem."
"No." He nods slowly. "The problem is she’s yours."
My throat tightens. "Exactly."
He smirks. "Yeah. I get it."
And if anybody does, he is the man. Not even I had known of his love for Sophia; he’d kept it well hidden, but now that the world is finally allowing them to be together, he's obviously not going to take it for granted. Ever. Just like me. For a moment, we sit there—two men who lead, who kill, who don’t talk about fear—saying nothing.
But something shifts.
A step toward an alliance. A step toward trust. Maybe even friendship.
Raf sets his coffee down with a quiet finality. "About Caracas."
I nod. "I’m all ears."
He leans his elbows on his knees; his expression is hard, carved from stone. "I owe Aurelio. I promised I’d kill him."
I don’t ask why. I don’t need the details. I know enough. Caracas was a clusterfuck of blood and betrayal. The kind of mess only Raffael DeSantis could crawl out of alive.
"You want in?" he asks. "We can go together or separately. Your choice. Either way…" His jaw tics. "Aurelio is mine."
I hold his stare. "I need answers from him. And from his father," I say. "Before anyone dies."
"And you shall have them." Raf’s voice softens in the most terrifying way possible. "I’m not opposed to extending Aurelio’s life. I just don’t want it to be a… pleasant extension."
We grin at each other.
Well, fuck.
Two men aligned not by trust, but by mutual rage and opportunity.
Sometimes that’s better.
We stand and shake hands, firm and final.
As we release, I add, "You’ll have to tell Oksana."
He smirks. "Coward."
I laugh, shaking my head. "Precautious, not cowardly."
"Hmm," he hums, unconvinced. "Same thing."
I flip him off. He returns it with a lazy salute.
But beneath the banter, something settles. A pact. A direction. A war is quietly being born in my living room.
"So," his grin is deadly. "Ready to burn the world?"
I look him dead in the eye. "Let’s start with Caracas."
And for the first time today, the agitation eases. Because with Oksana on one battlefield… and Raf beside me on another… I like our chances.
A text message interrupts the moment.
"Shit."
"What?" Raf looks up.
"Oksana is in trouble."
"You had her tailed?" RafHe looks impressed, then doubtful. "I wouldn't have pegged you for the suicidal kind."
"I need Toni. I need his chopper."