44. Freedom Has A Price #3
“You’d want to marry a woman who is clearly in love with another man?” Santino growled, his voice laced with disgust.
Aleksandr’s eyes slid past me to Raya. Every muscle in my body turned to stone, ready to fight. A low, primal growl erupted from my chest as my protectiveness flared. It said what I didn’t need to.
Take your eyes off her.
His eyes returned to me, calm and unbothered by the threat, as though he hadn’t just come a breath away from losing them from their sockets.
“No,” he answered with certainty. “I will not share my wife. Any part of her.”
This asshole. As if I’d share her with him.
“You all seem to have forgotten that it was you who came to us. You told the Pakhan you had a Buccini princess who was single and suitable for a marriage alliance. But… it’s become quite clear…” He looked down at my hand, fisting Raya’s dress at her hip. “…that isn’t the case.”
He rose to his feet, fastening the button on his suit jacket before straightening one of his silver cufflinks. Then the other. His thumb rotated it a fraction again until it sat perfectly level with the other.
“I have no interest in forcing a woman whose loyalties already lie elsewhere. That will only cause me problems, not solutions.”
Yes. Me. I’m the problem, motherfucker.
Raya moved to my side, her lips parted. “You’d… release me from the agreement?”
“No.” His attention shifted towards Alessio. “The contract never named Soraya Buccini. Only a Buccini bride.”
Alessio went very still. The room and everyone in it seemed to hold their breath. We all followed Aleksandr’s gaze as it swept around the room and settled on one woman. A pair of wide green eyes stared up at him for a heartbeat before dropping to the floor.
Liliana.
Raffaele was the first to react, jumping to his feet. “No.”
“I haven’t proposed anything,” Aleksandr said, puffing on his cigar as he took a final drag.
“You looked at my sister!” Raffaele hissed, pointing at Lili.
“She fulfils the agreement. She’s unmarried. She bears the Buccini name.”
Aleksandr crouched. Without taking his eyes off Liliana, he crushed the burning end of his cigar into Vito’s open eye.
“She has no entanglements with any other men.”
Lili looked away in disgust, her nostrils flaring. He rose smoothly to his full height.
“She’s suitable, if you wish to keep the alliance.”
Liliana slowly turned her head back towards him. Her cheeks had flushed pink, but her chin remained high. She rose from the sofa.
“I’ll do it.”
Aleksandr regarded her in silence, giving nothing away.
“Lili, you can’t—“ Raya cried, and Raff reached for her, trying to pull her back down onto the sofa. She ignored them both, holding Aleksandr’s gaze without flinching.
“I’ll marry you. But only because I want no more blood spilled.”
A ghost of a smile touched Aleksandr’s lips. He straightened his suit and looked at Alessio. “Shall we amend the agreement?”
“I will not give an answer until I have spoken to Giovanni. He’s her father and the Boss of this family. Nothing happens unless he agrees.”
At that moment, Alessio’s phone rang. He glanced down at the screen and swallowed. As he lifted it to his ear, the room fell silent.
“Si?”
His expression didn’t change. He just listened to whoever was on the other end. But it was Santino who had my attention. He’d stumbled back a few steps until his spine hit the wall. All the colour was draining from his face as he stared at Alessio.
Before anyone else, he knew.
Alessio lowered his hand, but didn’t end the call. Instead, he stared at the floor for a long time.
“Alessio?” Raffaele furrowed his eyebrows.
“Giovanni’s gone,” Alessio muttered, frozen in a state of shock. “He didn’t make it.”
Liliana’s scream shattered the room, a sound so raw and broken it rattled my bones. Raya collapsed against me. I caught her before she hit the floor.
“No,” she whispered, staring at Alessio. “No, no, no.”
Santino didn’t move. He stood frozen against the wall, staring at nothing. When Aria threw her arms around him, crying into his shirt, he didn’t even blink. Unable to process it. Raffaele held onto Liliana as she sobbed into her hands, silent tears slipping down his unbandaged cheek.
The grief in the room was suffocating. It hit me like a tsunami of pain, too familiar and gut-wrenching. Watching another family destroyed. All of it traced back, as it always did, to McKenna.
Aleksandr remained where he was, watching the room unravel. His eyes found Liliana, sobbing against her brother. He swallowed and lifted his gaze to Alessio. “We’ll continue this discussion another time. There are matters more important than contracts today.”
Nobody was looking at him except me.
“My condolences.”
As he turned to leave, his eyes snagged on Liliana again. For the first time since I’d met the Russian, his face seemed to soften. He almost looked human. Then it vanished. He walked out without another word, his men falling into step behind him.
I held Raya tighter against me, pressing my lips to her hair, wishing I could take her pain away. I’d once wanted Giovanni dead. McKenna had granted that wish. And I’d never hated myself more.