Page 17 of Leave Me (Touch of Death 2)
“A party?” I blurt.
His eyes slide to mine and suspicion curls in my gut. He never mentioned any party. “Our engagement party, of course.”
What feels like ice dumps into my veins, and I still. I can hear Gabi talking, but the words are a muted hum beneath the pounding beat of my heart. My chest tightens, and I feel like I can’t breathe. It’s happening. I mean…of course, it’s happening, but I figured I had more time. I think I thought that- that I could get close to him first. Maybe kill him before any of this became a reality. Panic creeps up in me, and I push to my feet. All eyes in the room land on me.
“I…need…air,” I stammer, whirling around and heading for the door. This wild kind of fear engulfs me, and I need to escape before it hits. I will not allow Enrique Bianchi to see even a hint of weakness. I yank the door open, and one of his men steps in my path. The same huge, scarred individual from before. Those beady eyes meet mine, and I try to hide my blind panic. There’s a moment where we simply face-off, and seconds feel like an hour. I step to the left, and he mimics the movement. Desperation claws at my throat, and I suck in a choked breath.
“Show Miss Ricci back to her room,” Enrique says lazily, finally granting me a sliver of sympathy.
The stalemate finally breaks, and the thug eventually steps aside, allowing me to bolt past him. I hate to leave my sister, but I know he won’t hurt her. He needs her to play along as part of this charade. It must appear as though the Ricci’s have fully sanctioned the union, and well, Gabi is the Ricci’s now because if he has his way, I’ll soon be a Bianchi.
I’m doing this willingly; I’m doing this willingly. I recite the words over and over, reminding myself that I am not a victim because right now, I feel every bit of one. I wonder, would my father approve of the measures I’m taking, or would he be disappointed at the fall of the Ricci empire?
The man leads me back to my room, and closes the door, locking me in once more.
I go to the bed and pull my knees to my chest, blocking out everything. And then I do something that I haven’t done since the first night I arrived here. I cry.
5
Sasha
Icy winds whip around us, the air so cold that it burns the exposed skin on my cheeks and freezes the very depths of my lungs. I’ve missed that familiar burn, the numbness in my extremities, my fogged breath clouding in front of my face. I’ve missed Russia and her harsh embrace because it’s the only home I’ve ever known.
Flurries of snow cut across the dull-orange glow of the streetlamp a few feet in front of us, intermittently dimming the already lacking light. It’s easy to hide in a blizzard, but it’s also hard to hunt. Una remains still next to me, poised. We’ve been waiting for over an hour, and my joints locked into place a long time ago. We can’t see anything, but I know in front of us is a rugged track, and on the other side of it, about ten feet away is a metal chain-link fence. Beyond the fence is a factory. Una and I have contacts within the Bratva still. We know a weapons deal is going on here tonight, a deal between the Bratva and one of the Mexican cartels. It’s expected to be fraught; in other words, there will undoubtedly be Elite with them. Even if they bring ten with them, it’ll be a small blow to their operation, but a blow nonetheless. Una is thirsty for any Elite blood right now. She’ll peck away at them for years if she has to.
Of course, our fight isn’t with the Bratva directly, but they control the Elite, so by proxy, it is. I’m past caring who the enemy is; I just need one. I need to focus my skills, draw blood, start a war. There’s something living in me; this rage that feels like a loose, sparking wire. I’m constantly on the cusp of chaos, and any moment that spark is going to catch, sending me up in flames. I can’t stop it, and the only thing that placates it is this—a mission, laser focus.
The sound of engines cut through the constant howl of the wind, and I press against the wall of the building as the first car’s headlights cut through the white world around us. It slows and turns, the lights illuminating the chain-link fence just as a gap opens up in it. Six cars pass through in total, disappearing into the swirling haze of darkness.
