Page 3 of The Devil's Angel

“Enough!” I growl, stepping up to her and grabbing her throat, but I don’t apply pressure with my grip. I’ve never hurt a woman in my life, and I am not about to start with her, but if she is a spy sent by the Ivanov family, she made a dangerous choice showing up here. I will not spare her just because she has . . . alluring eyes, soft velvety lips I long to taste, and a tight body I can only imagine backing to the wall and fucking well into the night.

No, I will not think about that.

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about. No one sent me here!”

“Try again.”

I refuse to budge from the fear I read in her eyes as she blinks up at me. Her pulse jumps against my hand, which only has my heart hammering in time with the throbbing of my cock, but I am not about to let this pretty little thing disarm me or . . .

Tempt me.

“I don’t want any trouble,” she whispers, her fingers closing over mine as she swallows deeply. “I’m sorry I came, I’ll leave now.”

“You’re not going anywhere until I’ve gotten answers.”

“Why are you being so mean to me?” She sniffs. “I’ve heard girls can watch the fights too. One of the fighters met his wife here!”

Right, Hawk meeting his wife here was news for a while after they got together and again when he retired, but tonight is not a normal fight. Tonight is meant to recruit men into the family. No one unaffiliated with the Rossi family should have been allowed in. The fact that she’s here screams “spy,” and I refuse to fall into her trap.

“I will ask one last time, who are you and what is your business here?” I shout, my patience running low.

“Katya,” she whimpers. “My name is Katya Ivanov.”

Her words take me by surprise, but I don’t show it.

She can’t be.

Surely the Ivanov family would not be so careless as to let this precious jewel out of their sight, would they?

“What is Viktor Ivanov’s youngest daughter doing in Rossi territory?” I growl, and I see it in her eyes the moment my words settle in.

Guilt with a heavy dose of fear.

“I-I . . . I need help.” Her words are uttered so quietly, I almost don’t catch them. I still can’t quite believe what I’ve heard.

Oh.

This little Bratva princess, the most precious jewel of the Ivanov family, just walked into the lion's den and solved all my problems.

My lips stretch in a grin as the truth sets in. “Didn’t your Daddy ever teach you not to seek help from monsters, little girl?”

Chapter Two

Katya

As I stare into the man’s emotionless dark eyes, I feel cold fear flow through my veins for the first time in my life.

Of course, this was a terrible idea. How could I have been so reckless as to think that the Rossi family’s underboss would want to help me, the daughter of the Russianpakhan? I am a straight-A student and I have grown up listening to my father’s stories about the hotheaded Italians. I should have known better. I did know better, but I was desperate. I thought nothing could be worse than the fate my father is prepared to subject me to, but looking into this man’s eyes, I realize I’ve made a grave mistake.

My family is going to kill me for this, if this giant of a man doesn’t beat them to it.

I must’ve done something in my previous life to warrant this kind of punishment because I know I’ve been nothing but good in this one. For twenty-one years, I’ve been nothing short of a perfect daughter, going above and beyond for everyone.

When I was ten years old, my grandfather’s favorite cellist had an accident and couldn’t play anymore, so what did I do? I begged my parents to enroll me in music classes where I learned how to play the cello and the piano. All my teachers loved me because I was hard-working and never missed a day of school.I even snagged myself a scholarship to Juilliard in an effort to make my family proud, and what do I get in return?

The very people I worked so hard to make proud just sold me off to a seventy-year-old man.

See, when my father told me this morning that he wanted to speak to me, I figured he was going to congratulate me for finishing top in class and tell me he was going to cancel his plans, so he could attend my upcoming showcase. To my disappointment, he couldn’t care less about my performance, but that was no real surprise. I never expected him to care even less about my life, though.

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