Page 57 of Heartless Sinner

My hand wrapped around the handle of one of the knives as Mr. Russo walked towards me, his hands open almost as if he were going to hug me. “You and I both know that you’re too far down the ladder for him. What he sees in you I really have no idea. But there is nothing so special about you that you can’t be replaced.”

I waited until he was close enough, working hard to keep my expression neutral. The same feeling that had overtaken me when Dmitri had died overtook me now, a deep rage that told me, maybe I wasn’t so different from other children of the mafia after all.

That dark pit inside me that wanted violence.

Mr. Russo took one more step, close enough, and I whipped the knife out of the block, bringing it around so that the point was an inch from his throat.

Papa wasn’t exactly the best dad, but he had made sure I knew how to defend myself. “I am a smart girl,” I told him evenly. “And a smart girl knows the value of loyalty. I gave my word to Vince. And nothing you say, or do, will make me break it. You want me out of the way? Go ahead. Try and kill me. It’s the only thing that’ll work.”

Over by the door, Jack and Mr. Russo’s two bodyguards stared, clearly unsure what to do about this situation.

Mr. Russo, to my surprise, stepped back and slowly clapped his hands. “Oh, you are a good one. Tell me, would you have actually killed me?”

I stepped towards him, rage boiling so strongly in me I nearly choked on it. “Try me and find out.”

His gaze searched mine. It was piercing, assessing, rather like Vince’s, but it lacked all of Vince’s warmth. “Excellent,” he said softly.

With that he waved his hand dismissively at me and went to pick up the envelope. “You can put that knife away, Miss Preston. You passed.”

“P-passed?” I suddenly became aware of my racing heart and my sweating palms, and I put the knife back in the block before I dropped it.

“Well I had to make sure you would stand by him. My son deserves nothing less.” Mr. Russo smiled, and now I could see a small fragment of warmth in him. “I rather look forward to dinner with you. It seems Vincent made a better choice than I’d thought.”

As he put the envelope back into his pocket, I blurted out, “There’s no money in there, is there?”

“Oh, there is.” Mr. Russo shrugged. “If you really were spineless I’d want you out of the way and I mean it when I say Vincent would know if I killed you. But I was hoping you’d be loyal and stand firm and you did. Ciao, Miss Preston.”

He smiled, and it was oddly… lighthearted. Teasing. “Perhaps in time I’ll let you call me papà.”

With that, he turned and left.

I stared after him. My knees felt oddly numb.

Jack looked sheepish. I turned to him. “Let me guess. Your loyalty is to him, first, not me.”

“My loyalty’s to Vincent,” Jack replied. “I wouldn’t have just let him kill you if that was his goal but if you’d taken the money I would’ve… agreed with him about you just leaving.”

I felt a bit faint, but also a bit angry. “Right. I’m going to need to sit down.”

Jack moved to help me but I waved him away. This was the mafia. This was how the world turned. Now that I had just held a knife to a mafia don’s throat, I wasn’t sure I was allowed to be self-righteous or angry about it anymore.

The door opened again and Vince strode in, a look on his face that I couldn’t quite read, but he saw me and came to an abrupt halt. “What happened?”

“I passed one of your father’s tests,” I replied dryly. “Apparently he likes it when women hold knives to his neck.”

Fire flashed in Vince’s eyes and he turned as if to stride out the door and confront his father right there and then, but then he took a deep breath. I could see his shoulders moving with it, and his fingers clenching, then relaxing.

Vince could control his rage, I thought idly. Just like I could. Dmitri hadn’t been able to control himself.

Neither can Alexander, something in me whispered.

Vince turned back to me. “He wanted to get you alone and make sure I’d made the right choice.”

I nodded.

“Well, I did.” Vince crossed to me.

“You don’t even know what happened.”

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