Page 79 of Brutal Vows

“Getting rid of my curse,” she sneers.

I push the emergency button on my watch. She quirks a brow.

“It doesn’t matter what poor sap you tricked into giving you that jewelry,” she says.

I press the button on my ring. And my necklace. And when her eyes narrow on my earrings, I press those, too.

“Julieta and I finally found the perfect man for you.”

Fear skitters down my spine. Goosebumps cover my arms.

A shadow falls over me.

“He’ll make sure you never bother us again. Won’t you, Viktor?”

I know who I’ll see before I even turn around, but the knowledge doesn’t stop the bile from rising into my throat or the terror from icing my veins as I meet his evil blue eyes.

The Russian underboss. The man who held me at gunpoint eight months ago. Thestronzowho tried to kidnap me after forcing my sister to operate on his boss.

Questions flood my mind even as panic sweeps through me.

I rise from the bench, holding his gaze, and force my hands to relax at my sides instead of curl into fists.

My watch shifts on my wrist, reminding me it began a muted voice call with my husband the moment I hit the emergency button.

I’m not alone.

Ermanno will come for me.

He knows where I am, who I’m with, and is probably gathering more than my three bodyguards before breaking down the door as he listens to my conversation.

This is our best opportunity to get answers, not only about my sister and stepsister’s involvement with the Russians, but also about the people threatening the Russo family.

I swallow the bile in my throat and square my shoulders as I face the monster my sister invited into her home.

Even as I mentally prepare for battle, my heart cries out for Ermanno.

He kidnapped me, broke my defenses, built me back up, and offered me a future I never thought possible.

I need him. I love him.

I’ll do anything for him, including square off with a terrifying Russian mobster with evil delight shining in his eyes.

Ermanno is mine and I’m his.

His fierce littlegattina.

I’ll stop at nothing to get the answers he needs.

Chapter 20

Ermanno Mancini

I prop my phone on the dashand throw the car in drive. None of my passengers complain as I speed through the city streets, their attention on the phone call emanating from the car speakers and the video feed on my phone.

The only reason I haven’t sent the three soldiers at her apartment building to break down the door is because Loretta sounds so level-headed.

“Is this why you weren’t concerned about them returning? Because you were already talking to them?” Loretta asks.

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