Page 51 of Savage Bratva King

“I can handle Xander Amory.”

“That’s good to hear,” Andrej chimes in. “Because from where I’m sitting, it’s starting to look as if he’s the one in control.”

“Good.” I spread my hands wide. “That’s exactly what we want him to believe.”

They both wait for me to elaborate.

“I couldn’t bring our operations to a complete halt. It would’ve been too obvious. I needed to give him just enough to allow him the upper hand while he tried to figure out what the Irish were doing with his sister-in-law.”

“Ah, the printzessa.” Victoria blinks slowly and tucks an imaginary stray lock of immaculate hair behind her ear. “What is happening with her? She’s a little like our mother’s Faberge eggs, Leo. Untouchable.”

An image of Gianna on all fours with her pussy in my face pops into my head, and my pulse picks up speed. If they only knew what Gianna does to me whenever we’re alone together, they would drag her onto the back of my brother’s motorcycle and deliver her back to her father before I could blink.

Andrej chuckles. “You fucked her, didn’t you?”

The tension in the room is as thick as soup. Victoria turns accusing eyes my way and draws in a deep slow breath. “Please tell me you didn’t, Leo.” Mentally, she is already preparing the paperwork for the legal battle of the century while measuring me up for my coffin.

Andrej scratches his jaw, his mouth twisted into a lopsided grin. “So, this was the great plan? Fuck her before you send her back?”

“Not exactly.”

“Not exactly?” Victoria’s voice has risen a notch. “Give me something I can work with, Leo, becausenot exactlydoesn’t cut it in a court of law.”

“She was engaged to be married to Seamus Mulligan.”

“Was? Your use of past tense isn’t lost on me, Leo. So, what, we have the Irish on our case as well as the Sicilians now?”

“I don’t see the Irish clamoring for my blood, do you?”

“No, because they have Xander Amory offering to deliver your head to them on a silver platter.” Andrej’s tone is serious. “What’s the plan, Leo? We need to know what we’re dealing with here.”

“We invade Amory territory. Hit them where it hurts along with a ransom note for the printzessa.”

Andrej shakes his head. “Then what? We send her back reeking of your cologne and with a signed affidavit that you didn’t touch her pinned to her back. You think they’re going to believe that their printzessa lost her cherry in Montenegro?”

“I don’t care what they believe.”

This is an absolute fucking lie. The thought of anyone else touching Gianna makes me want to tear down buildings with my bare hands. It occurs to me then that her family might force her into a medical examination to prove that she’s still intact, and that makes me want to ride straight through Xander Amory’s front door in an armor-plated vehicle and rip him apart limb by fucking limb.

“Oh, my fucking God.” Victoria’s face is pale. “You do care.”

A smile lights up Andrej’s face. “You’ve let the printzessa get to you, brother. What did she do, promise to be a good girl if you didn’t hurt her?” He wrinkles his nose and shakes his head. “No, you’d need a heart to fall for something like that.”

“We’re done here.” I stand up, ending the meeting.

“Leo, sit down.” Victoria’s voice is calm. “Please.” She knows that she is the only person in the world apart from my parents who can give me an order and expect me to comply, but she still softens it with a please. “What have you done?” she asks when I’m seated again.

Where do I begin? I took the printzessa’s virginity because there’s something about her that I’m powerless to resist?

I refuse to acknowledge Gianna’s power over me, even to my siblings. Weakness is like toxic gas, spreading and seeping through walls and underneath floors, unnoticed until it is too late.

“You fucked her, didn’t you?” Victoria’s glittering eyes hold mine.

I ignore Andrej’s chuckles. “It was consensual if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I don’t give a fuck if she swung from a chandelier and fucked you upside down, Leonid. You know what this means.”

“Hopefully our brother had the good sense to use protection.” Andrej shrugs. “He can throw in a few threats and maybe she’ll keep her mouth shut. No harm done.”

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