Page 22 of Lethal Devotion
I start from the beginning, when we received the tip and I got together several men to go and deal with the problem. “The raid was simple enough,” I tell him. “Only a couple of injuries on our side, no casualties. Plenty dead on their side. The bouncer who was conniving with Giovanni is dead. Executed. The rest of the crews, everyone, dead.”
Konstantin’s jaw tightens. “The crews weren’t mafia. They didn’t need to die.”
“They had enough loyalty to the Russos to do shady work like that for them, to participate in a trafficking ring. There was money changing hands. They’d have been a liability, Konstantin.”
“That’s not how I do things.” His expression darkens. “You should have kept them alive, Damian.”
“It was a firefight.” I lean forward. “All of your men are alive because we cleared that building. Some of the men working for the Russos undoubtedly got away, but everyone we saw, we killed. That’s how we send a message.”
He slams his hands down on the desk, hard enough to almost make me flinch. “That’s how my father sent a message,” he snaps. “Not how I do it. We don’t kill innocents, Damian.”
That pisses me off. “They weren’t innocent. The only innocent I found alive in there, I got out.”
Konstantin’s brows draw together. “I heard a woman and a child came to the mansion last night. What the hell is going on with that? Is she from the trafficking ring?”
I let out a sharp breath. “Three women were taken from the club last night. Two of them were shot in the firefight—not by us,” I add quickly. “Collateral damage from the other side. The third girl I found when we cleared one of the rooms where they were filming. I got her out alive.”
Konstantin frowns. “They’ll want her dead. She’s a loose end…” His expression clears as he puts the pieces together. “She’s the woman you brought here last night. And she has a child?” His brows draw together again. “Why did you bring her here?”
“I didn’t know she had a child until after…” I pause, trying to think of the best way to explain. Last night, it all made sense. It seemed like the best way, theonlyway, to fix all of this. Now, in the light of day, I’m wondering how it’s all going to sound when I say it aloud.
“I married her,” I say finally, and Konstantin stares at me like I’ve spoken a different language.
“Youwhat?” he finally asks, and I run a hand through my hair.
“I married her. I knew she was a loose end, like you said. I knew the Russos would send men after her, to kill her and clean up their mess, hope that no one else would talk and they could weasel their way out of this. If she lived, she could tell the truth about what was going on to anyone who asked.”
“And you thought the best solution wasmatrimony?” Konstantin looks at me as if I’ve grown a second head. “You’re normally the smartest man I employ, Damian, but…”
“I get it.” I throw up my hands. “We’d just come out of a firefight. I dragged her out of that warehouse, terrified, kicking and scratching, still shooting the Russo’s men on our way out. All I could think of was that I needed a legitimate way to give her protection, and that I didn’t know how much time we had. I drove her straight to the church. I didn’t know she had a kid.”
“Would it have changed your mind?”
“I don’t know.” I throw up my hands, shaking my head. “Maybe. No. I truly don’t know. But there’s no changing it now.”
“I assume you’ve consummated the marriage?” Konstantin’s eyebrows rise, and I shake my head sharply, ignoring every traitorous sensation that ripples through my body at the mere thought ofconsummatinganything with Sienna.
“No,” I say quickly, and he looks at me with confusion. “I haven’t, and I won’t. I married her to protect her, to keep her from ending up as a loose end that Giovanni tied up with a bullet. Once the Russo threat is dealt with, I’ll annul the marriage.”
Konstantin looks at me for a long moment. “So she’s staying here. Her and her son.”
“She’s my wife.” I meet his gaze, and I realize that I’m prepared to fight for this. I’ve never insisted on anything with Konstantin, stood by his side and supported him exactly as I did his father—done his dirty work for him for the brief time that he’s beenpakhan,and obeyed orders. Just as I’ve done all my life. But for Sienna… I’m willing to stand up even to Konstantin.
The realization startles me, makes me feel profoundly uncomfortable. This job is my life, my duty… it’s in my blood now, a part of me. It takes priority over everything else. The thought that anything or anyone could change that makes my skin feel too tight for my body, my fingers flexing as I struggle with it. Who is this girl, who makes me feel like I’d stand up to thepakhanof the Bratva to make sure that she’s safe?
Fortunately, I don’t have to. Konstantin lets out a sharp breath, and shrugs. “You’re not going to sleep with her, though?” He looks at me quizzically, and I shake my head. He shrugs again.
“Alright. Whatever you say, Damian. But they’re your responsibility, and it’s up to you to make sure that the two of them being here—especially the child—don’t cause too much upheaval in the house. Valentina’s pregnancy is difficult already, and I don’t want her unnecessarily stressed.”
I snort at that. I can’t help it. I try to stay professional with Konstantin during meetings and in front of the other men, but I’ve known him since he was young—we’re about the same age, and it shows. Though he’s mypakhannow, and he’s always outranked me, it’s difficult sometimes for us not to act like what we are—men who’ve grown up closely together, almost like brothers.
“Valentina used to be an assassin before she married you, Konstantin. Hell, you still give her assignments sometimes, when she starts getting fidgety. I find it hard to believe that a couple of houseguests are going to significantly stress her out in any way.”
Konstantin frowns. “Now that she’s pregnant, I’m not giving her assignments any longer. Or involving her in business at all.”
I smirk. “How’s she handling that?”
Konstantin lets out a long sigh. “Not well.”
