Page 89 of Betrayed in the Dark
“Having a heart in this world only makes you soft,” Mikhail adds. “Have you gone soft, Vincenzo?”
Leo slams his hand down on the desk. “You’re clearly well-versed in contracts, so whatever the agreement is between Alastor and Madeleine, we want it to be immediately nullified.”
Mikhail shakes his head. “We have nothing to do with the contract. We’re only the contingency should she decide not to walk down that aisle.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” I demand.
“It means.” Amusement spreads across Kazimir’s face. “If the wedding doesn’t happen, Madeleine loses. Game over for her.”
Vin’s chair crashes back as he stands, towering over Kazimir, his last bit of restraint vanishing. “If you lay a finger on her head, I will annihilate you!” Vin roars. “I will use your fucking knife to shred you into pieces and feed you to my dogs! Capisce?”
Kazimir does the one thing you don’t do after a man threatens your life. He smiles. “It’s not her head you should be worried about.”
Vin gets within inches of his face. “I am going to be your worst fucking nightmare. Mark my words, Kazimir, you will regret ever getting on my bad side.” Mauro places a hand on his shoulder, reining him in. Vin’s gaze travels over the room, landing on each of the Vasiliev brothers. “I will tell you the same thing I told your worthless father. If you ever threaten one of my family members again, you risk a war with the Alaries, and believe me when I tell you, you won’t fucking win!”
“I’m afraid you’ve wasted your time coming here today as we have no information to provide you,” Mikhail informs himcalmly. “Perhaps you should call next time to save yourself the trip.”
“This wedding is not happening. Not over my dead body,” Vin declares, his chest heaving.
Mikhail shrugs. “I can arrange that.” The door opens, and three guards step inside with their guns raised. “Please escort our guests out. Our meeting is concluded.”
As I stand, Kazimir stares at me intently while speaking in a hushed whisper to his brother.
I glare at him before following the others onto the elevator in silence, the guards trailing behind us. It isn’t until we’re safely inside our vehicle that we finally speak.
“Well, at least now we know for certain that there is a contact behind this marriage and that the Vasilievs are involved.” Leo rubs his hand over his temple. “I think it’s time we ask Madeleine what the fuck is going on.”
“We can’t.” Vin shakes his head. “With our luck, it will only make her move the wedding up.” He pinches the bridge of his nose. “Fucking Kazimir always gets under my skin.”
“But, hey,” Leo says, smiling. “At least you stayed calm.”
“Vin’s right,” I add, dragging my fingers through my hair. “Madeleine needs to be the one who calls this wedding off. For whatever reason, she hasn’t felt like she could come to any of us for help, and that doesn’t sit right with me.”
“But what if she doesn’t call it off?” Leo asks. “She’s pretty fucking stubborn.”
I look out the window. “We give her until two days before to come to us. But we can’t wait any longer than that. If she doesn’t come to us by then, we handle things our way.”
“Agreed,” Vin responds, accelerating onto the highway.
I lean back in my seat. “So, speaking of stopping a wedding, when were you going to let me in on the fact that you’re currently in an arranged marriage contract?”
“When the time was right,” Vin responds.
“And back there, that was when the time was right?”
He nods. “Exactly.”
“So when is this happening?”
“It’s not,” he states matter-of-factly.
My brows furrow in confusion. “But the contract with the Marchettis—”
“You heard Liliya’s brothers. They can’t find her. She ran away, and with any luck, she won’t return, which means I’m in the clear and can continue living out my single life while honoring the contract.”
Leo glances at me in the rearview mirror and rolls his eyes.
I grin. “Do you even know what she looks like?”
