Page 89 of Ruthless God

As the priest pronounced them husband and wife, I caught Elio’s eye and gave a slight nod. It was time to move.

We slipped out of our seats and made our way to opposite sides of the ballroom as the newlyweds faced forward. I focused my eyes on Lina. Gone was the cocky girl from my wedding, but someone who actually looked her age. Young and naïve, and perhaps hurt by the fact that Andre had sold her off just as quickly as he had done with Luna.

We came up to them.

Anatoly Novikov caught our eyes first.

“De Luca!” he yelled out, pulling out his gun and aiming it right at me.

I held my hand up with a smile. “Now, is this any way to treat your guests?”

“Guests,” he spat out. “You came here and crashed my son’s wedding. What makes you think I’m going to let either of you walk out of here?”

“I must say, I am heartbroken over the animosity, Anatoly. I came here in good faith.”

“I should have killed you years ago when I had the chance,” he sneered.

I grinned at the mention of my brief captivity in the hands of the Bratva. “Maybe.” That had been a mark of failure for the Bratva, considering how easy it had been for Elio to infiltrate the cage they were keeping me in to get me out.

“I’m going to kill you now.”

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” I nodded at Elio, who took off his suit jacket and revealed the bomb in place. Screams erupted as the women and some men ran out of the ballroom.

Elio shook his head in disgust.

“One shot,” I said. “And we’ll all blow up in this place.”

His lips tightened as Boris stepped up close to his father, something deranged moving in his blue eyes. He was enjoying this. They didn’t all just say Boris was a fucking psycho because of who his father was.

He looked as if he didn’t care whether he lived or died. He just wanted the thrill of things, and we gave him what he wanted by showing up.

If I let him take the helm over the Bratva after his father, I would have nothing but trouble on my hands.

“You’re fucking crazy,” Anatoly said. Did he think that was an insult? “You blow this place up; you and your brother would die too.”

“Death is something I’ve accepted long ago. I’m not scared. Are you?” I challenged, letting him see the truth in my eyes. I had made my peace with death a long time ago.

He didn’t answer me.

“Now why don’t you put the gun away so we can give our congratulations to the bride and groom and leave?”

I never planned on doing anything more than showing my face at this wedding.

I needed to rattle Andre enough that he would make a mistake.

Anatoly’s eyes darted between me and Elio, his gun still trained on my chest. The tension in the room was thick as everyone waited to see what he would do.

After a long moment, he slowly lowered his weapon. “Fine. Say your piece and get the fuck out.”

I smiled, turning to the newlyweds. Boris was grinning maniacally, whereas his wife looked terrified. A small part of me felt bad for the girl, but there was nothing I could do—nothing Iwantedto do.

“Congratulations on your union,” I said smoothly. “I’m sure it will be a fruitful partnership for both your families.”

I locked eyes with Andre, who was standing protectively near his wife. The missus looked nothing like how she did at my wedding. It seemed she had lost weight, her stress over this union clearly outlined on her face.

Andre’s face reddened from my words, but he met my gaze steadily.

“Andre.” I nodded. “Always a pleasure. I sure hope this was worth it. Because now you showed me your cards. I won’t forget this anytime soon. I will come and repay you for it tenfold just as soon as I weed out all theratsin my house.”