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As Francesco’s face drops, I realise something; as much as these words are a curse for the Italians, they’re a blessing for us.
A quick glance over at my twin, and I know that we’re both thinking the same thing.
Alessandro is onourside.
“Alessandro!”
Francesco growls, a sharp warning that vibrates through the room.
His tone is fierce, protective, but Alessandro doesn’t so much as flinch.
He doesn’t even bother to continue looking in Francesco’s direction.
Instead, he focuses straight ahead, his jaw twitching as his words grow sharper, more pointed.
“Even if you try to hide what’s happened, people will talk. They’llalwaystalk. About your daughter. About the twins. About what has happened here. You might not care, Francesco, but I do. Why do you think the other two girls are kept on a tight leash? Why do you think Alexis lives a humble, modest life?” Alessandro doesn’t even give him the chance to respond. “It’s because everything she does reflects back on our Italian women—onmypeople. In that very same way, Francesco, everything that has happened here between these two Bratva men and your daughter will reflect back on my people. I won’t allow others to make assumptions on all my women based on this incident.”
From the corner of my eye, I catch my father’s reaction.
He stands a little straighter, his hands clasped behind his back, his face calm and composed. But there’s somethingbeneath the surface, something almost amused. A faint smile that tugs at the corners of his lips, subtle, but impossible to miss.
He knows.
He knows exactly where Alessandro’s words are heading, and he looks as if he’s already decided to let it unfold.
Like Nikolai and I, Otets is ready to watch the pieces fall into place, one by one, exactly as Alessandro expects them to.
When he takes another step forward, his frame casting a shadow that seems to stretch across the room, he continues speaking. His voice is firm and resolute, like the final blow in an argument that can’t be contested.
“In order to protect Chiara,” Alessandro says with his gaze sweeping over all of us. “In order to protect her dignity and her honour, there is only one solution.”
The room stills, the weight of his words sinking into everybody.
My pulse spikes, tension coiling in my chest, and I feel the same happening to Nikolai too.
Alessandro chooses that time to turn his attention to my brother and myself, his eyes sharp as a blade as he watches us.
“The three of you—Nikolai, Chiara, and Mikhail—must be together. You must show others that you are a united front.”
I can’t believe what I’m hearing.
My eyes widen, my heart now hammering in my chest.
His words settle inside me, stirring something deep and unfamiliar.
It’s something I’ve tried to push aside for some time now, but I know that I can no longer ignore.
I glance over at Nikolai, noticing the shift in his eyes.
Still in bed, Chiara gasps, the sound soft and breathless. It draws every gaze to her.
One trembling hand is pressed to her mouth as her eyes dart between Alessandro, her father, and Nikolai and myself.
Disbelief is etched into her every feature, but she's not angry with his words. It seems like she’s almost…pleased, unable to understand how this has happened.
The air grows heavier, each second stretching unbearably long.
My heart races in my chest as Chiara’s gaze locks with mine.