Page 99 of Blind Devotion

“You hurt his fiancée, and I promise he’ll take issue.”

“She is telling the truth,” Alizé confirmed. I appreciated the support of my little white lie. Technically, I was. All I had to do was change a no to a yes.

There were some mumblings in Russian.

I licked my lips, bolstered by their unease. “And then the Iannelli mafia from the West Coast will also come after you.”

“Oh?” He sneered. “Iannelli never sticks his nose in East Coast affairs.”

I lifted my chin. “I know my brother wouldn’t rest until the group that killed his sister is wiped from the earth.”

“Youare the missing Iannelli princess?”

“Yes.”

“Blyat.” Fuck. I knew that much Russian.

Different male voices volleyed in Russian from all sides, discussing with their leader. He spat out angry retorts. I focused on my breathing and where I was, not them. I wasn’t safe, but I wasn’t back there. They hadn’t laid a hand on me.

“Let’s not forget the De Villier marriage ties with the Burnelli family in Chicago,” Alizé added. That was right. I had heard Adrien’s younger sister, Maribelle, married the Burnelli don’s cousin last year. “If my brother calls on them for help, who do you think they’ll side with? You can take on one organization. Can you handle taking on three?”

He grunted. “You drive a hard bargain, ladies.”

“Why did you kidnap us?” I asked, my shaking slowly getting under control.

“I plan to finish what De Villier should have done.” He sighed, sounding inconvenienced. “But he made you his woman instead.”

“You haven’t killed me yet.” Hopefully, that meant I could reason with him.

“Nyet. I wanted to look into the eyes of the woman who survived when my niece did not. I wanted to see what made her worthy to be spared when my niece, Taisiya, was not.”

My eyes watered. I knew the name, except she’d told us girls to call her a little differently. Told us she wanted a bit of familiarity in a place like that. So when Bogdani and his crew ordered her to use the name Taisiya, in our sleeping quarters, we used a diminutive version of it.

“Tasya,” I whispered.

“You knew her?”

I closed my eyes, trying to recall her face. Soft features, hazel eyes, hair like gold. She’d been beautiful, like all the others, before Bogdani killed her.

“We shared the same bunk room, six of us together. She was strong. She resisted, never let it bring her down, even after the beatings, even after…She never gave in.”

“That sounds likelapochka moya. Tell me how she died.”

A tear slipped down my face. “She refused to do what a client wanted. Bogdani took her as his own to punish her, but she escaped him and jumped into the water. They caught her. They hung her, and they made the rest of us watch.”

He spat, spittle landing on my cheek. “None of you helped her.”

I wiped my face against my shoulder. “How? We had no weapons. We could barely help ourselves. We didn’t even know where we were.”

“She is dead because you did not have the courage. You’re weak. Useless. A waste of the air she should have been breathing.”

The cool end of a gun barrel butted against my forehead.

“Did De Villier make thatsvolochsuffer?”

“Leontyev, don’t do this. You’ll start a war,” Alizé begged.

“I already have.” The gun pressed harder against my temple. “Tell me.”