Page 55 of Cinder (MC Fables #2)
E lla
The car ride back to the mansion feels like it’s taking forever.
Viktor rides in the front, while I sit in the back with one of his thugs. But I can feel his eyes on me in the rearview mirror as I stare out the tinted window.
I can still feel the sting of his slap on my face. But I don’t dare touch it. I won’t give him the satisfaction.
The car stops at a set of lights. If this were a movie, this is when I would make a break for it. But we’re in an armored car with state-of-the-art security and bulletproof windows. There is no escape for me.
I have no choice but to sit and wait as I drive toward my fate .
“You disappoint me.” Viktor’s thick accent breaks into the silence. “I had heard about you. The daughter of Angelo Moretti. As beautiful as she was smart. Set to follow in her father’s footsteps to rule the Moretti empire.”
That gets my attention.
I turn my face to look at him.
At my father’s funeral, Santo had told me my father had chosen me as his successor. A choice Santo fully supported.
“And if he’d lived to tell them, mia cara, so would the rest of the family,” Santo had said.
But he had yet to announce it before he died.
And in the end, Luca forced everyone to either follow him or die.
Then how does Viktor know I was to succeed my father?
Because he’s been working Luca from the very beginning.
Luca should probably watch his back.
Because I get the feeling Viktor is going to put a knife in it.
“Luca is the heir,” I remind Viktor, choosing my words carefully.
But Viktor only chuckles. As if we both know it is a joke.
“A man is a leader, or he isn’t. While some men are just too easy to play.”
Yep, I can’t see this working out in Luca’s favor.
“Meaning?” I ask .
“Your brother is a psychopath,” he says. “He was lucky I needed him more than he needed me. Which I suppose was unlucky for you.”
I frown. What does he mean by that?
Luca sold me to Viktor in a malicious auction. But Viktor is talking as if this is more than that.
His cold eyes seek me out again. But looking at him makes me sick to my stomach, so I turn my face back toward the window. “It sounds like you regret your arrangement.”
“I had little choice about it. I needed unhindered access to the coast roads. They belong to the Moretti.”
And there it is.
Luca didn’t just sell me to Viktor. He also sold his soul to the Bratva kingpin and joined forces with him.
“When I asked your brother what he wanted in return, he said there was only one thing he wanted.”
I turn to face him again. “Which was?”
Our eyes meet in the rearview mirror.
“Revenge.”
When we arrive at the Moretti estate, Viktor grabs me by the arm and pulls me out of the car.
But before I can take a step, he yanks me to him and brings his lips to my ear, “Time to face the music, you fucking blyad .”
Whore.
I turn to look him in the eye. “I’d rather be his whore for five minutes than your wife.”
The back of his hand slaps into my face and his pinky ring catches on my cheek, tearing into the skin.
I taste blood.
So I spit at him, and blood splatters across his face.
He slaps me again. “ Pizda .”
Cunt.
“I should kill you,” he snarls.
“Enough,” Luca barks from the doorway.
Its two a.m. and he’s wearing a suit as if he’s dressed especially for the occasion.
No doubt this is his grand finale when he tortures me to death.
Beside him, Carolina looks like Cruella De Ville, dressed in a long gown, ridiculous hat, and a face full of makeup, puffing on her long white cigarette.
“Get her inside,” Luca demands.
Viktor shoves me up the front steps and into the house.
I struggle to swallow because my throat is cold and tight with fear .
When the door closes behind us, Luca turns to me with a menacing smile, and I know whatever happens next is going to hurt.
I bite back my fear.
And I thank God Lucretia isn’t here to witness what is going to happen to me.