Page 11 of Deceptive Vows

While Raul’s shrieks get louder and the asshole starts crying, I acknowledge my guests with a bright smile, like I’m hosting the Academy Awards ceremony.

“Evening, gentlemen,” I speak in English so they will all understand me. I understand Spanish and speak it on a minimal basis, but I won’t do it here. Right now, they need to understand what’s happening and what’s going to happen from here onwards. “As you can see, there have been some changes.”

“What is happening?” the man closest to me asks cautiously. His name is Antonio. He deals primarily in gun trafficking but like the others dabbles heavily in the flesh trade. We met once at a fundraiser in New York my father hosted.

“You’ll see.” I reach for Adriana, pulling her right next to me. I then cup the back of her neck and grip her silky-smooth skin. Her neck is so tiny it would be easy to snap it. But I don’t want to do that—not yet. “I wish to introduce you to Raul’s daughter, Adriana Alvarez. Now that everyone knows each other, we can get down to business.”

I walk Adriana closer to Raul, and he thrashes against the restraints in protests. Nothing he does will help him now. Or her.

Terror reigns in his eyes. As its wielder, I savor the surge of power intoxicating my blood.

I stop a few inches away, and she squirms against my grasps. Her fear, however, checks her and restrains her from doing more.

“Gentlemen,” I announce, pulling my knife from the sheath on my side. “This is the traitor who killed my mother and my sister. Isabella and Talia Dmitriyev. This is the day I take his life for theirs. His blood will spill for theirs. This is also the day I will take his empire and everything inside it.”

I look into Raul’s eyes, and he starts shaking.

“Apart from you, these are the only two people I left alive,” I tell him. “See you in hell, Raul Alvarez.”

In one swift move I slash his throat, and blood sprays his princess and me. She screams a piercing sound, and still I note she never begged for her father’s life.

Because I promised on my mother’s life I’d kill Raul the same way he killed her, I drop the knife and pull out my gun as Raul sputters.

I cock the hammer and pull the trigger, giving him the final blow.

As his blood splashes on me once more, I don’t even bother to note it.

Still holding Adriana by her neck, I straighten and hoist her up. There’s very little white left on the front of her wedding dress. Most of it is either red from the cocktail of blood all over it or grimy brown from the dungeon floor.

She’s crying with true terror while the old man looks on with awe.

I might feel sorry for her, too, if I were a better man.

Turning back to my guests, I see they realize I mean business.

I have one more shocker to pull from my sleeves before I tell them what I expect them to do next.

I open the box on the table and take out Felipe’s head, holding it by the hair on top. A ripple of gasps rushes across the room and the princess heaves like she’s going to vomit at the sight of her beloved fiancé. It shouldn’t irritate me that she belonged to him, or was going to, but it fucking does. That’s probably testament to how fucked my mind is.

Blood runs down my arm as I throw Felipe’s head onto the table. It rolls toward the center, and the men look at it.

Felipe was to be their next leader. Now he is no more.

Fear keeps people in line. With men like these, you have to rain down a taste of Armageddon to show them you have the power. Everything I’ve done so far has added fuel to that goal. They’ll know by now, even without me saying so, I mean to take charge.

They’re not going to like having the Bratva control one of the biggest cartels in this world. But to truly take over Raul’s empire, I want the men on board without the shit of a mutiny.

Either they sign the blood oath, or they’re dead. It’s as simple as that.

With my blood-smeared hand I taint her cheeks by running her father’s blood over it.

I then turn back to the men and look each of them in the eye.

“I’m your ruler now. I, Mikhail Dmitriyev, will be your ruler, and to make it official, I’ll be marrying Adriana Alvarez one month from today.” The princess goes limp on hearing my declaration. This will be an interesting twist of events for her but something that must be done for me to acquire the cartel and ownership of all Raul’s assets in his empire. “I expect you all to be there to witness our union, the same way I expect you to sign your allegiance to me. Those of you who are in, raise your hand.”

All twelve raise their hand.

Good. Mission accomplished.