Page 78 of Devil's Vows

So that’s where her mind went. Good.

My phone vibrates in my pocket, and she drops her gaze.

“Best you take that call. I’m going to check in with Papa. Sit with him a bit.”

I glance at my phone screen. Matteo Scalera. As if he knew I needed to talk to him. Are we fucking telepathic now? I follow Milana to the door and close it behind her, twisting the lock. This is a business call I’d like to take in private.

“Don Scalera,” I say in greeting as I walk to the window, mentally forcing myself away from the hard conversation about the past I just had with Milana to focus on our future.

“Petrov.” A beat of silence. “How is my sister?”

I watch Gabriella run across the lawn with the girls. Irisha and Katya have new sweaters and rain boots on—she must have sent Kostya shopping for them—and each girl holds a small basket. They’re heading toward the chicken coop to collect eggs.

Fuck, she’s a natural. Beautiful. And I can’t wait.

“She’s fine.” More than fine. Perfect.

“Good. There’s only one way we will honor the agreement, and that’s by evening the odds here.”

Honor the agreement? They don’t have a fucking choice.

“Evening the odds?” I say, disappointed when Gabriella and the girls disappear from view.

“We need a guarantee that our sister is going to be safe with you. If you can’t fulfill our demand, we’ll come fetch her, with whatever force it takes.”

I still, dissecting his words. “Sounds a bit dramatic, don’t you think?”

But somehow, they’ve stumbled on my Achille’s heel. I don’t have men to offer up in a futile battle. I’ve buried sixteen of my best under the new swimming pool and still have a Ziplock bag of pulled teeth to dispose of. I’m technically sitting with a tiny forensic nightmare waiting in the wings.

“What’s your demand, Scalera?”

“A woman for a woman. I want Milana as guarantee. She’ll be married to our brother Luca and looked after for as long as you return the courtesy.”

I brace my hand on the windowsill, digesting. Milana for Gabriella.

Not only would it secure a long-term alliance withIl Consiglio, strengthening my network, my borders, my infrastructure, it would secure my girls’ future. Children would be born from both marriages, weaving our destinies irrevocably together.

I’d have a whole new network of men to call on in case of anemergency or an attempted coup like the one we barely survived. I’d have brothers in arms.

Milana wants out of the house. This is an opportunity to get her out but secured in the safety of another organized crime ring. I’d bet if I ask her now if she’d enter an arranged marriage, her answer would be yes without flinching. When Boryslav was still around, she balked at the thought, but that was Boryslav, and I couldn’t blame her. Hopefully, Luca Scalera will live up to her standards and expectations.

“I planned to call you today. I’m marrying Gabi this Friday.”

A quiet beat of silence stretches to snapping point over the phone. “So soon?”

“No point in waiting. I’ve seen what I needed to see.”You don’t know me. Gabriella’s words should caution me, but there’ll be time to get to know all of her once we’re married.“We can do a double wedding and have this locked in.”

“Your place or mine?”

I’m in no position to host, and I only trust my new alliance so far. “Let’s keep it neutral. Registry office in Boston. I understand you have a contact in that department. We can do it during office hours, though.”

Matteo huffs into the phone. “Fuck. I don’t know how you do it, but I’m sure as shit going to find out.”

“Good luck with that,” I say on a dark chuckle. “From my side, I’ve only one condition, but it won’t impactIl Consiglioat all. It’s to protect my sister from other Bratva.”

“Sure. If it only affects your sister, it shouldn’t be a problem. What is it?”

I have her covered until the wedding, then she’s in Luca Scalera’s hands. “Milana must never set foot in Russia again.”