Page 47 of Final Installment

I swallowed nervously.There had to be an innocuous explanation.Maybe Skender had seen the property for sale?Or had been looking for something that fit the specs needed for a data center?Maybe he had no idea that this property belonged to Luka’s family.

Get real, Elona.There’s no such thing as coincidence, not in our world.

My heart raced as I considered what I might have just stumbled into so stupidly.There were a few options, and none of them were good.

One—Skender planned to get his hands on this property in some way that was likely to be underhanded.Maybe through some kind of blackmail or pressuring our sister to manipulate Luka into giving her control over it?

Two—Skender was being backed by a larger player.He had been living with the Raffaelli family for nine years.They were ostensibly neutral in the conflict between our two families, but they had profited immensely during the peace.Had they convinced my brother to work with them?Were they planning some kind of mischief?

Three—Skender and Kristo were working together but had different ideas about the project.If they were working together, Kristo would have mentioned it.Wouldn’t he?Unless he didn’t want me to know that he was working with my brother.

But there was something else that bothered me.A detail that had meant nothing to me until now.

Kristo.The car accident in Abu Dhabi.The time he spent in prison.

I tried to do the math as quickly as possible, working out what time period he might have been incarcerated.

My stomach dropped as I realized the time period when Kristo likely had that wreck overlapped with a time period when my brother was recovering from a beating.Or, at least, that’s what he’d told me.That he’d been jumped by football fans after a Champions League final.I’d believed it to be nothing more than hooliganism.

But now?

Now, I wasn’t so sure.

Stop.You’re spiraling.This isn’t healthy.You’re catastrophizing.Stop.

I closed the folder and cleared the open apps on my phone.I closed my eyes, trying to center myself and calm my racing heart.

This is all a coincidence.It’s nothing.You’re making up wild stories.

The plane touched down, and I set aside any thoughts of Luka, Skender and Kristo.I never crowded the aisle during deplaning, but I was close enough to the front that I didn’t have to wait long for my turn.I grabbed my carry-on, smiled and waved at the kids and their mother and filed out with the other passengers.

Once I was in the airport, I took my time queuing up for customs.I hadn’t had a reason to use my Albanian passport since leaving the country.I’d even considered giving up my citizenship, but this was my home, after all.It was the place where I traced my bloodline.I had renewed it as an adult, but never traveled on it, preferring the ease of my US passport.

But now, here I was, waiting to legally re-enter the country I had fled as a child.The home I had been forced to leave by Luka Beciraj.My soon-to-be brother-in-law.

Infuriating.

Arrogant.

Cruel.

Handsome.

Sexy in a way that made me sick to my stomach.

Luka and his stupid face had been popping up in my dreams, usually in filthy and disturbing scenarios.

I couldn’t explain it.I couldn’t even fathom whyheof all people was playing a starring role in my fantasies.

He was my enemy.

He was mean.

He was trash.

And my stupid, treacherous body wanted him.My sister’s fiancé.My almost brother-in-law.

I’m sick.I’m so gross.What the hell is wrong with me?