Page 115 of His Darkest Obsession

"So I taught them some fucking manners." I say it simply, the decision already made.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Roma's voice rises, then drops to a harsh whisper.

"They touched my wife."

Roma rakes his hand through his hair. "This is starting to spiral out of control. And for what? A single woman?"

Something hot and dangerous flares in my chest. "She's not just 'a single woman.' She's my wife, Romochka!"

"A wife who was supposed to help you blackmail the mayor, not start a fucking war!" Roma reminds me. "A marriage of convenience that's suddenly looking very inconvenient for the bratva."

"Indigo is the key to everything. I need her."

"But does the bratva need her?" Roma challenges, his voice unusually hard.

My eyes narrow. "What are you saying, Romochka?"

"I'm loyal to you, Tolya. I always have been." Roma stares at me. "But at some point, you will find your commitment to your wife at odds with your commitment to the bratva. And when that happens, Tolya, I need to know that you'll choose what a pakhan is supposed to choose."

"When the time comes, I'll make the right choice," I tell Roma, voice firm and final. "Trust me."

Roma opens his mouth as if to argue, then seems to think better of it as he snaps his jaw closed and swallows whatever he was about to say.

"And while you were getting frantic calls from Mother and Vasya." I refill my glass, watching the clear liquid catch the light. "I was getting frantic calls from Bennet himself."

Roma's eyebrows shoot up. "And?"

"He's willing to hand control of the city over to me," I say, swirling the vodka. "But he needs me to remain quiet until after he wins the election."

"Quiet about what?"

"Whatever the hell happened with Indigo during her internship." I knock back the drink. "But I have his word that after he wins, he'll honor our original deal."

Roma leans forward in his chair. "Must've been something serious if he's still willing to offer you those original terms."

"Serious enough that he tried to have her killed."

Roma's eyes narrow in thought. "What could've happened in that internship to have Bennet so spooked about it getting out?"

"I don't know." I place my glass down. "But I did find out something earlier."

"What's that?"

"There's an NDA that Indigo was forced to sign after her summer internship with the mayor. I need you to find out what's in it by the time the election ends."

Roma nods slowly. "And what do you plan to do in the meantime?"

"Keep Indigo and her sister safe and hidden, and manage this fucking war that I started."

I lean back in my chair, but there's a knot forming in my gut. A twisted, ugly sensation telling me that I'm about to cross a line I shouldn't.

It feels like betrayal. Like I'm about to violate Indigo's privacy in the worst way possible by digging up something she desperately wants buried.

The thought of exposing her wounds is enough to make my heart tighten uncomfortably in my chest.

But I need to know.

For her sake as much as mine.