Page 28

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ROMEO

Vodka burned a line down my throat. I hated vodka, but we were two hours into our contract negotiation with the Bratva, meticulously hammering out every tedious detail of our trade agreement, and I couldn’t handle this completely sober.

Kill me now.

I was relieved when my phone rang, giving me a reason to excuse myself from this nightmare.

I stepped out of the meeting room to take Matteo’s call.

“Romeo.” His voice was filled with anguish, and my heart started pounding. “The Butcher ordered a hit on Sienna and Sofiya.”

My heart skipped a beat, my chest growing tight. “Shit.”

“I need you back in the city. I can’t—” He cleared his throat. “Nothing can happen to them.”

I loved Sienna and Sofiya. The thought of anyone threatening them made the darkness inside me push against its bonds.

“Do we know who’s taken the bid?” Assassins for hire used a network on the dark web to accept hit jobs around the world.

“No. Franco’s looking into it, but nothing so far.”

I wanted to suggest he ask Sienna to help Franco, but I knew he’d be even more protective of her now, so I didn’t push it.

I headed back into the meeting room and gestured for my men, who immediately came to my side. I dreaded telling Dimitri about the threat. This wasn’t going to go well.

“We need to get back to the city. The Butcher took a hit out on Sofiya and Sienna.”

Dimitri jumped to his feet and swore. He turned to Maxim and spoke in rapid Russian.

“Five of my men will come with you now and we will send the other twenty-five in this next week.”

I lifted my chin. “Thank you.”

“Protect them, De Luca.” Dimitri’s face was hard, his fists clenched. It was clear he would prefer to protect his sister himself, but he had responsibilities as Pakhan.

“I will.”

The Bratva soldiers followed us in their armored SUV until we got to the jet. I jogged up the metal stairs.

We were going back to New York.

Back to Juliet.

My stomach lurched as I sat down in my seat, my soldiers around me. If the Butcher was after Sofiya and Sienna, I couldn’t lead him to Juliet. I looked out the plane window, but all the color had been sucked out of the landscape with the realization that I would have to stay away from her. I had failed to save my father, failed to protect my mother. I refused to let history repeat itself.