Page 34

The first thing I felt, before I managed to open my eyes was the sharp pain shooting all over my skull, my brain. I winced as I opened my eyes, and at the first hint of light, the pain crept down my vision until I had to blink it off.

It felt as though a truck had turned my skull into its personal racetrack. My mouth was so dry, my tongue stuck to my roof, and I peeled it off as I tried to sit up with a groan.

“Hey, hey,” I heard footsteps rushing toward me and felt a sturdy hand support my back. “I’m right here.”

Caspian helped me sit up on the couch and settled some pillows around me.

My vision was still blurry in my left eye, and when I reached for my face, I felt the swelling that left it half-shut.

My ribs hurt, my abdomen felt like pulp, and every single muscle, bone, and tendon in my body screamed at me to lie back down and go to sleep.

“What happened?” I ask, piecing together the memories. “Wait,” I said, suddenly gripping Caspian’s hand with urgency. “Where’s Larissa? The boat… they attacked…she—”

“Easy, Brother.” Caspian's hand pressed against my shoulder, trying to guide me back down to the leather couch. I shoved it away.

“Where is she?” The room tilted dangerously, but I locked my eyes on my brother's face. The grim set of his jaw told me everything before he opened his mouth.

“They took her,” he said with a sigh. “The Ajellos. We couldn't stop them. They were pounding on you, and you lost consciousness. She distracted them so I could reach you, but we were so focused on getting you off the boat that by the time we searched for her, they were sailing away with her.”

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Larissa had distracted her brother’s men to get me to safety.

It was a sacrifice, and I remembered when I told her she was free to go, yet she chose not to.

She had given up the little freedom she’d found with me…

for me. Every fiber of my being rebelled against the thought of her being back with her brothers, those bastards who kept her like a precious little doll, never caring for what brought her joy.

They would strip away her independence, strip away her soul.

“No,” I whispered hoarsely, trying to push myself up to my feet despite the agony coursing through me. I couldn’t do it, but I tried. “We have to find her. We have to get her back.”

“Gio, listen to me,” Caspian said gently as he laced his arms around my chest and physically made me sit back down when I nearly fell face forward from the pain of standing. “We will find her. But you need to rest now. You're in no condition to go after them.”

“How long have I been out?” I closed my eyes as Larissa’s face swam before me, fighting off the wave of nausea that followed my attempt to get off the couch.

“Four hours.”

“Four hours?” my eyes flashed open. “And what the fuck have you been doing for four hours while she's with them?”

My brother gave me a look that could have killed. “Taking care of you, you idiot. I know how much you care for Larissa. But you are my priority first.”

My throat felt raw, as if I had been screaming. Maybe I had been. “This is my fault. I should have—”

“Should have what? None of us saw this coming, Gio,” Caspian said now in a tone fiercely protective, in a tone warning me to not go down that chain of thought. “It was only a matter of time before they took her back. If not from the boat, then from your home itself. You can’t think like that.”

I looked at my brother. A deep pain haunted him, and I knew it was because he sensed my sadness and my guilt. In that moment, I nodded because I didn’t want my brother to suffer on my behalf or to carry this guilt for me, as was his way when it came to our family.

Caspian understood from the way I went silent. He gave me a forlorn half-smile and clasped my shoulder gently. “I’m glad you’re safe.”

“All because of you, Brother,” I said, stoically. I’d find a way to get Larissa back. I would. But in time. At least she was with her brothers, and not an enemy that would hurt her. That little fact gave me some element of comfort.

“And Larissa,” said Caspian, surprising me.

Was that respect in his tone, for the woman he’d been so against me seeing?

I smiled as I thought of Larissa, thinking of the moment I’d be able to tell she charmed the socks off my brother by distracting my attackers so he could save me.

Caspian was complicated, yet simple. When he saw loyalty, he trusted.

And based on what he said, Larissa had shown courage to help my rescue.

Just then, my phone rang. I tried to feel for it, but Caspian pulled it out of his pocket and in his motion to pass it to me, glanced at the screen. His expression shifted to fury as he froze and met my gaze. “Gastone Ajello.”

My heart pounded in my chest with a mix of hope and dread.

I knew nothing Gastone would say to me would consist of kindness or understanding.

But still, perhaps if he saw how much Larissa cared for me and I her, this could be a chance to negotiate her release.

I was prepared to do anything, to give anything, to plead and beg if needed with that bastard, to simply have her back.

“Put it on speaker,” I told Caspian urgently before the call ended.

Caspian held my gaze for less than a beat before answering as I asked. “Lebedev,” I said.

My breath caught as I heard rustling on the line, and I focused my mind, reminded it to stay calm for I couldn’t risk allowing Gastone to rile me up when I needed nothing more than for him to let Larissa back here, when—

“Gio?” Her voice, softer than usual, but it was her.

She sounded scared, worried, and glad to hear from me. I couldn’t imagine the hell she’d been through when she was taken. Sheer joy flooded over me at the sound of her voice, knowing she was being allowed to speak to me, unless she stole a phone, unless…

“Are you okay?” I asked, needing to know how she was. “Are you hurt? Larissa, did they—”

“I'm fine,” she interrupted. “Gastone was glad to see me. He’s so thrilled, Gio, and everyone was worried sick. I’m happy to have seen them.”

Something in her tone made the relief turn to claws in my stomach. She sounded unlike herself, as though she was reciting something from a speech she’d written down.

“Larissa,” I said. “We're coming for you. Whatever they want—”

“No,” she said abruptly, slapping me into silence. “Don't do that.”

I frowned, glancing at Caspian, who had gone very still. “What do you mean, 'no'?”

A sigh filtered through the speaker. “This... what happened... it's for the best.”

“For the best?” I repeated, certain I'd misheard. “Larissa, they kidnapped you.”

“They brought me home,” she corrected, her voice gaining strength. “Where I belong. You were the one who kidnapped me, remember?”

The floor seemed to tilt beneath me as I realized she sounded angry. “I thought we had come to understand one another. You can't be serious.”

“I am,” she said firmly. “These past weeks, I've been... confused. I’ve been living in a fantasy. But now I see clearly. This life—your life—it was never going to work for me.”

“That's bullshit.” I clenched my knuckles tight as I understood what she was trying to say. “They're forcing you to say this.”

There was a brief silence, and then a scoff.

“No one's forcing me to do anything.” There was an edge to her voice now. “For once, I'm making my own choice. I'm choosing to go back to my old life, my life . I’m choosing to be with my family. Don’t you dare try to turn that into something it’s not.”

I felt my breaths grow sharper, fiercer, stabbing at my chest. The pain of her words lodged in my heart, and I felt my world crumble around me. I couldn’t live without her, couldn’t imagine life without her, and what I said next was as close to groveling as I’d ever come in my life.

“Why can’t you have both?” I asked with desperation. “You promised, Larissa. You promised that when this day came, you’d choose me too.”

I heard her suck in air, her breath hitching as she did. But she soon spoke, almost as though she didn’t want to ponder my words. “I didn’t know what I was getting into.”

“We can protect you,” I insisted, paranoia creeping in. “I know this isn’t you talking. I know it in my bones. What we had, it was real. You can’t convince me otherwise. Please, Larissa, give me a sign.”

She laughed hollowly, as if it were the right thing to do in that moment.

“Protect me? Like you did on the boat? You and your family will always bring trouble to my door. I can’t live like that anymore.

You’ve made enemies all around, and I want no part in dealing with it.

With my brothers, I’m safe. I’m…happy,” she took such time to find that word, happy, that I couldn’t believe she truly meant it.

But still, her words cracked my heart, filling me with a sense of abandonment, rage, and disbelief. “You don't mean that.”

“I do.” Her voice softened, not in tenderness but in finality. “What we had... it wasn't real. It was exciting because it was forbidden. But it wasn't anything close to love, not really. Look, we tried it and it isn’t working for me now.”

My throat tightened. We had shared three glorious months together, fighting, understanding, and bridging barriers.

We’d gone on adventures and made love until morning.

I didn’t know what love was, but she was the first thought I had when I woke and the last before I slept.

Despite moments of anger toward her, the idea of something happening to her was enough to make me forget.

I didn’t know what love was, but in that moment, what we shared came dangerously close to it.

I needed to remind her of that, needed to show her she’d still remember those moments if she cared enough to. “You want to end this? Fine. But you have to meet me, you have to look me in the eye and tell me that.”

If I could just see her one more time, just once more, I could show her what we were. One chance… that’s all I needed.

“I don’t need to do that,” she said flatly. “And that's the point. We're done, Gio. I don't want any connection to you or your family anymore. It's over.”

“Larissa,” I pleaded with a rawness in my voice that made Caspian inch forward and place a comforting hand on my shoulder. “I need to see you. Talk to you face to face. You owe me that much.”

“I owe you nothing,” she said, in a voice so cold I believed this conversation must have been my imagination.

“Larissa,” I tried again, my voice barely a whisper. “This isn't you talking.”

“It is me. The real me. The one who finally woke up.” Her voice cracked, just slightly. “Don't call again. Don't try to find me. We're both better off this way.”

The line went dead.

I stood frozen, staring at the phone, desperately hoping that she’d call back and tell me it was a sick joke or that someone was in the room.

My hands shook as I sat there and moments slipped by. I heard nothing but the rush of sound gushing to my ears from how my blood heated. The helplessness, the rage, all of it stopped me from thinking.

“Gio.” Caspian's voice seemed to come from miles away.

I didn’t say anything until I felt his hand on mine, grabbing the phone away. “No,” I roared, trying to lunge for it, but the pain made me fall right back down.

“Gio, I’m so sorry,” Caspian said in a tone that seemed final, a tone that grieved, a tone I didn’t think he needed to use because this wasn’t happening.

I glared at Gio, shaking my head. “She's lying. They've threatened her, or drugged her, or—”

“Or she's telling the truth,” Caspian said quietly. “Sometimes the simplest explanation is the right one.”

I scowled. “You think she meant that? That everything between us was just a game to her?”

My brother's face was carefully composed. “I think she's a twenty-five-year-old woman who got in over her head. And I think this might be for the best.”

“For the best,” I echoed incredulously.

“Yes.” Caspian straightened, slipping back into his role as the head of our household. “Her family was never going to accept this relationship, Gio. We're looking at all-out war with the Italians if this continues. How many lives are you willing to sacrifice for this girl?”

“Don't call her 'this girl,'“ I snapped. “Her name is Larissa.”

Caspian sighed. “Fine. Larissa. The point stands. She's made her choice, and it's the smart one. You need to prepare yourself for what comes next. The Ajellos won't be satisfied with just taking her back—they'll want blood for this insult.”

I shook my head, refusing to believe a word he said as I thought of Larissa.

There was something in her voice, her tone, and her choice of words that set off alarms in my head.

Beside me, Caspian continued talking, but I wasn’t really listening.

His voice became a meaningless drone against the roar in my head because I knew this wasn’t the last time I would talk to or hear from Larissa.

That conversation, whatever it had been, wasn’t by her choosing.

In time, I’d prove it to them all, when I had her back by my side.